Levi's Integrates Facebook's Like Button On Their Own Site

Levi's is betting on the fact that you care what other people think. More specifically, what they 'like'. One of the first brands to utilize the social networking concept of the thumbs up "like" button found on Facebook, they've integrated Facebook's new social plug-ins into their online shopping site.



the press release:
The Levi’s® brand today announced at Facebook’s f8 conference the introduction of an innovative new way to shop for jeans online. With the launch, the Levi’s® brand is among the first companies to integrate with Facebook’s new Social Plugins. The Levi’s® brand will provide shoppers with an interactive, customized shopping experience on levi.com (based on consumers’ “Likes”), information about “Top-Liked” products across consumers’ networks, and an easy way to find and share relevant Levi’s® products.



“We’re creating a new social shopping experience that will change the way people shop online and, frankly, make buying jeans more fun. We’re excited to pioneer this new technology and help our loyal fans connect with our brand and share their favorite Levi’s® products with friends.”

Jodi Bricker, Vice President of Digital for Levi’s® Americas said, “We’re creating a new social shopping experience that will change the way people shop online and, frankly, make buying jeans more fun. We’re excited to pioneer this new technology and help our loyal fans connect with our brand and share their favorite Levi’s® products with friends.”



As part of today’s announcement, Facebook introduced a new set of Social Plugins that can be easily integrated into a website to make the user experience more personalized and social. Powered by the Open Graph, these new plugins include a “Like” functionality, Activity Feed, and Recommendation widget that bring friends, social activity and relevant interactions to any site off of Facebook.com.

The Levi’s® brand is integrating the “Like” functionality on its e-commerce site – levi.com. In addition, the Levi’s® brand is building a Friend Store in which consumers who are logged into Facebook can see a list of their friends’ favorite Levi’s® products and seamlessly shop with their friends.

The Levi’s® brand is innovating with social and digital media on its Facebook page, in advertising and on its e-commerce website. Last month the brand leveraged its Levi’s® Facebook Page to amplify their ninth annual Levi’s®/FADER Fort event – a music festival in Austin, Texas. This initiative grew the fan base by 60 percent and garnered more than 780,000 live streams of the event.


test it out here:


You can explore how other sites integrate Facebook here.

IKEA UK's Never Ending Design Stories: Mixed Media Videos

The IKEA UK site has a wonderful series of little online movies that mix film and animation to introduce us to 20 designers, and their inspiration for various IKEA PS products.



The IKEA PS collection is a line of 46 products by 20 designers that combine good design with the economical use of resources and responsiblity for the environment. Chairs, bookcases, dressers, benches, room dividers, lamps, clocks, wall mirrors, glassware, decor, textiles and rugs are amongst the products in the collection.


Above: the home page of the Never Ending Design Stories

The Never Ending Design Stories begins in a Seed World where animated dandelion seeds are drifting through the sky.



The 'seeds' represent the stories. As you click upon each seed, a designer within the pod is exposed and a small film begins featuring that designer discussing the product from the PS collection for which they personally designed.

Smartly designed for consumer use, the 'seed' (or product story) you've already viewed has a yellow flag trailing from it so when you return to the Seed World, know which video you've already seen:




Each video has the options to be viewed with or without sound and subtitles. At the end of each little film, you are given the product information such as the name, price and dimensions:




They are all very different, but equally charming and give you a much greater respect for a product as seemingly mundane as a towel. Following are a few screen grabs from some of the 'stories'. Please click on the images to enlarge:












Go see all the Neverending Design Stories here.

Shave The Pussy: RFSU Promotes Their Newest Products Via Virtual Pubic Hair Design

The RSFU's latest interactive microsite, Shave your Pussy, was created to sell their newest personal shaving products and is the most entertaining and imaginative idea I've seen in awhile. Brought to my attention by my friend Scott Rench, www.shavethepussy.com is a site that allows you to style your 'fiffi' -- as they call it.

Levi's 501 Project Connects With Consumers

This online design project , a component of Levi's and Bravo's Project Runway co-op marketing plan, was an inventive promotion that ended up exceeding Levi's expectations.

The Jan. 23 episode of Project Runway, according to the Nielsen Co., drew 3.2 million viewers, including 410,000 women ages 18 to 24.

Levi's was the first brand partner on the show to drive viewers to a separate online contest focused on a challenge that would resonate with target consumers.

The site received 500 submissions in three days. Sharon Greenwood, Avenue A/Razorfish's creative director on the campaign said " In all, it attracted more than 20,000 registrants — two-thirds women — and 2,500 designs".

The contest was promoted with ads on some online fashion blogs, some gossip blogs and social shopping network sites.

Greenwood's team also incorporated a feature allowing designers to embed their submissions on their own Web pages, blogs and social-networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

This placed a 'badge" with a Levi's logo and invitations for viewers to vote on the design at Levi's "Project Runway" site.

See an example of the "badge" below:

The feature put the badge before about 30,000 viewers, about half of whom clicked through to Levi's "Project Runway" site, Greenwood said.

In the weeks following the "Project Runway" episode, Levi's nontraditional styles, normally not among its top sellers, took over the top 10 women's styles on its retail site.

By the way, the winners were announced last month and here they are :
First Place:

Above: The first place winner, Jehan.
His/her design will be produced and sold by the Levi’s® brand and sold on levi.com, plus a $501 gift certificate on levi.com.

Levi’s says..."Love the turn back cuff on the sleeve. Cool asymmetrical opening and nice clean tailor details. This design reinvents the trucker jacket with a feminine flare."

Second place winner:

Submitted by Sharpietattoo. Description: Girly pleating gives a softer appeal to this military-inspired dress. Along with Levi’s buttons and rivets, the dress also has the hand pockets from the Trucker Jacket. Gold bodice stitching and a 50’s inspired neckline keep the hip look classic and clean. Zip back, with a functional back button.

Levi’s says...

This is a classy, vintage 50s look, with flattering neckline. Like the back seaming, reminiscent of a trucker vest. The buttons really tie this product back to the 501® Jean in a fresh contemporary way.

Third place winner:

Submitted by Claire
Description: The GOLD RUSH DRESS, comes in dark blue denim with gold metallic top stitched flat felled seams, OR light blue denim with silver metallic topstitching. The Levi's Button lace-up bodice can be worn with the attached modesty panel under the lacing, or flip the panel back under and show some skin.

Levi’s says...
The gold trim and modesty panel are lovely. Really like how this brings the heritage of the Levi's Brand to a flirty new fit.

Second place winner, sharpietattoo, gets a $501 gift certificate for levi.com, and third place winner, Claire gets a $250 gift certificate for levi.com.

So, Congratulations to not only the winners, but also Avenue A/Razorfish, Levi's and Bravo!

A Beautifully Designed Site: The Astier de Villate Online Catalogue

The other day, I came across an online manufacturer's site that was beautifully done.

Aster de Villatte is a manufacturer of tabletop and home accents that is carried in high end boutiques all over the world. Although you can't order direct from their site, you can browse their interactive catalog and locate many stores that carry their products.



But that's not the point of this post. The point is how much fun you'll have looking for those stores, and at their objects, because of the unique interactive presentation of their wares.

In their online catalog, not only is each page a new mystery (click around and find info) but each is photographed beautifully and the animation is pretty darn seamless.



When clicking on certain objects, you will see how they are showcased.
Click on the plates above, for example, and you will get this:



Click again, and it becomes this:



even the search page is very cool:



And the way you choose the country to locate a store:



If I show you anymore, it'll give away the fun, so go check it out for yourself by clicking here.

Credit for this compellingly designed site belongs mainly to:
Sophie Delaporte (photographer), William Simon (webmaster) and Ivan Pericoli (art director).