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Lesson #2: Try Personalized Promotion On For Size

Article Overview: As a child, Armani would eagerly await the trips his family used to make from his small town of Piacenza to Milan just to catch one of the latest films that had been released. “At the beginning I loved westerns and Italian comedies, but later I fell in love with the neorealist films that inspired my good friend Martin Scorsese,” he says. “It was like being transported from the harsh reality of life in post-war Italy to this magical place. The stars were so glamorous and larger than life that I wanted somehow to share in that.”

Lesson #2: Try Personalized Promotion On For Size

As a child, Armani would eagerly await the trips his family used to make from his small town of Piacenza to Milan just to catch one of the latest films that had been released. “At the beginning I loved westerns and Italian comedies, but later I fell in love with the neorealist films that inspired my good friend Martin Scorsese,” he says. “It was like being transported from the harsh reality of life in post-war Italy to this magical place. The stars were so glamorous and larger than life that I wanted somehow to share in that.”

Being the lifelong movie fan that he is, Armani decided to look for ways in which he could combine his passion for film with his passion for fashion. In a pioneering marketing move that revolutionized the two industries at once, Armani opened up a press office for his young company in Hollywood. “I established an office in Los Angeles to provide an additional service to our film industry friends because I’ve always been passionate about film,” he says.

In little time, Armani had become the premiere designer for the A-list of Hollywood. Soon, other designers would follow suit, trying to outfit the hippest celebrities of the day, but few could compete with the already established and highly regarded Armani. His clothes began to be featured prominently in such films as Paul Schrader’s 1980 “American Gigolo”, and since then in over 150 other movies. He successfully gave Samuel L. Jackson an updated look for the remake of “Shaft”. More recently, he designed clothes for the 2004 film “De-Lovely”, the screen epic of composer Cole Porter’s life. His designs were so well received from that film that they went on to inspire much of Armani’s spring 2005 collection.

Both on screen and off, Armani has designed his way into the hearts and onto the bodies of some of the biggest celebrities in the world. His clothes have become a regular feature at such big events as the Academy Awards. In fact, so many Hollywood actors have worn his designs to the event that when Vanity Fair decided to release its book “Oscar Night”, they asked Armani to write the forward.
Armani’s target at Hollywood and his strategy of personalizing his promotions, getting the who’s who of celebrities to wear his clothes, has boosted his sales tenfold. He was the first designer to understand the appeal of celebrities and the impact having one of them in his clothes could have on the average consumer. Today, Armani continues to use that strategy in domains outside of the acting world.

“As a designer, it’s always good to stretch yourself,” he says, “and the challenge of dressing people whose bodies are fine-tuned and developed is one that I particularly enjoy.” To that end, Armani took up the challenge of dressing the England Football Team for the 2006 World Cup. He recognized that “both on and off the field they have become icons,” and thus they always had to look good. He was also well aware of the media frenzy that would surround these players and what it would mean for business.

Whether it is soccer players or actors, Armani has sought to attach himself – and his designs – to the people that would be seen the most, and to the people whose opinions on style would be highly regarded and emulated throughout the world. He was one of the first to do so, but he would not be the last. Indeed, he pioneered a unique method of marketing that would go on to become nothing less than the norm.

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Article Tags: academy awards, additional service, american gigolo, de lovely, film industry, friend martin, harsh reality, hollywood actors, industry friends, larger than life, latest films, magical place, martin scorsese, piacenza, porters, post war, premiere designer, samuel l jackson, schraders, screen epic



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