Diesel celebrated its 30th anniversary with a rock circus theme and an aura of suspense.
In the US, the Italian fashion brand worked with Fingerprint Communications on generating press for its New York XXX(triple X) party - taking place October 11, simultaneously in 18 international markets – and $50 limited edition jeans.
In the weeks leading up to the event, the PR team revealed information to the press about the event and promotional activities surrounding the anniversary - including a racy video - in stages, explains Sasa Nikolic, a spokesperson from Fingerprint.
“Everything was secret...just to build buzz…With Diesel, everything has to be extraordinary and out of the box,” he says.
The team started reaching out to long-lead publications in June to arrange listings and interviews, and began another phase of outreach when the long-lead pieces in such magazines as Elle and W, among others came out after New York Fashion Week.
The team first masked the video as a surprise, “something else very, very Dirty,” according to the press release; launched it three weeks prior to the anniversary on Break.com; and seeded it from Kanye West's site, the first to pick it up, said Nikolic.
The event's location was also shrouded in mystery. Initially it was referred to as a “top secret venue...that will be turned into a park immediately after,” then “Brooklyn waterfront,” and finally revealed to be Pier 3.
The parties were streamed live on an interactive Diesel Web site.
Attendance exceeded expectations, Nikolic adds, leaving 1500+ outside once the tent reached its capacity at 5000. In addition to the turnout, more than 150 national and international media outlets covered the event. “Interest was just enormous,” he says.
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