On the eve of her 30th birthday in late April, actress Jessica Alba, wearing a neon-yellow tunic and a medley of white, rose, and yellow gold circle pendants from Piaget’s revamped Possession collection, admired the view of Los Angeles from a balcony terrace at the Chateau Marmont, a favorite gathering place among denizens of Hollywood.
As Piaget’s newest ambassador, Alba was promoting the collection’s new imagery, captured earlier in the spring by photographer Patrick Demarchelier. Six shots featuring the actress in different looks—tough and sexy in a black leather blazer, demure and friendly in a feathery white sweater, each outfit accented by sautoirs, chains, and pendants—debuted on Piaget’s website and Facebook page April 27, marking the brand’s first campaign targeted solely to online and social media. Behind-the-scenes images from the shoot appeared on YouTube the same day.
For marketers, the implications are clear: Even luxury houses are eschewing glossy fashion magazines for the interactive, instantaneous impact of the Web. But Alba, for one, is still getting used to the format. “I’m more familiar with Twitter,” Alba told JCK. “It took me a while to get a handle on Facebook just because it’s more complicated. I have one [account] for my family and I have a fan page. But the Twittering is just like texting, but texting a lot of people. It’s so easy to get information out and interact with people. I should tweet today.”
Alba stood up, posed for a photo snapped by her publicist, and tapped out a message on her BlackBerry—“At my @Piaget press day at the Chateau”—both of which she then posted on Twitter. At press time, dozens of her 1,316,611 followers had replied with kind words about her outfit and nail polish. There was, however, no mention of the jewelry.