Kenneth Cole uses Google Glass for campaign

American fashion and lifestyle designer Kenneth Cole has become the first brand to push marketing boundaries by launching a campaign optimised for Google Glass technology. The Google Glass app is being used as part of Kenneth Cole’s ’21 Days, 21 Deeds’ campaign as part

of its ‘Man Up For Mankind Challenge’ to promote its new male fragrance. The designer is inviting men to perform a “gentlemanly deed” every day for three weeks and to share their achievements via Google Glass.

Once the app is downloaded, users receive an alert in their viewfinder with a reminder of that day's deed, such as to compliment a stranger, offer to carry a lady’s handbag, overtip a waitress, or to picking up rubbish. Those that complete all 21 tasks will be eligible to win a Mankind toolkit valued at 1,000 US dollars.

"The Mankind concept is designed for the guy who knows what he wants and expresses it daily through his actions, style and overall essence," said Kenneth Cole, chairman and CEO of Kenneth Cole Productions. "This man is performance driven yet understands the importance of achieving balance in his life, whether in his career, relationships or community."

It is estimated that Google has only sold around 10,000 to 20,000 glasses to what it calls “explorers” who have to apply to be part of the pilot programme as well as pay 1,500 US dollars for the Google Glass technology, which comes equipped with a 5 megapixel build-in camera with 720p video capture.

Kenneth Cole unveils first Google Glass marketing campaign

The campaign has been realised by New York-based digital agency Ready Set Rocket, who are known for creating campaigns that combine technology with creativity, and they decided to include Google Glass as they felt the medium was perfect to attract the cutting-edge technology fans that fit well with Mankind’s target audience.

Aaron Harvey, partner at Ready Set Rocket, added: "We have a great track record of providing insights, technology and creativity to produce unparalleled results for marquis brands such as Kenneth Cole. We understand the challenges that global brands face when navigating the complex marketing landscape to reach their consumers and create unique, engaging experiences that build brand and business equity.

“Kenneth Cole's Mankind is the first campaign built from the ground up to leverage the unique attributes of Google Glass. It's designed to help us orchestrate the campaign across web, social and mobile; it's engineered to evolve over time."

In addition to using the innovative Google Glass technology, the Mankind campaign will also be complemented and driven via traditional display advertising, email campaigns, as well as paid and organic social media. The campaign will also be available to non-Google Glass wearers, who will be able to register on the site to use their smartphone or digital camera to upload their good deeds.

Donald J. Loftus, president of Parlux Ltd. and executive vice president of Perfumania Inc, which distributes the Kenneth Cole fragrances, commented: “We have always tapped into the transformative power of technology and always looked for a way to do things differently and with higher ambitions, we welcomed the opportunity to explore activating this campaign with Google Glass.”

This may be the first campaign to be optimised for Google Glass but it isn’t the first time a fashion company has embraced the technology. In 2012, Diane Von Furstenberg coordinated her Spring/Summer 2013 collection during New York Fashion Week with the technology and created content for the label’s Google+ page using footage shot with the glasses.