JKR

Since Max Factor became huge on the back of associating itself with the screen goddesses of the twenties and thirties, it’s been a no brainer that a famous face can imbue a brand with reflected glamour. Dita Von Teese becoming “the face of Perrier”, at first glance, looks like nothing more than another business opportunity for the burlesque artist and “muse”. She’s worked with Wonderbra, collaborated with Moschino and Viva Glam, and a bunch of others. Like Black Eyed Peas with their deeply felt associations with Pepsi / Levi’s / Blackberry / Coors / Honda / Samsung etc etc. one could assume it’s just “different day, different brand.”

But in design terms Von Teese is in a different league, I think, and here’s why: in a world where brands attempt to set themselves up as archetypes of a particular character, her persona is truly “archetypal” – it’s what her act is all about. By using her, Perrier shorthands itself as a bit sophisticated, European (even if she’s American) and edgy. She’s also an “artiste”, so this comes across as a creative collaboration. Her visual style, plonked quite simply on the can, does the rest. In other words, she isn’t just bringing her fame to collaborations, she is bringing her style, and the designs come off as distinctive as a result. The interactive Perrier Mansion is a neat extension of her image to add a bit of depth and content to proceedings.

While George Clooney holding a cup for Nespresso looks generically glamorous, Von Teese doing something similar for Perrier is arguably the smarter buy because she comes with a distinctive look built-in. For my money, the best tie-ins are those where the star has an established image (rather than just a famous face) which can be mashed with the brand equities to create a convincing association, and I think that’s what Perrier achieve here.