Fashion Week Supporting Sponsors: Diet Pepsi, DHL, Maybelline, TRESemmé, & American Express

As official hair and make-up sponsors of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, TRESemmé and Maybelline activated on-site, just outside the runway tents, with plenty of product samples to share with beauty-conscious show goers.

Maybelline's activation area included a comfortable relaxation lounge, while TRESemmé's featured a second story hairsalon. The hair salon gave TRESemmé a film set overlooking the FW scene from which to shoot promotional video segments. For now, hair-related how-to videos are being posted online, but perhaps we'll see a commercial or even a segment for a TV show come out of the activation down the line.

While the beauty brands' connection to Fashion Week is obvious, what does a shipping company like DHL have to gain in such a sponsorship? As it turns out, plenty.

Numerous businesses leverage FW as chance to host clients and vendors, so DHL's presence kept their brand top of mind for the many business men and women in attendance. For their activation, DHL's marketing team enlisted budding designers at LIM's school of fashion to create evening gowns -- that were made entirely of DHL packaging. The fun designs, displayed both on mannequins and live models, definitely caught the attention of passers-by.

Soft drink brand Diet Pepsi faced a similar challenge to DHL, in determining how to link its product to attributes of Fashion Week. Last year, Diet Pepsi took on the challenge indirectly by unveiling a new can design. Slender and sexy, fashionistas throughout the tents sipped Diet Pepsis and kept the brand in the eyesight of everyone present.

This year the brand went for direct alignment - saying, in effect, "we support fashion just like you." Their set, created by Jonathan Adler, featured a display of four outfits by up-and-coming American designers. The full collections had been unveiled at a Diet Pepsi-sponsored fashion show on FW's opening night. Both the show and the support of young designers created a press-worthy narrative for the brand.

Surrounded by the nods to fashion in each of the other sponsorship activations, American Express' lounge simply gave show goers a comfortable place to rest while recharging iPads and cameras between shows. A FW sponsorship reminded show goers of the brand's positioning as the card of the wealthy and well-connected while highlighting the elevated service it provides its customers.

In the end, a visit to Fashion Week isn't just about the scene and the shows. If sponsors have activated effectively, visitors will go forward touting the brands just as much as the looks that flowed down the runway.





Title Sponsor: Mercedes-Benz

As title sponsor, Mercedes-Benz had a very visible presence, but kept their staging classy and demure. Producers set the stage for brand interaction with three different activation areas, including two auto displays and an exclusive lounge.

Mercedes integrated their current ad campaign, Icons of Style, into an auto display set as a Hollywood photo shoot. The campaign itself features photographs of supermodel Lara Stone in a vast, barren landscape alongside her get-away car, the SL Roadster. The activation, then, included the actual car set against a similar backdrop and created a chic photo op for show goers. The wild landscape let viewers sense the freedom of a ride in a Roadster while linking the brand to the high style of Fashion Week.

A second auto display featured a Mercedes SUV against a backdrop of a designer boutique turned fine art gallery. Here, Mercedes displayed their paints and wood interiors using a series of multihued stilettos and chic wooden handbags. A finely etched placard directed visitors to a website where they could enter a sweepstakes after creating a Mercedes-themed Polyvore set. This was a great way to carry the activation beyond the event itself, as it engaged consumers in a design experience involving both FW Collections and Mercedes branding.

In addition to the auto displays, Mercedes welcomed fashion's elite into their intimate bar and lounge. The subtly marked entrance created an air of exclusivity that smoothly aligned with their brand positioning. This was the place to be and be seen, alongside celebrities like Kristin Chenoweth and Vera Wang. The space felt intimate and elegant, easily creating positive brand association for visitors who sipped Moet champagne and wooed over cupcakes featuring the Benz logo. Interiors created by a team of renowned designers and contemporary artist Stephanie Hirsch left visitors with the feeling that high fashion and the Mercedes-Benz brand go hand in hand.

2012 Fashion Week (Fall/Winter Collections): The Rundown

The pinnacle of chic design and savvy culture, New York's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week has been on the minds of many a trendsetter over the past month. For FW's official sponsors, this is a prime opportunity to build brand image and awareness. Brands who utilize this partnership effectively can powerfully augment their image. From sexy stilettos to salon services, here's a run-down of how brands activated this year under the big white tents.