• by Tanya Gazdik , March 11, 2010

Italian fashion brand Diesel is entering the social media space with a series of initiatives designed to build a foundation for the brand online.

The new digital initiative includes branded programs with Twitter, FourSquare and Facebook. The company has tapped New York-based Iced Media as its agency of record.

In addition to creating a digital extension to Diesel's national "Be Stupid" campaign, which broke earlier this year, the AOR will be responsible for a number of social media aspects for Diesel, including a mix of blogger relations. Iced Media will monitor Diesel's social media programs daily using IcedMetrix, a proprietary measurement tool that enables clients to track social media referred sales.

Diesel was one of the first brands to advertise online in the mid-'90s but has been quiet digitally as of late. The brand is now ramping up a more robust social media plan, says David Ireland, who has been Diesel's vice president of marketing for about six months.

"It's been about doing it right," Ireland tells Marketing Daily. "It's about coming into the space and how Diesel can be in the space that's authentic, and communicating with the customers in a very Diesel kind of way."

In the campaign, "stupid" actually means "brave," Ireland says. "It's a brand new renaissance for the company," he says. "We're really getting back to what Diesel is all about. 'Be Stupid' is not an ad campaign, it's a manifesto."

Diesel is launching a new Web site and new e-commerce site later this month.

Online efforts include sponsored mobile apps. Diesel is participating in "editors closets" for Teen Vogue and Lucky, says Erin Smolinski, Diesel media director. In addition, the company is participating in the Teen Vogue "Haute Spot" program (pop-up shop) in Westchester this weekend.

"We are doing a shopping night at our Fifth Avenue store in New York City with GQ (including their key Diesel editors picks) on March 25," Smolinski tells Marketing Daily. "In the online space, we're running our campaign on Vice, Coolhunting, FashionIndie, Refinery29, Fader, Nylon, Hypebeast, Spin and Gawker & Jezebel."

Diesel-branded items include jeans, clothing and accessories. The company is present in more than 80 countries with more than 5,000 points of sale and more than 300 monobrand stores (200 of which are company-owned and the rest in partnership with local distributors).