Cartier Mines MySpace for Clients in Rough

Luxury jeweler Cartier has teamed with MySpace in a unique effort to develop a new, younger audience by blending networking, entertainment, and marketing, reports the Wall Street Journal. The move, one of the first by a major luxury brand, may provide a road map for other luxury retailers so far wary of using social networking sites.

Cartier’s profile includes music downloads, video clips, and links to some of Cartier’s more famous “friends.” But why would an exclusive luxury brand risk appearing on websites whose primary audience is teenagers unlikely to have diamond-purchasing power? The luxury environment “means being a step in advance sometimes,” said a Cartier spokeswoman. “We work with people moving fast. They are ahead in their way of life.” Cartier is paying an undisclosed fee to MySpace. (More social networking stories.)