Fragrances characteristics

Dior Fragrance: J’Adore!

Tribute to the passion that Christian Dior vowed to flowers, J’Adore is a fragrance symbolizing absolute femininity, sophistication and glamour, which are the values that are specific to the Dior woman. J’Adore unites the noblest flowers from the garden of raw materials and is designed around a single floral bouquet, generous and harmonious.

Candice Baker created the fragrance in 1999. The challenge was to invent a fragrance that would be the perfect translation of Dior values. Imperative that perfume will make this the very symbol of the house says, « After women, flowers are the most divine creations. » J’Adore is composed of rose essence, flower Champaca, jasmine, tuberose, orchids, sandalwood and a rounder notes what candied plum. It’s a unique floral bouquet. The Dior’s values stick to Charlize Theron, who presents the scenes of creating the      mythical perfume J’Adore perfume Dior.

The perfume legend:

According to Dior website, with j’Adore, Dior created an universal, generous, feminine and highly floral perfume. It represents the energy of life, pleasure and glamour.

The perfume origin:

For Christian Dior, J’Adore means showing your passion, living in the present, looking to the future, having a heart that beats with emotion and self-confidence. This fragrance is a force in itself. This fragrance’s name sounds like a whispered murmur or a spontaneous exclamation, saying ‘Enthusiasm is self-evident, with no need for gimmicks.

The perfume bottle:

The shape of the bottle is very feminine and flowing lines are reminiscent of a figure of 8 (the signature New Look which was to daringly introduce Dior styling). The bottle pays homage to female body with its beautiful curves. The finishing touch on the J’Adore bottle looks like a tight necklace, it adds grace to this jewel of gold and glass.

To conclude, Christian Dior has always wanted to anticipate women’s aspirations, his wish was to make women more beautiful but also happier by being determined and confident in the future. The J’Adore woman knows what she wants and she is self-confidence. She is fully at ease with herself and living out her passions and emotions.

Chanel Fragrance: Chanel N°5

to introduce the Canel N°5 perfume let’s see a corporate video which resume the spirit of this fragrance.

Let’s now expose the different features of these two fragrances.

The famous Chanel n°5 was created in 1921 by Ernest Beaux for Coco Chanel, who wanted a clean fragrance in line with her fashion. She desired a perfume ‘ which smells like a woman’. Coco Chanel wanted « An artificial fragrance, I mean artificial as a dress, that is to say manufactured. I am an artisan sewing. I do not want roses, lily of the valley, I want a perfume that is a composition.”

The fragrance legend:

In 1920, Ernest Beaux created two series of perfume samples numbered 1-5 and 20; he asked Coco Chanel to choose one of them. She chose the sample no. 5. In the same year, her dress collections was planned to be present on the fifth of May, the fifth month of the year. Superstitious, she declared that it would bring good luck: the perfume got its name.

The fragrance muses:

The perfume became famous thanks to many celebrities who wore it, such as Marilyn Monroe. Chanel N°5 is often associated to her name because during an interview in 1954 she said that in bed she wore only “some drops of Chanel N°5”(see the video bellow). That statement became a superb advertising slogan and a reason for millions of women around the world to choose this perfume. Nicole Kidman, and now Gisele Bündchen have become Chanel N°5 faces.

The fragrances composition:

Working on creation of this perfume, Ernest Beaux created and for the first time used the synthetic component: aldehydes. The fragrance of aldehydes is pure and fresh. Chanel N°5 is the first perfume in the floral-aldehyde group and the first by the quantity of aldehydes in its composition (another legend says that the Ernest Beaux’s assistant overdosed the aldehydes in the composition by mistake). The top notes are composed of aldehydes, bergamot, lemon, neroli and ylang-ylang, the heart of jasmine, rose, lily of the valley and iris, while the base is created of vetiver, sandalwood, vanilla, amber and patchouli.

The fragrance bottle:

The first Chanel N°5 was captured in a simple rectangular bottle with the top which resembled Place Vendome in Paris. The first bottle was designed by Chanel herself and represents her classical principle: the less is more. Her bottle would be « pure transparency …an invisible bottle. »The first bottle produced in 1919 differed from the Chanel No.5 bottle known today (see the bottle evolution on the picture).

Then we will explore the brands history and we will go further in the brand management analysis.

Written by Sophia Capo

Literature:

http://www.dior.com/couture/en_gb/the-house-of-dior/from-1947-to-2014

http://karenine.com/chanel-ou-dior-lelegance-face-a-linsolence/

Chanel little story

Dior little story

Dior past and present has captured the hearts and the fantasies of the fashion conscious since its foundation. Dior Empire has been built around one-man dream’s.

The fashion house Christian Dior has made himself known throughout the world and has contributed to the emergence of Paris as a global fashion capital. This brand fascinated with the glamorous image and elegance it conveys.

On the other hand, through the passion for the profession and aesthetics that emanates from its products, Christian Dior knows a worldwide success. His collaborations with many artists and filmmakers, authors noticed campaigns through exceptional staging and soliciting many muses world-renowned, Dior has become a staple in luxury home environment.

Indeed, the brand has had its share of celebrity. Princess Diana carried the ‘lady Dior’ handbag on her wrist in ’95, giving it iconic status. Eva Green, Monica Belluci and Sharon Stone are some of the more recent brand ambassadors.

the lady Dior bag: 

We will now go through Dior history. We will expose the fashion Dior fashion revolution.

Some figures

1947

In 1947 Christian Dior open his fashion house at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris at the age of 30. Christian Dior known that this little town house will be home to his couture label. At this time he was financially support by Marcel Boussac , a businessman.

The new look:

In the same year he launched his first fashion collection, the revolutionary, full-skirted « New Look ». It was an international success. The silhouette was characterised by a small, nipped-in waist and a full skirt falling below mid-calf length, which emphasized the bust and hips, as epitomized by the ‘Bar’ suit. He declared, “I wanted my dress to be “constructed” moulded on the curves of female body whose contours they would stylise. I accentuate the waist, the volume of the hips, I emphasised the bust”.   Christian Dior wanted to give back to women their taste of light heartedness, the art of seduction. It was a fashion revolution.

The New Look became extremely popular, its full-skirted silhouette influencing other fashion designers well into the 1950s, and Dior gained a number of prominent clients from Hollywood, the United States, and the European aristocracy.

The New Look was welcomed in Western Europe as a refreshing antidote to the austerity of wartime and de-feminizing uniforms, and was embraced by stylish women such as Princess Margaret in the UK.

The brand has had its share of celebrity. Princess Diana carried the ‘lady Dior’ handbag on her wrist in ’95, giving it iconic status. Eva Green, Monica Belluci and Sharon Stone are some of the more recent brand ambassadors.

Creation of the first perfume: Miss Dior Cherie. Dior revolutionized the perfumery industry with the launch of the highly popular

Miss Dior perfume, which was named after Catherine Dior (his sister).

The brand growth:

In 1948, Dior launched a ready-to-wear store on the Fifth Avenue in New- York city. He was the first couturier to arrange licensed product of his work (hats, gloves, ties…) thinking that a complete look with accessories is important. By the end of the year, Dior fashions made up 75% of Paris’s fashion exports and 5% of France’s total export revenue.

1957

Christian Dior appears on the cover of « Time » magazine, with his famous left-handed scissors. The designer soon afterwards died from a third heart attack. The captivating impact of Dior’s creative fashion genius earned him recognition as one of history’s greatest fashion figures.

From 1957 a number of talented couturiers was directed the Dior fashion house such as Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, John Galliano, Hedi Slimane or since 2012 Raf Simons. They all such as Christian Dior dedicated their creative talent to the Dior house, and its fashion revolution.

For instance, Yves Saint Laurent’s first collection the pyramid-shaped « Trapeze » line, was highly applauded at that time. The clothes were as meticulously made and perfectly proportioned as Dior’s in the same exquisite fabrics, but the young designer made them softer, lighter and easier to wear.

Saint Laurent was hailed as a national hero. Emboldened by his success, his designs became more daring, culminating in the 1960 Beat Look inspired by the existentialists in the Saint-Germain des Près cafés and jazz clubs. His 1960 bohemian look was harshly criticized, and even more in Women’s Wear Daily.

In 1968, Dior Perfumes was sold to Moët-Hennessy (which would itself become LVMH). With the LVMH group, one of the luxury brands group worldwide leader.

Through the years, Dior launched some fragrances such as Eau Sauvage (1966), J’Adore (1999), Fahrenheit (1988), Dior Addict (2002) and Dior Homme (2005).

Superstition at the heart of Dior:

Christian Dior was a very superstitious man, always looking for sing and consulting fortune-tellers. Fortune tellers were to accompany him throughout his life, allows him to ease him heavy heart, continue to hope and live or simply making decisive career choices. He believed in his lucky star. In his memories he wrote “Chance always come to the aid of those who really want something”.

Written by Sophia Capo

 Literature:

http://www.dior.com/couture/en_gb/the-house-of-dior/from-1947-to-2014

http://www.dior.com/beauty/fr_fr/minisite/th/jadore.html#page/home/gold

Why Dior & Chanel?

Through this article we will explain why this blog is about the Chanel fragrance industry and the Dior one. Why did we select those two companies to analyse their brand strategy?

When you compare some luxury brands, the established practices are to take a French brand versus an American one. However, we choose to focus on the two French one. Our purpose is to expose how those “Luxury Maison” have taken advantage of their “Savoir faire” through history and how they have marketed it? How they run the brand in order to make consumers feel special, unique, a part of the experience. Choosing two French fashion house was for us an opportunity to understand how can we sell the “Luxe à la française”?

Found in 1909 by its historical founder: Gabriel Chanel, the group includes the Chanel fashion house, Chanel’s perfume and jellewers’ craft. Chanel N°5, one of the most famous perfume of the brand, was created by Ernest Beaux in 1921; Gabriel Chanel was willing to design a perfume ‘which smells like a woman’.

Such as Dior was founded in 1947 by Christian Dior. The brand belongs to the LVMH group portfolio. One of the brand perfumes is J’Adore de Dior, designed in 1999 by Candice Baker. Christian Dior had a single directive: perfume should contain floral notes.

The Battlefield:

Another reason that have justify our choice is Chanel N°5 and J’Adore fragrance battle. Indeed, in 2013 as we can see on the table bellow J’Adore overtook Chanel N°5 to become the best-selling women’s fragrance in China, showcasing the strength of Western influences and branding on Chinese consumers’ purchasing decisions.

These two giants are rivals on the women’s premium fragrances worldwide market. J’Adore ranked first in four countries: Belgium, France, Russia, and China. However Chanel N°5 has a higher ranking in the rest of the top. J’Adore has performed considerably better than Chanel in emerging premium fragrance markets.

Nevertheless, Chanel N°5’s main advantage is its strength in developed markets, especially the US, Germany and the UK, where J’Adore is significantly behind in the rankings. The Chanel brand enjoys much greater awareness and popularity in these markets.

Dior brand have been seeking to boost its brand awareness and exposure in the UK market with for instance, a Christian Dior exhibition in Harrods, the opening of a beauty shop in Covent Garden next to its main rival and the revamping of its flagship Bond Street store.

In the US, recent promotional activities for the Christian Dior brand includes the addition of dedicated space for the new La Collection Privée Christian Dior in Saks Fifth Avenue, has helped to promote the brand’s values. However, more initiatives need to be done to raise brand awareness in the US.

Chanel’s dedicated US beauty website and activities throughout the year have enabled Chanel to maintain stronger awareness and a stronger brand image than Christian Dior.

J’Adore also faces in-house competition (LVMH group) from Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire and the re-launch of Shalimar, which is generating strong revenues in Russia. While Christian Dior is trying to boost both brand exposure and awareness across the globe, so is its main rival. In a following article we will describe these two perfumes features.

Written by Sophia Capo

Literature:

http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/agroalimentaire-biens-de-consommation-luxe/20111107trib000662421/le-match-dior-contre-chanel-enflamme-le-marche-du-parfum.html

http://www.dior.com/couture/en_gb/the-house-of-dior/from-1947-to-2014

http://www.dior.com/beauty/fr_fr/minisite/th/jadore.html#page/home/gold

Chanel – inside Chanel – Chapter 12

Chanel – inside Chanel – Chapter 10

Chanel – inside Chanel – Chapter 9

Chanel – inside Chanel – Chapter 8

Perfume industry microenvironment analysis

We will expose trough this article the microenvironment for the perfume industry, thanks to Mr Michael Porter and his 5 competitive forces. Let’s first clearly define our product segment: the luxury perfume.

We will start with the rivalry among existing competitors. Competition is intense in the perfume industry: around 60-perfume brands on the market. All those perfumes are usually associated to the Brand image but with another core of business. For instance, Chanel N°5 with Chanel haute Couture or Manifesto an Yves Saint Laurent perfume associated with the ready-to-wear collection Saint Laurent. The perfume is following the clothes collection; each season has its own perfume. Even if we can see several brands on the shelf, we must be aware of the brand ownership. Same groups such as LVMH, Kering, Estée Lauder group, own those perfumes… We have to consider that it’s a matter of only few players. We have to ask our self: Is there a brand cannibalisation?

To grow, brands must deal with prestige, image advertising presence and symbolic communication.

Then the threat of new entry: In such industry new entrants need to think twice: facing huge brands which are in the business for decades. One the stake will be the brand loyalty. Competitors on this market have a strong brand image in the “consumer eyes” and it will be hard to catch up the train. Imposing a new brand perfume has to deal with differentiation regarding the fragrance, the design and the advertising strategy. A solution might be to focus on a niche market or an oddball positioning.

Moreover, putting a perfume on the marketplace is link to substantial costs such as communication, marketing and HR budgets. Therefore market requirement is essential. The brand loyalty, the strong competition and the costs are a significant barrier to entry.

Let’s now focus on threat of substitutes

We can’t really see any alternative products regarding perfume and a pressure of substitution between segments do not exist (different targets, different budgets, etc.). Soaps and other hygiene products contain fragrances, which are added for differentiation, but are not substitutes for perfumes.

However the threat come from counterfeit perfume. It represents profit lost and a real danger to the final consumer due to the quality of the perfume and the chemical in it.

Suppliers’ bargaining power:

There are three main types of providers for a perfume:

• Fragrance producers
• Perfume bottle producers
• Packaging specialists producers….

These suppliers have low bargaining power toward large luxury group, due to their large size even if the « raw materials » are critical to the quality and the potential sale of the final product.

Moreover, the time period given by the perfume group is becoming shorter.

At least but not last, the buyers bargaining power.

Within the selective distribution, we first distinguish all integrated channels (Douglas Parfumerie Marionnaud, Nocibé, Sephora), the franchising chains and department stores (BHV, Galeries Lafayette, Le Bon Marché, Printemps). The concentration of the selective distribution around a small number of brands, such as the size and purchasing power increased significantly strengthens the bargaining power of distributors.

In the context of the concentration distribution, manufacturers carry out restructuring (pruning the portfolio of brands, specialization of production sites) to achieve economies of scale. They also have massive use of advertising, which plays a crucial role in customer loyalty. To this end, companies’ communication and marketing campaigns are regularly launched with celebrities (k Keira Knightley and Gisele Bündchen for Chanel and Natalie Portman for Dior) to attract consumers.

Manufacturers are making new acquisitions to achieve a critical mass sufficient to counterbalance the weight distribution, complete their portfolio of activities or expand their markets.

A presence in the distribution channel can be a secure outlet and a more direct knowledge of the markets. LVMH owns Sephora, the company’s selective distribution of perfumes and cosmetics. As well as, Guerlain leverages its network of own shops.

The perfume industry is huge but owned by few groups, which are spreading their brand portfolio. The perfume such a rare fragrance by the past is nowadays a common “luxury” product. Brand image and loyalty have a strong impact on consumer choice.

Written by Sophia Capo

Literature: http://toastairligne.free.fr/index2/S%E9phora/parfumsCD-givenchy.pdf http://www.euromonitor.com/fragrances http://www.exed.hbs.edu/assets/documents/hbr-shape-strategy.pdf