Chanel No.5 advertising strategy

Chanel No.5 has been sold by the company since 1921. In its 93 years of existence, Chanel has become a high recognizable brand and No.5, one of the top perfumes in the world.

Known as one of the most perfume in the world, Chanel No.5 is the most iconic product of the brand that has always focused on innovation. Indeed, it was the first fragrance with a refined packaging and the first fragrance using a woman muse as promotion. Two years ago, it was also the first feminine fragrance promoting a male muse (Brad Pitt) in its ads, which will be developed in a further part.

But when speaking about the perfume Chanel No.5, it is the advertising launched around the perfume that comes first in my mind. In order to promote the values of the perfume and evocate ideas related to glamour, beauty and luxury, the company used different advertising campaigns. From its creation until 1965, advertisements were simple in black and white where only the bottle was highlighted. The best advertising made for Chanel No.5 remains during the period of 1954, when during an interview with Marilyn Monroe, the actress confessed “wearing” only a few drops of Chanel No.5 for sleeping. Without being involved in this speech, the brand benefited from a huge help to develop its image and attract customers.

If Chanel used both advertising displays and TV spots to seduce the consumer, the emotional codes and the communication goals on the famous perfume have changed through time.

First, advertising budget was limited and few adverts appeared in this time. In the first ads, Chanel No.5 was displayed in black and white with the portrait of the creator Gabriel “Coco” Chanel. As we can see the picture remains quite basic, with the evocation of an elegant rich woman being the perfume’s creator and the name of the brand and the bottle down of the page.

Few changes will be done with the bottle regarding the stopper and the bottle glass width, but what we can notice is that the bottle was really often showed alone in commercials until the end of 50’s, focusing the values on the product rather than the human being. The high quality design of the ads is still impressive and reflects the notion of luxury, but it appears less glamour and doesn’t evocate really much the image of dream and seduction that the brand knows today.

A major change in advertising will appear when in 1965, Jacques Helleu entered at the head of Communication department for Chanel. Indeed, Mr Helleu understood the need to go further in the dream dimension and wanted to reveal the seduction power offered by the product Chanel No.5. Seduced by the idea of presenting the product with a famous person as Suzy Parker appeared in a commercial in 1957, the director will push the concept in a far way and will be recognized as the father of the muses for Chanel, offering a “face” to the perfumes.

Thereafter, the French house will appeal to world famous actresses: Suzy Parker, Ali MacGraw, Jean Shrimpton, Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet, Estella Warren, Nicole Kidman, Audrey Tautou… With its first TV spot in 1973 with Catherine Deneuve, Chanel used the service of Helmut Newton, a famous photographer to shoot the commercial. This first spot made in a black background with the French actress confessing to the audience using Chanel No.5.

The TV commercial is chic but simple and aims to develop a close relation between the audience and the beautiful actress who is “confessing” using this product to seduce men. The emotions communicated are much stronger and create a unique feeling between the customer and the product.

But more than recruiting elegant stars to promote the perfume, the collaboration with famous photographer and movie director, strengthen the high quality image of the brand and offers exceptional ideas and creation for advertising. Carole Bouquet, muse during 10 years for Chanel No.5, will play in a commercial managed by Ridley Scott for example, based on the complexity of love feelings and the emotions it involved where the actress is presented as a “femme fatale”.

Another universe will be explored in the end of 90’s, when Luc Besson made this commercial for Chanel iconic perfume:

This spot is illustrating the tale of the “Little Red Riding Hood”. This commercial starring Estella Warren, an ex-professional swimmer, has known a huge success among the audience. But why such enthusiasm? First, this commercial is in disruption with the previous campaigns. The objective of this campaign was to target younger consumer by re-defining the values of the perfume. As you probably noticed, this commercial is far different from the elitist and independent image created around the previous elegant muses. The actress is young and dressed as the little red riding hood, then she’s entering in a secret place, take a bottle of perfume and calm down a wolf with a simple “Chut!”. By using strong visual effects, we can see that the message and emotions communicated here are fuelled with color and sex appeal looking “unreal”. Even if the ad keeps notions of glamour and luxury, we can also see a touch of rebellion and “dare attitude”.

Then, 2004 marks the beginning of commercials in a very Hollywood style and it was the turn of Nicole Kidman to slip into the character of the woman for Chanel N ° 5. She’s playing the role of a famous person trying to escape from the fame and attention, and making an unexpected meeting with a man who appears as a relief for her. In this ad, Nicole Kidman appears as an elegant woman, famous and successful. The notion of dream is really present as well as the symbol of love.

Finally, after Audrey Tautou TV spot where she played a romantic and olfactory intrigue on board of the Orient Express, Brad Pitt has been selected as the next muse for the perfume. This choice can seem to be original and unusual for a luxury woman perfume brand, but could be a good innovative strategy as Chanel always did since the launch of its famous perfume. Indeed, using a man as Brad Pitt allows the brand to play on a double side: the woman watching the ad see a man with a high seduction potential and wants to be the woman who can seduce him. Chanel No.5 can help the woman to reach this goal.

To sum-up, the advertisement around Chanel No.5 has evolved through the time to emphasize its iconic and unique image, and become the most famous perfume in the world. Based on the product features in a first time, and step by step evolving to link the product values with muses’ image, the brand has always succeeded to innovate in order to seduce its audience and develop its luxury image. The use of muses and the impact of Marylin Monroe intervention have allowed the brand to develop glamour, elegant and elitist values while promoting a unique “know-how”. The participation of big names from photography and cinema sector to develop the advertisements have improved the visual effects side and high quality design of commercials relying on the notion of dreams and esthetic.

However, sales of Chanel No.5 decreased by 4.4% in 2013 on French market ranked as the 4^th perfume most sold in the country. This assessment can be observed also in mature market as Japan or US and reveal the difficulties for the company to maintain the product on its top in a high competitive market. Maybe the new muse selected by Chanel, Gisele Bündchen, for its best seller product will boost the sales.

Finally, and to prove how big the perfume Chanel No.5 impacted our life, I will ask you to click on the link below to realize how important is the success of this perfume.

http://globometer.com/beaute-chanel.php

I will leave you on this thought: “A women who doesn’t wear perfume has no future”, Coco Chanel.

http://www.ozap.com/actu/gisele-bundchen-nouvelle-egerie-de-chanel-n-5/456645

http://inside.chanel.com/fr/no5

http://www.lesechos.fr/week-end/styles/0203857658898-chanel-n5-le-parfum-en-six-campagnes-1053594.php

Written by Sylvain Bougnoux

Dior brand strategy

Products

Christian Dior SA offers some products in different categories:

• Christian Dior Couture
• Wines and Spirits
• Fashion and Leather Goods
• Parfumes and Cosmetics
• Watches and Jewelry
• Selective Retailing

Logo

The logo of the company Dior is the name of the founder and fashion designer of the brand Christian Dior. The Dior logo represents a simple word mark with the brand name and using a Nicolas Cochin font. Despite the fact that the company is world-renowned in the luxury industry, the logo remains simple and straight-forward, reinforcing its ease of identification and being easily recognizable for consumers.

The Dior logo is associated with notions as luxury, glamour, prestige, sophistication and originality. It is also representative of the personality of its creator as many brands of luxury.

Regarding colors of Dior logo, the use of black and white color in it transmits a natural feeling of warmth, reinforcing the power of the overall design and the classy impression it gives.

Dior values

The company has made efforts to keep the same values promoted by its original founder Christian Dior. Indeed, Dior was primarily a female brand. After the World War 2, the designer wanted to “liberate” women from the horror of the war but also giving joy and lightness by creating elegant clothes with new design.

Dior’s company is also synonymous of dreams. The designer always wanted to reach the excellence in every pieces he created and it’s on the same motto that the company has reached the success known today. Know-how, respect of the client, and the willing to bring beauty for every woman are also values that define the company. Employees still carry these values in their works, by respecting the tradition and heritage of the company.

Though earlier Dior focused only on women, it diversified into products for men under the brand of Dior Homme, and for children under the brand of Baby Dior with the same aspect of perfectionism.

Even if creation directors have changed through the time, each one has contributed to the reputation of the company Dior that is one of the strongest brands in the luxury sector.

Finally, here is a diagram that can represent the Dior’s company values and association:

Brand personality

One efficient and clear way to assess the key elements of the Dior’s company personality can be done through a prism of the brand:

Even if other luxury brands can present the same aspects and elements than this prism, we can still figure out some differentiation in the spirit and message that Dior wants to communicate to its consumers.

Communication on brand personality

Dior as many fashion brands, communicate on its products but also on its brand through various supports and media.

Fashion magazines such as Vogue or Marie-Claire and TV spots are indispensables media for fashion brands as Dior, where we can find some ads focusing on their products rather than the brand itself.  The ad is always really elegant and sophisticated with quite often the appearance of a famous person being the “muse” of the brand. The logo is also present in a simple way, reflecting the strength of the brand with a clear recognition and association with French luxury and high quality products. If these ways of communicating remain more classical, where the consumer can easily rely on the values of the brand with a “dream” touch, the real power of Dior’s brand is the way it communicates on the brand itself and its history.

Indeed, if fashion shows are an occasion for luxury brands to highlight their own couture clothes and increase their reputation among consumers, Dior has developed through years a further way to develop its image of excellence and unique know-how.

A museum has been created in Granville in memory of Christian Dior where he spent his childhood. This exhibition shows some pieces created by the designer and promote the evolution of thebrand through an historical point of view.

The company has also developed the ability to create the buzz regularly by creating special events and adapting sales shops with new universe and concepts for a limited time:  A mini Fashion Theatre with the most emblematic Dior creations, a re-looking and exposition of the famous mall Harrods in London mixing French Savoir Faire and British charm, or the presentation of an exclusive film event by Bruce Weber, ‘Can I Make The Music Fly?’  for the opening of the new Dior Homme boutique in Miami. All these exceptional events contribute to the notion of dream and exclusivity related to the brand.

As a premium brand, Dior has released regular series of aspirational films in order to encourage online purchasing and strengthen its exclusivity image. In 2011, 4 short films based on the concept of “Four cities, Four women” with Marion Cotillard inspired from the Lady Dior bags. The latest one has been exclusively promoted on their Facebook page with an invitation to purchase the bag. These short movies enabled the brand to increase its aspirational image and conducted the consumers to express their “love” for the brand through numerous comments.

The communication action mentioned before is also part of a digital strategy that Dior has successfully established. Dior is present on many channels: Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Mobile application remaining the basic channels for digital strategy but also Instagram, Tumblr or Pinterest where only few luxury brands have already created some accounts. Through these channels, Dior has succeeded to create a unique link with its community offering VIP access to backstage scenes, exclusive stories and contents that focus on fans’ interests (make-up tips, new products released…). By offering original visual contents on various topics, the company increases the loyalty of its followers and remains coherent with its core values.

Dior is a luxury brand unique, which wants to be close to its customers. This luxury house has understood the importance of social media presence and seeks to interact with its community to expand its universe to Internet.

Cosmetics, the art of making money with beauty

« A woman without paint is like food without salt » said Plautus, a Roman philosopher. Old from more than 21 centuries, this quote still keeps all its meaning these days, where beauty and personal care products take up an important place in our day life. If today, cosmetics can be easily associated with body cream, shampoo, make up or fragrances… few of us could say that this market appear 12,000 years ago when Ancient Egyptians discovered healing abilities of scented oils.

Indeed, cosmetics have made a long journey through civilizations to become an industry generating €180 billion in 2012. If in 10,000 BC men and women in Ancient Egypt used cosmetics as an integral part of hygiene and health conditions, they also used plants such as rosemary, cedar, rose… in order to perform religious rituals. If first apparition of makeup in Egypt can be found in 4,000 BC, its spread reached the Chinese and Greek civilizations in a first time, and continued to expand through Roman, Indian or North African civilizations. Often cosmetics’ introduction in civilizations was viewed in a first time as extravagant and unneeded by many, as shown in the European Dark Ages time, when cosmetics almost disappeared from public knowledge.

However, change finally happened after European soldiers returned from the Crusades in the Middle East, bringing home new exotic products and knowledge. For the first time, perfumes were imported in Europe, knowing a huge success among the different aristocracies. From this point, Italy and France emerged as the main centers of cosmetics manufacturing thanks to the evolution of medicine, industry or chemistry. The modern notion of complex scent-making evolved in France, producing powerful perfumes to hide the pervasive stench. It’s only in 18^TH century, with the Age of Enlightenment, that perfumes became more delicate, revealing a return to the natural. Finally, the apparition of modern chemistry bringing through the blooming of modern industry in 19^th century knows an important revolution, changing the know-how and manufacturing process of the industry. Today, perfume industry is linked to the notion of dream, and artistic creation. People use it not only as a fragrance but for the enhancing image it confers to the individual.

The global cosmetics market can be divided in 6 product categories:

Concerning the Fragrance market, the market is expected to reach $43.6 billion by 2021 driven by emerging countries growth sales. Market growth is, however, inconsistent across various geographic zones, depending of living standards, consumer purchase power and economic situation of the country. Brazil is the most important market for 2013 with more than $6 billion with high consumption rate per inhabitant (Brazilian are using 3 times more perfumes in volume than USA consumers).

Finally, this growing market presents many actors owning several brands for some of them.  Main companies listed below are the key players on this market, but are also well involved in cosmetic industry. Among these companies, major ones are: LVMH, Coty Inc, Chanel SA, L’Oreal Group, Procter & Gamble, Avon Products or Estée Lauder, sharing an important part of the cake. One can only imagine how those numbers will increase in the years to come and how the market will evolve through time and tendencies.

In our next post, we will present you the segmentation of the perfume market and will go deeper on its analysis.

Written by Sylvain Bougnoux

literature:

http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/News/Consumer-Goods/Global-perfume-market-driven-by-the-demand-for-celebrity-inspired-scents/NI7161