Industry Issues 1 - Chanel

Learning objectives: You will study The Chanel ad campaign with consideration given to Industry issues, regulation, marketing, promotion.

Key terms: 

Advertising spokesperson: In advertising terms, this is someone who is employed to promote, speak about and be the face of the brand. The are usually high profile celebrities who will have audience appeal, for example Keira Knightley.

Buzz marketing: This can also be termed more simply buzz and is the term for word of mouth marketing. It is the interaction of consumers which creates a positive association, excitement or anticipation about a product or a service.

Globalization: Imagine the vast spectrum of all the cultures in the world. Listen to the music—from the gentle drum beats of Africa, to the melodic didgeridoo of Australia, to the scream of the electric guitar. Taste the curry from India, the coconut milk from Thailand, the cheeseburger from the United States. Now imagine that all these cultures are compressed into one super-culture.

Global brand: For a brand to become global depends on whether or not it generates a certain amount of sales outside its home country.

Key figure: 

Mario Testino: He is a well respected and high profile Peruvian photographer famous for his work in Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines, his photographs of royalty and Kate Moss.

His style is described as luxury realism.

There is an enormous existing fan base for the Coco Mademoiselle product, for Chanel and their ad campaigns.

The product is promoted through big word of mouth promotion via social network sites - blogs and Facebook especially.

Websites - official fan base e.g. Lachanelphile.com

These are the areas we need to consider:

• Production
• Distribution and exhibition )where relevant)
• Marketing and promotion
• Regulation issues
• Global implications
• Relevant historical background and context - you should keep this part brief.

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Chanel Coco Mademoiselle campaign

This campaign is a multi-layered advertising and promotional campaign comprising a series of print advertisements, two TV adverts, interactive digital performance adverts and a high profile promotion of the campaign itself. For this reason, it is a rich example to study for A level.

There have been two linked campaigns, both using Keira Knightly as the spokesperson for the brand. These were created and produced in house by Chanel. In 2007 there were a few print advertisements and a television advert and in 2011 there were two print adverts and an extended television advert. In 2007 and 2011, there were also other promotional films broadcast before and during the campaign.

Both television advertisements were directed by Joe Wright, he also directed Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice and Attonement, thus reinforcing Chanel's desire for high production, cinematic advertisements which would reflrct the sophistication of the brand.

This is further reinforced by the fact that Chanel also used cinematographer Seamus McGarvey.

Karl Largerfeld, Chanel's fashion designer, also helped to create the campaign, which has close links with Coco Chanel herself and was filmed in her apartment in Paris.

The 2007 print campaigns were photographed by Dominique Isserman, the 2011 campaign was shopt by Mario Testino. The print advertisements are directly linked to the audio visual adverts and we can view footage of the shoots on YouTube.

To create a brand identity and to establish links between the two campaigns, Joss Stone recorded the soundtracks for both adverts. L.O.V.E. by Nat King Cole in 2007 and It's a Man's World in 2011. 

This reflects Chanel's aim to appeal to a young target audience with this fragrance.

Although the creative work was handled in house, for the 2007 campaign an interactive agency, Vansken Group was employed to generate buzz marketing prior to the launch of the main campaign.

Marketing:

This is an age of competitive marketing and marketing campaigns themselves are promoted to audiences before and during the campaign launch. This is especially true of high budget and high profile campaigns like Coco Mademoiselle. These more sophisticated brands had been reluctant to use to use new media platforms, preferring instead more tried and tested formats, but Chanel's most recent campaign effectively employs the Internet and digital media to sell the brand. The aim of the campaign in 2007 and 2011 was to create a global buzz.
The following marketing devices were employed to raise audience awareness:

For the 2007 advertisements:

Online advertising on specific websites and search engine marketing on Google and Yahoo.

the creation of a special website mademoiselle-forever.com where users could watch video clips and have a virtual tour of Coco Chanel's apartment.

Chanel actively recruited influential bloggers from more than fifteen countries to help generate a buzz, giving them previews of the making of the advert and inviting a select few to Paris to receive a tour of Coco Chanel's apartment and a preview of new adverts.

Accessing digital media was seen to be important.
Maureen Chiquet, global chief executive of Chanel is quoted as saying: ' We all know the next generation of consumers is consuming information this way...we can't afford not to be there.'

Although the advertisements were created in house by Chanel, they recruited a digital advertising agency, Vansken, to help with the global marketing of the campaign. They produced a street marketing campaign in Paris, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo with projections on shop fronts of images from the adverts and quotes.
the windows offered interactive opportunities for passers by.
tinyurl.com/cd25osb
The Vanksen site states: "The aim of this campaign was to generate buzz worldwide around the New Coco Mademoiselle TV ad starring Keira Knightley, the target being the following : young women aged from 25 to 35".

Chanel also created a series of short films featuring Keira Knightley about the making of the advertisements and focusing on specific elements; for example, the jewellery, the dress, the actress, etc
tinyurl.com/buanjyy
tinyurl.com/cc57ba6

Task 1: Answer this question 200 - 300 words.
What evidence is there to suggest that Chanel Coco Mademoiselle is a global brand?

For the 2011 adverts, there was: 

A similar word of mouth promotion via social networking and fan sites, for example lachanelfile.com

A teaser advert was released featuring Keira Knightley in the iconic catsuit, standing next to the Ducati motorbike in the courtyard of a sophisticated Parisian building.

The Chanel website included a series of short interviews with Keira Knightley discussing the perfume and the advert.

The site also includes short films about the making of the audio visual advert and the photoshoot for the print advertisements. These marketing devices very clearly position Keira Knightley as the spokesperson for the brand.

Task 1: 
Write a paragraph about each of the following marketing issues:

• Chanel produced big pre-advert launch campaigns; Teaser, press releases, stills. Why did they do this?

• There was a release of mini movies featuring Keira Knightley as brand spokesperson and celebrity endorser. 
• How important is this person to the campaign?

• Consider branding, impact and audience appeal. Why was it important to use Joss Stone for the music, also consider who the director, photographers and creative influences were.