VOLUME FIVE
ALICE HARRISON advert analysis
CREATIVE NETWORKS Fashion communication and promotion nO567539 another escape
1 The One That I Want With the rise in recognition and acceptability of the macro trend, feminism, brands have realised the potential to gain popularity and consumers by promoting this cultural movement within their brand/advertising. Brands such as Chanel realise that to stay contemporary and successful within the market, they need to mould their ideologies to fit with the societal views of the decade, while still maintaining their brand values. The Chanel brand connotes the qualities of the founder, Coco Chanel. Mademoiselle Chanel was renowned for her qualities such as, strength, elegance and ambition. These specific qualities have been filtered into the brand essence and continue to be promoted by Karl Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld makes this decision in order to satisfy the target consumers who worshiped Coco Chanel by continuing to carry her legacy attached to the brand. Chanel No.5 is arguably the product, which has ensured Chanel’s remembrance. The perfume, unveiled in 1921, idolising the style of the era with its art deco bottle, was treated as liquid gold rather than a scent in a bottle. In more recent years, Chanel has used short films as a means of advertising the fragrance. The first being ‘No.5 The Film’ directed by Baz Luhrmann.
FIG. 4 NO.5 THE FLM FIG. 5 MOULIN ROUGE
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The film acts as an extended trailer for a film that was never made. The method of advertising through short film acts as contrast against producing print advertisements, as broadcast enables the communication of the variety of emotions induced by scent. These emotions are otherwise challenged or lost through the two-dimensional element of print advertisements. The short film approach proved a successful method of communicating the brand essence and the Chanel woman; therefore Chanel continued to use the method to advertise many of their iconic fragrances. ‘No.5 The Film’ and ‘Train de Nuit’ are both Chanel films created in the previous decade to advertise the No.5 fragrance. They connote the ideology of the representation of females in the 2000’s.
No.5 The Film’ was created in 2004 and directed by Baz Luhrmann. It features Nicole Kidman as the protagonist and references the theatricality of his cinematic success ‘Moulin Rouge!’ Kidman flees from her responsibilities and feeds her desire for romance. The contrasting factor between ‘No.5 The Film’ (2004) and ‘The One That I Want’ (2014) is the final choice made by the Chanel woman – career or love. Luhrmann knew that to successfully target the females of the time, he had to cater for the societal views of the decade. Within the ten years between ‘No.5 The Film’ and ‘The One That I Want’ the views of society have changed by becoming more accepting of females wanting the best of both worlds – a family and a career.
5 CHANEL NO.5
Storytelling is a technique used by Chanel to communicate brand expression through the No.5 narrative. The narrative differs depending on the Chanel woman the brand feel should be communicated in the specific day and age. It isn’t so much about the fragrance but rather about the woman who wears it. The symbol of the fragrance is so much greater than the idea of a product. This is why it is so important to communicate a woman who contains the ideologies of the society at the time but still embodies the brand essence of Chanel. Baz Luhrmann was once again called upon to direct the
7 CHANEL NO.5
2014 campaign of ‘The One That I Want’. The campaign features Gisele Bündchen as the protagonist and acts as an update of ‘No.5 The Film’ by representing her as a ‘real woman’. Luhrmann uses his cinematic successes as the inspiration for his Chanel campaigns as film directing is his true profession. This time he took inspiration from ‘The Great Gatsby’ by using the same location of The Hamptons, the same aerial view of New York’s Queensboro Bridge, the same toxic fascination with luxury and nightlife and finally the same final decision made by the protagonist. The cultural references embodied within the 2014 campaign hints upon
feminism as Bündchen embodies an independent female with a career, a child, a personal life and a relationship. The narrative sees Bündchen struggle to balance these aspects representing her as a ‘real woman’ rather than something unattainable – a common connotation of fragrance advertisements. Contrastingly to the 2004 ending of ‘No.5 The Film’, in the 2014 campaign Bündchen draws a line under her career and ultimately chooses love after reading a letter from her husband stating ‘You’re the one that I want’ while Lo Fang’s beautiful rendition of the Grease classic almost narrates the scene.
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The cultural referencing to feminism is becoming more apparent within Chanel’s branding. A month prior to the unveiling of ‘The One That I Want’ saw Karl Lagerfeld lead a feminist protest to end his S/S 15 catwalk. The choice to introduce Bündchen as make-up free embodies both trend and feminism combined. 2014 saw the rise in natural faces conquering our social media accounts.
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The ‘No-Makeup Selfie’ awareness movement for Cancer Research is responsible regarding the popularity of the trend. Millions of women took to the movement while using it as a chance to empower themselves as females. Designers picked up on this no-makeup trend and therefore it was seen in S/S 15 shows. The no-makeup trend was showcased by brands such as Marc Jacobs, Christopher Kain, Alexander Wang and Balmain to promote Feminism and the empowerment of women. Chanel realised that to promote feminism and Bündchen as a ‘real woman’ they would need to partake.
9 CHANEL NO.5
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fig. 16 CHANEL S/S 2003
1O CHANEL NO.5
Although the referencing to feminism enables the targeting of a wider demographic, it is obvious through the styling of the advert that Chanel is still targeting the luxury market. The hobby of surfing is chosen specifically due to the fact Chanel, under Karl Lagerfeld’s power, has included surfboards within advertisements such as the S/S 2003 campaigns. To style Bündchen in sportswear with no make up to volumised hair and a shimmering gold dress in less than a minute exemplifies a paradox Chanel is oh so famous for. Paradoxes are in Chanel’s DNA, even in the S/S 2003 campaign, the surfboards are paired with Chanel suits – a contrasting composition. Paradoxes are so apparent within the brand essence of Chanel due to the founder’s iconic style. Coco Chanel was forever swapping from an elegant tailored suit to a beautiful embellished dress. Mademoiselle Chanel is embodied within the advertisements the representation of the Chanel woman and the styling and taste, which informs every scene.
I believe Chanel’s campaign of ‘The One That I Want’ works successfully for the brand by conforming to the societal ideologies of the present and representing a ‘real’ woman, a prospect undeniably overlooked within fragrance advertising. To hint at a macro trend within a campaign can somewhat seem to cheapen the brand as it starts to target at those of the mainstream who are also supporters of the movement. However the intended target audience is maintained through the luxurious styling and locations of the advertisement. Feminism is already becoming a trend for the 2015 fragrance market regarding advertising, I feel this Chanel campaign sets an example for what other brands are trying to achieve.
Coco Chanel
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References Lisa Armstrong, 2014, E xclusive: Baz Luhrmann on his Chanel No.5 ad [online], The Telegraph, Available at: https://now.ntu.ac.uk/d2l/lor/viewer/view.d2l?ou=6605&loIdentId=25435 [20th March 2015] Katy Young, 2014, The history of Chanel No.5 [online], The Telegraph, Available at: http://fashion.telegraph. co.uk/beauty/news-features/TMG10862749/The-history-of-Chanel-No.5.html [20th March 2015] Sunhee Grinnell, 2014, A Conversation with Baz Luhrmann on Chanel No. 5’s The One That I Want [online], Vanity Fair, Available at: http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2014/09/a-conversation-with-baz-luhrmann-onchanel-no-5-s-the-one-that-i-want [20th March 2015] Lisa Niven, 2014, WATCH: Chanel No.5’s New Era [online], Vogue, Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/ beauty/2014/10/14/chanel-no5-campaign-with-gisele-bundchen [20th March 2015] Lisa Niven, Spring/Summer 2014: Raw Beauty [online]. Vogue, Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/ beauty/2014/03/26/raw-beauty-spring-summer-2014-no-makeup-trend [22nd March 2015] Sarah Kimberley, Chanel No 5 launches epic ad by Baz Luhrmann featuring Gisele Bündchen [online], Campaign, Available at: http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/1317210/ [22nd March 2015]
Figures Figure 1. Luhrmann, Baz (2014) [Photograph] The One That I Want. Available at: http://assets.nydailynews. com/polopoly_fs/1.1972339!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/pa2014-01-00306f4e2101007-w640.jpg Figure 2. Luhrmann, Baz (2014) [Photograph] The One That I Want. Available at: http://m.cdn.blog.hu/ne/ neszeszer/image//chanel-no5-gisele-bundchen-ad-campaign-photo.jpg Figure 3. Luhrmann, Baz (2014) [Photograph] The One That I Want. Available at: http://www.leparisien.fr/ images/2014/10/15/4215327_chanel_545x341.jpg Figure 4. 2004. From: Chanel No.5 The Film. Directed by Baz Luhrmann. [Film still] USA. Bazmark Films. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hcaaKhGL00 [23rd March 2015] Figure 5. Luhrmann, Baz (2001) [Photograph] Moulin Rouge. Availale at: https://insightandout.files. wordpress.com/2011/10/moulin-rouge-nicole-kidman.png Figure 6. Luhrmann, Baz (2013) [Photograph] The Great Gatsby. Available at: http://cdn.thedailybeast.com/ content/witw/articles/2013/05/10/the-problem-with-the-great-gatsby-s-daisy-buchanan/jcr:content/body/ inlineimage_1.img.800.jpg/1368175565744.cached.jpg Figure 7. Luhrmann, Baz. (2014) [Photograph] The One That I Want. Available at: https://s-media-cache-ak0. pinimg.com/736x/7b/8e/1e/7b8e1ec93dd96e1ffa12b2781fa3561d.jpg Figure 8. Luhrmann, Baz. (2014) [Photograph] The One That I Want. Available: http://s3.r29static.com/bin/ entry/159/x,80/1305254/gisele-no-5-embed-v.jpg Figure 9. Luhrmann, Baz. (2013) [Photograph] The Great Gatsby. Available at: https://uk.pinterest.com/ pin/289989663482437311/
Figure 10. Luhrmann, Baz. (2013) [Photograph] The One That I Want. Available at: http://cdn.images. express.co.uk/img/dynamic/12/590x/secondary/210999.jpg Figure 11. Unknown (2014) [Photograph] Alexander Wang. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/ beauty/2014/03/26/raw-beauty-spring-summer-2014-no-makeup-trend/gallery/1026457 Figure 12. Unknown (2014) [Photograph] Marc Jacobs. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/ beauty/2014/09/12/marc-jacobs-spring-summer-2015-no-make-up/gallery/1239471 Figure 13. Unknown (2014) [Photograph] Marc Jacobs. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/ beauty/2014/09/12/marc-jacobs-spring-summer-2015-no-make-up/gallery/1239466 Figure 14. Unknown (2014) [Photograph] Balmain. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/2014/03/26/ raw-beauty-spring-summer-2014-no-makeup-trend/gallery/1051445 Figure 15. Simon Lekias (2013) [Photograph] Available at: http://www.phoebeclelland.com/wp-content/ uploads/2015/01/a9a0a5de41f2a2468f4d6cc7799e4426.jpg Figure 16. Unknown (2003) [Photograph] Available at: https://thatianacampelo.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/ chanel-surf.jpg Figure 17. Luhrmann, Baz. (2014) [Photograph] The One That I Want. Available at: http://cdni.condenast. co.uk/1280x1920/a_c/chanel-beauty-5-vogue-14oct14-pr-b.jpg Figure 18. Unknown. [Photograph] Coco Chanel. Available at: https://londonoa.files.wordpress. com/2013/01/1920s-coco-chanel.jpg Word Count: 1094