Advertising has a purpose to make emotional
Figure 1 (Models, 2009)
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connections at the core of storytelling. Consumer’s are interested in relevant advertising to update and captivate them. (Smith, 2011) As advertisement is used to enhance brands and raise awareness (Smith, 2011) Calvin Klein have crafted their ‘Euphoria’ fragrance campaign to fulfil these goals. Steven Meisel shot this for Calvin Klein’s 2009 Fall/ Winter collection. (Meisel, 2009) The brand’s idea is to project a minimalist but sensual nature and therefore have produced a bold image with limited subject matter. This campaign connects with their target market through the art of storytelling, encouraging consumers to actively and emotionally relate. The image clearly presents a nude woman wrapped in flowing fabric. Using connotation to adapt on the meaning, it became clear that the interpretation could vary. Does the singular figure suggest a strong, independent woman waiting for love or a woman besotted by her male companion? As Calvin Klein is a luxury, classic brand with a prominent lingerie collection, this fragrance captivates the more lustful but luxurious female consumer. Subsequently, the figure stands strong presenting passion in her eyes, specifically highlighting woman that would purchase this fragrance. In comparison to previous campaigns, ‘Euphoria’ stands out as being more sensual and indulgent. ‘Sheer Beauty’ introduced in 2010 presents a more subtle and soft essence, accentuating the brands minimal and muted element. However, the ‘IN2U’ campaign equally expresses intimacy but projects a more casual, laid-back approach. ‘IN2U’ has been worn day and night highlighting the casual and seductive brand.
Figure 2 (Designscene, 2011)
Figure 3 (ThePerfumeGirl, 2007)
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Figure 4 (GeorgiaO’KeeffeMuseum. 2011b)
Figure 5 (GeorgiaO’KeeffeMuseum. 2011b)
Figure 6 (Heindorff, 2000)
Figure 7 (Columbia, 2014)
Figure 8 (MetropolitanMusuemOfArt, 2000)
Deconstructing the brand onion identified in ‘Marketing Fashion’, (Posner, 2011) allowed me to depict factors that built up the Calvin Klein brand. Its essence presents a premium brand known for their luxury apparel. Calvin Klein’s brand in action projects minimalist casualwear expressing upcoming trends, besides having diverse underwear and eyewear collections. Their advertisement, especially for their underwear tends to be provocative but minimal. This is further adopted within the campaign with limited clothing and a sensual nature. The ad successfully portrays the brands energetic and seductive personality, whilst displaying their confident and exclusive style. However, they fail to depict the casual and soft element. Furthermore, consumers connect through visual aesthetics. The more visually exciting the campaign appears, the more likely consumers engage. The dominant flow of material disperses into the eyes of others. This diffusion of fabric is associated with abstraction as the subject matter becomes more unusual, relating to the 1940s/1950s abstract expressionism movement. (Ormiston, 2014) The folded and layered fabric reminded me of Georgia O’keeffe’ artwork, where abstraction formed her expressive language. (Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, 2011a)
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O’Keeffe crafted close-up flower paintings, highlighting obscure detail and beauty beneath petals. (GeorgiaO’Keeffe.net, 2011) Her work underlines a connection with the campaign. Both express texture and detail through layering, creating depth as darker areas form shadows. Simultaneously, the consistent flow of material and petals generate an illusion of movement, similarly reflecting the elegance of dance. Style icon Martha Graham captivates the beauty of movement. This image of her performance ‘Night Journey’, executes expressive art through embodiment (MarthaGrahamDanceCompany, 2012), crafting similar creases and layers to the campaign as her dress follows the pattern of movement. This lightweight, graceful style relates to Mariano Fortuny’s ‘Delphos’ design, highlighting a wavelike consistency. (MetropolitianMuseumOfArt, 2000) The rich, royal purple colour palette further adds a theatrical and daring quality to the ad. It suits the luxurious product as purple is referred to as the colour of success and pretentious wealth (Garfield, 2000), expressed with the extravagantly displayed material.
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Additionally, floral trends took dominant form within fashion, controlling the runway ,in 2009. (Vogue, 2009) Calvin Klein adopted this clean, fresh trend using material to craft floral references with delicate folds, angelic ripples and overall flared lobes that petals generally portray. Simultaneously, the floral trend illustrates the warm, sweet scent. Compositionally, the model has been positioned near the frame allowing the draped material to become central, this works well as it displays a sense of energy and emotion. The simplicity allows the fragrance bottle to become predominant against the darker surface. As it’s positioned directly under the ripples the fabric almost directs consumers to the bottle. In ‘The Fashion System’, Barthes identified common factors of a fashion photograph. (Barthes, 1983) This campaign presents a literal representation (60%) and romanticized strategy (40%) with an obvious composition of a model displaying fragrance references, and narrative presented through atmosphere. This works well for Calvin Klein as consumers can clearly identify the product, whilst relating to the ad.
Figure 10 (Vogue, 2009)
Figure 9 (Vogue, 2009)
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‘Euphoria’ refers to a feeling of intense happiness and exhilaration. This suits the ad as it exhibits an enticing tone of voice, demonstrated with emotion from the model, whilst her dress introduces liveliness. Advertisement should be precise, displaying limited words. The text just defines and justifies the meaning of the image. (Crow, 2010) The advertisement displays this, with the discrete fragrance name and logo, adjusted to a small-scale for the powerful subject matter to dominate. This ad was featured in magazines including Elle and Vogue. Elle’s demographics highlight their target market, based around woman aging from 18-49, with nearly half being single. (Elle,2014) Vogue follow a similar pattern with female readers having an average age of 33. (CondeNast, 2014) Therefore, this ad fits in perfectly, focusing on the suitable target market, whilst enticing woman to purchase with current trends and products being highlighted.
Overall, the powerful character works well for the intended audience. The striking aspect engages the consumer, allowing them to delve into the story, whilst extracting ideas about the sweet, daring scent. The displayed beauty of the dress causes woman to envy its characteristics, encouraging them to purchase. However, the campaign doesn’t work as well for the brand. It expresses its provocative characteristics portrayed with their underwear products, but doesn’t present the brands clean and muted colour palette, or casual aesthetics. It’s aimed at emphasising Calvin Klein’s feminine and provoking element.
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References Cited
Bibliography: Books: Barthes, R., 1983. The Fashion System. First Edition. Canada. McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Barthes, R., 1983. The Fashion System. First Edition. Canada. McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. Conde Nast., 2014. Print. [Online]. Conde Nast. Available at: http://digital-assets. condenast.co.uk.s3.amazonaws.com/static/condenast/VOGUE%20Media%20 Pack%2020022015.pdf [Accessed: 27th February 2015]. Crow, D., 2010. Visible Signs: an introduction to semiotics in the visual art. Lausanne. AVA Academia. Elle., 2014. Elle Demographics [Online]. Elle. Available at: http://www.ellemediakit.com/ r5/showkiosk.asp?listing_id=4165173 [Accessed: 27th February 2015]. Garfield, S., 2000. Mauve. London. Faber and Faber Ltd. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum., 2011a. Abstraction. [Online] Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Available at: http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/abstraction.html. [Accessed: 26th February 2015]. GeorgiaO’Keeffe.net., 2011. Georgia O’Keeffe and her paintings. [Online] Geor giaO’Keeffe.net Available at: http://www.georgiaokeeffe.net [Accessed: 26th February 2015]. MarthaGrahamDanceCompany., 2012. History [Online]. MarthaGrahamDanceCompany. Available at: http://marthagraham.org/about-us/our-history/ [Accessed: 12th March 2015]. Meisel, S., 2009. Calvin Klein F/W Euphoria Fragrance [Online]. Models. Available at: http://models.com/Work/calvin-klein-calvin-klein-fw-09-euphoria-fragrance [Accessed: 26th February 2015]. Ormiston, R., 2014. 50 Art movements you should know, from impressionism to perfor mance art. Munich: Prestel Verlag Posner, H., 2011. Marketing Fashion. London. Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Smith, P.R., and Zook, Z., 2011. Marketing Communications. London. Kogan Page. Vogue., 2009. Spring Florals. [Online]. Vogue. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/ fashion/trends/2009-spring-summer/spring-florals [Accessed: 26th February 2015].
Illustration References: Figure 1: Models., 2009. Calvin Klein F/W 09 Euphoria Fragrance. [Online]. Models. Available at: http://models.com/work/calvin-klein-calvin-klein-fw-09-euphoria-fragrance [Accessed: 18th March 2015]. Figure 2: Designscene, 2011. Daphne Groeneveld for Calvin Klein Sheer Beauty Fragrance. Design Scene. Figure 3: ThePerfumeGirl., 2007., Calvin Klein CK IN2U Fragrance. [Online]. ThePerfumeGirl. Available at: http://www.theperfumegirl.com/perfumes/fragrances/calvin-klein/ calvin klein-ck-in2u-him/ [Accessed: 18th March 2015]. Figure 4/Figure 5: Georgia O’Keeffe Museum., 2011b. Natural and still life forms. New Mexico. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Figure 6: Heindorff, A. M., 2000. Georgia O’Keeffe. Switzerland. Victor Manta. Figure 7: Columbia, D. P., and Hirsch, J., 2014. Martha Graham in 1940. New York. New York Social Diary. Figure 8: MetropolitanMusuemOfArt., 2000. Heilbrunn Timeline Of Art History. [Online]. MetropolitanMuseumOfArt. Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works- of-art/2001.702a [Accessed: 18th March 2015]. Figure 9/ Figure 10: Vogue., 2009. Spring Florals. [Online]. Vogue. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/trends/2009-spring-summer/ spring-florals [Accessed: 26th February 2015].
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Crow, D., 2010. Visible Signs: an introduction to semiotics in the visual art. Lausanne. AVA Academia. Garfield, S., 2000. Mauve. London. Faber and Faber Ltd. Ormiston, R., 2014. 50 Art movements you should know, from impressionism to performance art. Munich: Prestel Verlag Posner, H., 2011. Marketing Fashion. London. Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Smith, P.R., and Zook, Z., 2011. Marketing Communications. London. Kogan Page. Bauxbaum, G., 2005. Icons Of Fashion: The 20th Century. New York. Prestel Verlag.
Additional Sources: Conde Nast., 2014. Print. [Online]. Conde Nast. Available at: http://digital-assets.condenast. co.uk.s3.amazonaws.com/static/condenast/VOGUE%20Media%20Pack%2020022015.pdf [Accessed: 27th February 2015]. Elle., 2014. Elle Demographics [Online]. Elle. Available at: http://www.ellemediakit.com/r5/ showkiosk.asp?listing_id=4165173 [Accessed: 27th February 2015]. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum., 2011a. Abstraction. [Online] Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Available at: http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/abstraction.html. [Accessed: 26th February 2015]. GeorgiaO’Keeffe.net., 2011. Georgia O’Keeffe and her paintings. [Online] GeorgiaO’Keeffe. net Available at: http://www.georgiaokeeffe.net [Accessed: 26th February 2015]. MarthaGrahamDanceCompany., 2012. History [Online]. MarthaGrahamDanceCompany. Available at: http://marthagraham.org/about-us/our-history/ [Accessed: 12th March 2015]. Meisel, S., 2009. Calvin Klein F/W Euphoria Fragrance [Online]. Models. Available at: http:// models.com/Work/calvin-klein-calvin-klein-fw-09-euphoria-fragrance [Accessed: 26th February 2015]. Vogue., 2009. Spring Florals. [Online]. Vogue. Available at: 2http://www.vogue.co.uk/ fashion/trends/2009-spring-summer/spring-florals [Accessed: 26th February 2015].