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Gurkiran Chana 26014016 Fashion Management & Communication
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Brand Identity pages 8-9
Executive summary pages 4-5
Introduction pages 6-7
Brand Consum 10-1
Contents Page
Communications mix pages 14-15
Brand Positioning pages 12-13
Balmain Army pages 16-17
nsumers pages 0-11
Wolves Campaign pages 20-21
Social media pages 18-19
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Photographer: Steven Klein Cited from vogue.com (2016)
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Balmain fashion house dictates its own style and creates its own rules. Today the first iconic flagship house of the brand on Rue Francois Ler, Paris, is a place of worship, where a true fashion empire entwines style and tradition with high technology and has the constant desire to progress. Everything is here: from feminine models, where every detail breathes sophisticated elegance, to the dynamic models of high style, that others look to as a reference.
Cited from the Official Balmain Website
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Cited from the Official Balmain Website
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Cited from ‘missmonetdotnet wordpress blog (2016
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Pierre Balmain (1914 - 1982) from a small alpine village in the Savoie region of France, is associated with the elite group of visionary designers that advised French fashion to its enaissance after World War two. Having briefly studied architecture Balmain chose to begin a career in fashion as an assistant to master couturier Lucien Lelong, working alongside Christian Dior and Hubert de Givenchy. In the autumn of 1945 Balmain left Lelong to establish his own fashion house. Balmain believed in fashion that ‘exuded elegance and simplicity and would stand the test of time and created pieces that would universally celebrate the human form’ (Wikipedia, November 2016). His aesthetic was to create simplistic, glamorous looks that radiated style without being flamboyant and ostentatious.
After Balmain’s death in 1982, the house has been managed by an array of designers, who have upheld the respect of the foundations and traditions of the house while also offering a modern balance to the house. These designers consist of Erik Mortensen, Herve Pierre, Oscar de la Renta, Laurent Mercier and Christophe Decarnin. Balmain currently has four flagship stores in Paris, London, Macau and New York, and stores in over 42 countries. In 2011 Olivier Rousteing was named as Balmain’s new designer, since then his commercially acclaimed collections have driven the label on an upward advance. Rousteing incorporates the houses eminent expertise of tailoring, embroidery and traditional techniques of couture into his collections. As Pierre Balmain said his first objective is “to always dress women in the right look for the right moment” (Balmain official website), Rousteing constructs designs that embody the way women of this generation are dressing.
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Cited from the Official Balmain Website
Brand Identit
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A company’s brand identity is how that business wants to be perceived by consumers. Balmain uses the founder Pierre Balmain’s surname as the brand name. This French name represents the country of their origin. It also evokes the brands specific style, craftsmanship and quality to the consumer by the reputation of their name. The brands logo is one of simplicity using a specific typeface each time, showing continuity within the brand and to highlight the style of the brand; simple but creative. Pierre Balmain believed “dressmaking is the architecture of movement” (Margo Seaman, 2016). His aim was to beautify the world like an architect, entwining the relationship between architecture and couture, something that Balmain emphasised throughout the brand. The brand is most acclaimed for Pierre Balmain’s signature ‘Jolie Madame’ style. This contrasted to the practical looks of Balmain’s time and the new style immediately became popular. Women were eager to free themselves of the remaining traces of wartime hardship and embrace Balmain’s boldly feminine opulent style. The brand’s mission is “to always dress women in the right look for the right moment” (Balmain official website). Formerly considered to be a high fashion exclusive brand, Balmain has broken free of traditional branding. Creative director, Olivier Rousteing’s vision is to launch a digital revolution for the brand by trying new marketing tactics, such as social media. In four years, Rousteing has transformed the Parisian style, exclusive fashion brand, to a democratic and international powerhouse. The late President of Balmain, Alan Hivelin, desired to make the brand international by creating a global, strong and powerful empire. Rousteing’s goal “in the next years is making sure that the name of the brand is something that every continent will know” (Imran Amed, 2015). Balmain has for the last nine years been rebuilding the brand, where they have focused on building a strong wholesale ready-to-wear activity for both women and men. The Brand believes in tailoring couture items that hone in on embroidery and craftsmanship for really powerful individuals.
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Brand
Photographer: Steven Klein Model: Naomi Campbell Cited from harpersbazaar.com (2016) A brand consumer is an individual who buys products for personal use, someone who can be influenced by marketing. Balmain clothing is about high-octane glamour, and Rousteings’ most acclaimed creations include form-fitting dresses, embellished with patterns of a Fabergé egg, saying that his vision for the customer is one of confidence. Even when the skin is covered, he says, “Balmain is not about hiding, its about showing” (Hannah Marriott, 2015). Though this is contrasting to the androgynous, understated silhouette of fashion in the most recent years, it has certainly appealed to the young, international and moneyed. Balmain clothing is not for the faint-hearted due to its tight revealing clothing and expensive pricing of dresses being priced well into the thousands. Olivier Rousteing told Business of Fashion that, “Balmain is a luxury label of expense and exclusivity that only a few can afford but I also believe that fashion should be inclusive” (Lauren Sherman, 2015).
Photographer: Steven Klein Model: Cindy Crawford Cited from harpersbazaar.c
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Klein d aar.com (2016)
Photographer: Steven Klein Model: Claudia Schiffer Cited from harpersbazaar.com (2016)
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Brand Positioning Brand positioning is how a brand is different from its competitors and where it currently sits in the financial market. ‘Balmain’s turnover is around £24 million, double the amount reported in 2009 and a far cry from the company’s nadir in 2004, when it filed for bankruptcy protection’ (Alexander Fury, 2016). Balmain’s profile has increased exponentially over the years since Rousteing became creative director for the brand. Rousteing being the first designer to reach a million followers on Instagram, Rousteing’s youth and famous fans, who he names ‘Balmain Army’, teamed with an H&M collaboration in 2015 that brought global awareness, have associated to a newfound interest in the Parisian fashion house. Balmain’s unique selling point is that the brand ambassadors known as the ‘Balmain Army’ is ethnically diverse, showing consumers that the brand is ethical encouraging them to support the brand. Rousteing believes that the rest of the industry is missing out if it fails to follow suit. Balmain has its eyes on expansion, key markets include Italy, China, South Korea and the Middle East with a stock market flotation the eventual goal.
Photographer: Ioulex Cited from newyorker.com (2015)
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Cited from independent.co.uk (2015) The communications mix refers to specific methods used to promote the company or its products to targeted customers. The traditional marketing mix consists of advertising, direct marketing, sales promotions, public relations and personal selling. When Olivier Rousteing was appointed Creative Director, his vision was simple, to communicate through social media while keeping the DNA of Balmain. Olivier Rousteing is good acquaintances with celebrities such as the Kardashians, and recruits them for his fashion show audiences and advertising campaigns. As a result of this acquaintance Balmain caused genuine riots when the brand collaborated with the mass retailer H&M for a clothes range in November 2015. The H&M store on London’s Regent Street included
a phalanx of police to manage the overwhelming crowds. Hacan Anderson, a spokesman for H&M claimed that “the interest for this launch has exceeded all previous collaborations, both in-store and online� (Bibby Sowray, 2015). Balmain had heavily promoted their collaboration with H&M by drip feeding teasers as early as May 2015. Several high-profile models were involved with the advertising campaigns such as Gigi Hadid, Jourdan Dunn and Kendall Jenner, who have over 50 million Instagram followers between them, creating a high exposure for the campaign. The main video campaign featured on Television included Kendall Jenner leading a futuristic subway dance-off and Olivier Rousteing orchestrating the trains through the fancy train station.
Communicati
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Cited from h&m.com Rousteing said, “I love Instagram because my followers can be part of the Balmain life. Now, with this H&M collaboration, they will get the chance to finally wear the pieces for themselves� (Lauren Sherman, 2015). The classic H&M customer is not the classic Balmain customer. Also the Balmain x H&M pieces are not Balmain pieces which usually sell for thousands. But as Balmain is a luxury brand, the key to manufacturing desire exists in the tension between being highly visible and exclusive simultaneously. The reason behind the H&M collaboration was to make the Balmain customer see how everyone wants Balmain but cannot have it.
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Balmain Army
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Cited from Kim Kardashian West Instagram (2016)
Rousteing’s aim of capturing a wider audience for the Balmain brand became a reality when he formed the ‘Balmain Army’. The group of brand ambassadors included pop and hip-hop icons such as Kanye West and Rihanna, as well as Instagram famous figures such as the Kardashian family. The development of the ‘Balmain Army’ has ensured that Balmain can reach a global audience, most of which targeted the younger demographic. The brand and brand ambassadors collectively reach upwards of 47 million followers, dwarfing the Instagram accounts of brands like Chanel and Givenchy which have 3.3 million and 1.8 million followers. The Balmain brand itself has over 1.2 million followers at a disproportionately low investment (Imran Amed, 2015). The reason behind Balmain’s involvement with social media such as Instagram is because creative director Rousteing believes that, “Instagram is all about a population that is not only the front row of a fashion show, today it is as important as the front row, having young people looking at your shows, looking at your fashion and supporting you. It is a new way of communication”. It is a beneficial technique of PR communication as this digital push is achieved with disproportionately low investment and reaches a global audience for the brand.
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Photographer: Monica Feudi Model: Kendall Jenner Cited from Vogue.com (2015)
Photographer: Monica Feudi Model: Amanda Wellsh Cited from Vogue.com (2015)
Social Media
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Photographer: Monica Feudi Model: Liu Wen Cited from Vogue.com (2015)
Balmain’s Spring/Summer collection for 2015 was another aspect of the brand incorporating social media within their brand as it is an important tool for communication used by businesses. The collection was themed around censorship, featuring transparent dresses with glittering black panels across models chests. The collection was partially inspired by singer Rihanna, who had been banned from Instagram for six months after posting explicit pictures. Some fashion journalists criticised the concept of the collection, suggesting that Rousteing was reflecting pop culture rather than moving it on. Rousteing’s response to this explained why as a business professional he made this collection saying, “I see that Instagram is the new way of selling and of communicating. So, as a business person, I was wondering, what are the limits of social media?” (Hannah Marriott, 2015) It was important for Rousteing to show the limits of what you can and cannot show within fashion. The Balmain brand is all about pushing the boundaries of fashion.
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Photographer: Steven Klein
Wolve
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For the Fall 2016 advertisement campaign the fashion house took a new form of communication by partnering with Kanye West to produce a music video for his track ‘Wolves’ taken from his new album ‘The Life of Pablo’, which doubles as the brand’s campaign. The video was directed by Steven Klein and art directed by Pascal Dangin. The video stars West, his wife, and a group of Rousteing’s favourite models: Joan Smalls, Jourdan Dunn, Alessandra Ambrosio, Jon Kortaiarena, Ysaunny Brito, Josephine Skriver, Chico Lachowski, Jordan Barrett, Ronald Epps, Sasha Luss, Riley Montana and Dilone. By using this technique of advertising the brand can communicate new ideas to a larger demographic through the music industry.
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Bibliography “The Balmain House, Heritage”. Balmain.com. 2016. Web. “Balmain (Fashion House)”. En.wikipedia.org. Web. 7 Nov. 2016.
Fernandez, Chantel. “Balmains new kids’ collection reportedly includes $6,000 dress” Fashionista.com. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. Siebert, Valerie. ”Balmain To Launch A Children’s Line - Inspired By North West”. Mail Online. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.
Seaman, Margo. ”Pierre Balmain - Fashion Designer Encyclopedia Clothing, Century, Women, Dress, Style, New, Body, History, Collection”. Fashionencyclopedia.com. 2016. Web. Sowray,Bibby. “Balmain Is H&M’s Most Successful Designer Fury, Alexander. “Balmain’s New Collaboration Yet”. The Telegraph. Collection Is Not For The Faint-Heart- Web. 9 Nov. 2015. ed”. The Independent. Web. 13 Apr. 2016 Sherman, Lauren. ”The Business Logic Behind Balmain X H&M”. The “Is Valentino Buying Balmain?”. Business of Fashion. Web. 19 Oct. British Vogue. Web. 4 Apr. 2016. 2015. Amed, Imran. ”Inside Balmain’s Digital Revolution”. The Business of Fashion. Web. 20 Mar. 2015. Marriott, Hannah. “From Kardashian To Couture: How Balmain Got Its 21St-Century Buzz”. the Guardian. Web. 20 Jan. 2015. Phelps, Nicole. “Spring 2017 ReadyTo-Wear Balmain”. Vogue.com. Web. 29 Sept. 2016. “Balmain’s Branding Resurrection And Rise Of The #Balmainarmy”. Incitrio. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
Yotka, Steff. “Kanye West Teams With Balmain For His “Wolves” Video—Olivier Rousteing Shares His Take On The Collaboration”. Vogue. Web. 29 Jul. 2016. Hoffmann, Jonas and Ivan Coste-Manière. Luxury Strategy In Action. 1st ed. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Book. Posner, Harriet. Marketing Fashion. 1st ed. Book.
Photographer: Gurkiran Chana Selfridges Balmain Display
Photographer: Gurkiran Chana Selfridges Balmain Display
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Gurkiran Chana 26014016 Fashion Management & Communication