In 2011 Vera Wang launched the fragrance “Love struck”, a fragrance that is about “the emotion and rush you feel when you are falling in love and going for it, those heart-pounding moments of spontaneity.” (Vera Wang 2011) Using Barthes theory of semiotics (Barthes, 1967) I have deconstructed the image and have focused this essay on the creative concept and execution of the advertisement. The advertisement for the fragrance Love struck does fufill its job of portraying the message behind the advertisement and is communicating this in a clearly to its target audience, but does it fit in with the brand, Vera Wang as a whole?”The Vera Wang brand reflects her vision to create a lifestyle that goes beyond core bridal and ready-to-wear, and into
publishing, fragrance, beauty, accessories and home. These collections are positioned at the highest end of the luxury market.” (Vera Wang 2015) When thinking of Vera Wang as a brand the words bespoke and luxury come to mind. The bespoke highend price doesn’t come across in the advert. Although there is a slight luxurious element to the advert through the colours used. The combination of the pinky/purple creates a vibrant and luxurious feel to the advert. Purple and pink are colours that strongly relate to love. “Purple combines the calm stability of blue and the fierce energy of red. The colour of purple is often associated with royalty, nobility, luxury [and] power.” (Bourn creative 2015) “Pink is the colour of universal love of
“THE STORY OF ROMEO AND JULIETTE WITH A MODERN TWIST” and others, pink represents harmony and affection. Pink is the official colour for little girls and represents sugar and spice and all things nice, pink is the sweet side of the colour red.” (Bourn creative 2015) This is reflected throughout the advert but especially in the dress the girl is wearing. The long pinky/purple gown shows a sense of luxury in the woman’s lifestyle. The male staring into the female’s eyes is dressed in all black, the main aim of a muted colour being used is to get the audience’s attention so they focus on the woman; this product and advertisement is aimed at females. The stairs and backdrop scenery are all in cream, which blends in and increases the audiences, focus on the male and female and their relationship.
2011 the year a lot happened”(BBC news 2012) 2011 was a significant year in the world of news with stories such as Prince William’s wedding at Westminster Abbey. The royal wedding could be seen as a huge influence when creating the advertisements for this fragrance, but Vera Wang denies the fragrance being a wedding fragrance (the Daily obsession 2011). Instead a fragrance of love and that was influenced by the story of Romeo and Juliette with a modern twist, which is clearly communicated through not only the printed advertisement but also the video advertisement. By using the story of Romeo and Juliette as the main influence behind the advertisement this gets the attention of a mixed group of consumers
not only age range of late teens to twenties but anyone who is looking for romance in their life. It could also be seen as though they are trying to appeal to the little girl in side every grown woman who is still hoping for that childhood fairytale they once hoped for to happen. The image for the advert, made up of a young female and male who are quite clearly one another’s love interests. The way the male has clearly climbed up the balcony to see the female, showing that he would do anything for the female. The advertisement is implying that the Love Struck fragrance is the reason he is attracted to her, which persuades the audience to purchase the fragrance because they may aspire to the vision that they either want to attract a certain male’s attention or they want men infatuated by them. The male is gazing into the females eyes but she is staring towards the camera not showing much interest towards the male, this shows that she is in control of the situation and has a lot of power over the male who is quite clearly “Love Struck” over the female, which is the message the brand clearly wants to get across - the name of the fragrance and story behind it. The females posture in the image shows that she is confident in herself and sophisticated
The bottle, located at the bottom/middle of the advertisement, this focal point with the big over the top bottle with roses decorating the lid mirror the roses the male is holding in the advert. The is also a net bow wrapped around the lid of the bottle, which is made of the same material the dress is made from, by doing this the brand are giving customers a part of the story/experience to keep and take away with them when they purchase the fragrance. The typography on the advert is bold and makes a statement, representing the power of the fragrance, the “L” in love and the “k” in struck are both in capitals and bigger than the rest of the font, creating a slight symmetrical element to the text, however Ries and Ries argue that “that the words … are what
they feel that with this fragrance they will also start to feel more confident in themselves, they are buying into a lifestyle more than the fragrance itself. Overall I think the fragrance does an municating to its target consumer but when you look at the advertisement compared to the rest of the brands advertisements, such as the wedding dress campaign on the left which has a much more serious approach to it, although both campaigns could be seen to have the fairy tale element to them they have both been taken with different approaches. The Love Struck advertisement doesn’t fit in with the brand value all that well, for a “high end luxury” brand I don’t think this is portrayed through this advert as this it is aimed and late teens to early twenties, which wouldn’t be your typical consumer buying into the luxury market. $ communicate the power of the brands.”(Ries and Ries 2000, page 130) The advert for a fragrance is such an influence on purchasing behaviors and if customers choose to purchasehe fragrance. “The principal objectives of advertising are to raise awareness, inform and persuade” (H.Posner 2011) By showing a strong and sophisticated woman in the advertisement, this will make women want to buy the fragrance because
REFRENCES List of Websites
List of Images
Book Refrences
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Harriet Posner, 2011. Marketing Fashion: Portfolio Series (Portfolio (Laurence King)). Edition. Laurence King Publishing.
Meaning of The Color Purple |. 2015. Meaning of The Color Purple |. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-purple/. [Accessed 20 March 2015].
“The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding” Al Ries and Laura Ries.
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Al Ries, 2000. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. Edition. Profile Business.
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Fragrance Anlysis Fashion and Communication FASH10106 Olivia Simpson. Word Count: 1100.