Its Miss, Actually Miss Dior’s new spring summer campaign
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- It’s Miss, Actually The Runaway Bride No I Do’s for Natalie Portman as she plays Miss Dior in the new 2015 Spring / Summer campaign for the fragrance.
‘Miss Dior is the fragrance Christian Dior cherished, the one he nurtured for a long time before it was revealed. The perfume of boldness, renewal and freedom.’ Named after his beloved sister Catherine, Christian Dior commissions his first perfume post war. Alongside the launch of Dior’s ‘New Look,’ Christian was advised to “Make me a fragrance that smells like love” (Vacher 1947) and therefore the first Miss Dior fragrance was commissioned.Following Dior’s rich and fascinating history, the brand has expanded and has now become a leader in the fragrance industry. To this day Miss Dior still uses the bow on all bottles signifying it may be a special gift for someone. By keeping this original feature it remains in touch with the brands heritage, something Dior doesn’t want to forget about.
I feel this ad still communicates the elegance and sophistication the original Miss Dior campaign had, whilst adding a fresh new feminist element to Dior’s brand essence. The ad features Portman getting ready to walk down the isle, however battling with the idea of marrying her mystery man. We later see her running barefoot back up the isle, stripping out of her handmade couture gown and catching a helicopter ride to her freedom.
My chosen advert to undergo analysis is the 2015 Miss Dior digital campaign featuring Natalie Portman as ‘The Runaway Bride.’ Dior’s aim here was to promote the fragrance in a new romantic way, to use the stereotypical wedding scene as the backdrop however keep viewers intrigued. The concept of the campaign is to portray a feminine but strong woman, following her heart and doing what she deems right for her.
Directing and filming his first commercial, Anton Corbijn was the genius behind this motion picture. He says his vision, especially with the choice of song for this ad, was a feminist one. “The great thing about Janis Joplin, for instance, is that the female perspective prevails.” (Monllos, 2015) Corbijn adopts this and uses his feministic views gracefully whilst shooting this ad.
The advert ties in with all of Dior’s core brand values; Its feminine with regards to the concept, glamorous in their choice of styling, elegant casting choices and finally classic, with a new twist.
Feminism is the ideology that everyone shares common goals: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women. The stereotypical fragrance advert generally uses a love story narrative as their key element within their campaign, aiming to entice women into the ideology that by using their fragrance, they too will get their dream man and live happily ever after. However Dior reminds us that all fairytales don’t end in marriage, and that women have the right to decide their own fate.
Recent previous campaigns have also featured Natalie Portman, however have been shot by the likes of Tim Walker and Sofia Coppola.(Niven, 2015) The majority of Miss Dior fragrance campaigns have been based on a romantic narrative, placed in locations all over France. Other adverts include a typical Parisian element to them however have been labelled as kitsch in the past. Dior is now taking a new spin on femininity and using the runaway bride to break through with his new campaign.
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“The story is about escaping, about getting away from all the things that tie you down in life, Natalie Portman was fantastic. She is real, she’s genuine. You can see it on the screen and people can relate to it. I think that ‘truth’ is more important than beauty. Being a beautiful woman is not enough. She’s a real person, a good person, and her personality makes the difference” - Anton Corbijn (2015) 05
Their use of colour in the advert is skilful. The advert begins with a black and white tone to convey confusion and uncertainty, however once her decision is made and she begins to run away, the colours of the Cote d’Azur come to life. The bright blues of the Mediterranean, the vivid greenery in the grounds and the ombré pale pinks and blush colours of her couture gown, signify her world has only just come to life and she now has the freedom she was so anxious to give up. Illustrating that ‘Miss Dior’ is elegant and poised, Natalie Portman is an exquisite choice of model to endorse the product. Her effortless beauty and innocent look ties in nicely with the brand values. Their styling choices also blend in perfectly with the ad, as the handmade couture Dior wedding gown fitted Portman down to a tee, taking approximately 600 hours to make. (Mapstone, 2015) There is also a sense of intimacy in this advert, as we are taken on the journey with Portman on her big day. The aim was to connect with the viewers so they can not only see, but sense what she is feeling. Like any advertising, the art direction and positioning of all Miss Dior campaigns is essential to make sure there is enough exposure to the consumer. In this short film we see the story of the runaway bride, ending with magnificent views over the city of Paris. (Christian Dior, 2015) The viewers are then left with the final shot of the product placed centre screen. This advertisement was placed on many online sites obviously including dior.com but also on the likes of vogue.com, style.com and many others. It was also put on Youtube collating nearly seven million views to further promote this product and storyline. This campaign is additionally situated in print magazines such as Elle, Harpers Bazaar and Cosmopolitan, shown as a still image of Natalie Portman in her couture dress placed on a Parisian staircase. These adverts would appeal to the target consumer as she would be feminine, elegant and sophisticated. This is why Dior chose to promote this fragrance through these platforms as they believe they share the same demographic. Based on my analysis, I believe that this campaign exquisitely well for Dior as a brand. The ‘Its miss, actually’ digital advertisement has enabled me to understand why Dior have altered their marketing strategies in consideration to their newer target market of empowered women rather than flirtatious girls, to appeal to their ideal consumer. Overall I think this advert works brilliantly for Miss Dior as it is a fresh take on a love story whilst keeping in touch with the class and heritage Christian Dior has as a brand.
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REFERENCES Mapstone, L. (2015) Natalie Portman stuns as an elegant runaway bride in new Miss Dior ad. Available at: http:// www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2939346/It-s-Miss-actually-Natalie-Portman-stuns-elegant-carefreerunaway-bride-new-short-film-Dior-s-iconic-fragrance.html (Accessed: 13 March 2015) Monllos, K. (2015) Natalie Portman, a Runaway Bride, Gets a Helicopter Rescue in Miss Dior Ad. Available at: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/natalie-portman-runaway-bride-gets-helicopter-rescue-miss-dior-ad-162790 (Accessed: 13 march 2015) Niven, L. (2015) No ‘I Do’ For Natalie Portman’s Miss Dior. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/ beauty/2015/02/03/miss-dior-natalie-portman-wedding-perfume-advert (Accessed: 13 march 2015)
BIBLIOGRAPHY Ballentine, S. (2014) The Magic of Christian Dior, Distilled: Why The Fashion House’s New Perfume Book Is Worth the Read. Available at: http://www.vogue.com/1847349/christian-dior-the-perfumes-book/ (Accessed:15 march 2015) Barrionuevo, A. (2015) Natalie Portman Is a Runaway Bride in New Miss Dior Film. Available at: http://www. thefashionspot.com/buzz-news/latest-news/534895-natalie-portman-is-a-runaway-bride-in-new-miss-dior-film/ (Accessed: 15 march 2015) Christian Dior (2015) Miss Dior - The new film (Official). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ELNVV1oKNtA (Accessed: 16 march 2015) It’s Miss, actually (no date) Available at: http://www.dior.com/magazine/en_gb/News/It-s-Miss-actually (Accessed: 16 march 2015) Mapstone, L. (2015) Natalie Portman stuns as an elegant runaway bride in new Miss Dior ad. Available at: http:// www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2939346/It-s-Miss-actually-Natalie-Portman-stuns-elegant-carefreerunaway-bride-new-short-film-Dior-s-iconic-fragrance.html (Accessed: 13 march 2015) Monllos, K. (2015) Natalie Portman, a Runaway Bride, Gets a Helicopter Rescue in Miss Dior Ad. Available at: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/natalie-portman-runaway-bride-gets-helicopter-rescue-miss-dior-ad-162790 (Accessed: 13 march 2015) Niven, L. (2015) No ‘I Do’ For Natalie Portman’s Miss Dior. Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/ beauty/2015/02/03/miss-dior-natalie-portman-wedding-perfume-advert (Accessed: 13 march 2015)
FIGURES Figure 1 [front cover]: Tim Walker. 2014. [Online] Available at: http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/36600000/Natalie-Portman-image-natalie-portman-36630622-779-1169.jpg [20.03.15] Figure 2: Anton Corijn 2015, Portman looking in mirror. [Online] Available at: http://www.adweek.com/files/blogs/miss_dior_natalie_portman_hed_2015.png [20.03.15] Figure 3: Anton Corbijn, Portman walking down stairs. [Online} Available at: http://ell.h-cdn.co/assets/15/06/1600x1600/square_nrm_1422997432-ts3a3611.jpg [20.03.15] Figure 4: Anton Corbijn, Being given away. [Online] Available at: http://ell.h-cdn.co/assets/15/06/1600x1066/gallery_nrm_1422997627-ts3a4265.jpg [20.03.15] Figure 5: Anton Corbijn, In helicopter. [Online] Available at: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/52Z5ob-6jNI/maxresdefault.jpg [20.03.15] Figure 6: Anton Corbign. Running up isle. [Online] Available at: http://cdn.pursuitist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/miss_dior_Natalie_Portman_campaign.jpg [20.03.15] Figure 7: Anton Corbijn. Reaching for ladder. [Online] Available at: http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/1920x1280/d_f/dior-vogue-5-3feb15-pr_b.jpg [20.03.15] Figure 8: Anton Corbijn. On ladder. [Online] Available at: http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/1920x1280/d_f/dior-vogue-2-3feb15-pr_b.jpg [20.03.15]
Rosie Luff N0563114 - Fragrance Analysis - Word Count - 1079