Media Log 6
You don't have to know fashion to know Chanel. If you've managed to go your whole life without opening one fashion magazine or tabloid I have a few things to say to you. First, I don't believe you. Second, I suppose I should congratulate you for not getting seduced by the glamorous, shiny lure of an unopened Vogue at the grocery store checkout. I'm probably eligible for an episode of Hoarders and My Strange Addiction combined. They could air back to back, a two hour special entitled, "The Teen Who Never Left Her Room: The Journey From Addict to Hoarder" It has a nice ring to it. Right, my point. Lastly, even if you've never opened a fashion magazine (I reiterate: I don't believe you) you know who Chanel is. You may not know what the product it sells is, you may not know if its a designer, brand, or a department store, you may not know the story of the designer, you may not know the logo, you may not have watched a two hour documentary entirely in French about the life of Coco Chanel (guilty), but you have heard of it.
Chanel. The Queen of fashion. That's really all you need to know. Chanel has built an empire. They don't even have to sell a product. In the ad I've featured above, they're selling sunglasses, but I would have been just as sold if they had picture nothing but the word Chanel over a black background. In dealing with such a big, iconic brand, there really is no boundaries on advertisements. Its a company with a fan base that's built themselves over 92 years on a simple, classic, sophisticated persona. It sells not just a product, but a lifestyle. They have the best reputation in the fashion industry because they've never done anything wrong. It's this 92 year old credibility that has made Chanel so successful in everything it does. This ad is one of the billions of ads that could be used to demonstrate just what I mean. In this instance, it is the ethos that sells the products. No gimmicks, no techniques, just the brand. In a world where practically every ad is trying to fool you into buying their product, Chanel provides a refreshing classic break from it all.
Since Chanel doesn't need to prove that they are better than other fashion brands, they are focusing more on the aesthetic appeal of their ads, having them catch your eye. In every single Chanel I've seen, which isn't that many, they always strike me as weird because I could not picture anyone in real life dressing like the models in the ad. What Chanel is trying to do now, is trying to promote a look and hope that people will take that look and run with it, hopefully buying Chanel products along the way. After 92 years of prominence, Chanel and their sleek ads are channeling that sleekness into their products via models.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Chanel has created such a big fan base that they no longer have to "sell" their products, but I disagree with Louis. They still have to compete with other brands that have similar lovemarks, like Prada. I also think that, while, I, and many other wouldn't wear many of the things Chanel models do in Chanel ads, we also have to consider that we live in Sacramento. In New York City, Paris, Harijuku, or any city in Italy really, I think these ads would apply more.
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