Chanel’s Integrated Marketing and Brand Orientation
In this blog post, we will be applying the concept of integrated marketing communication (IMC) and Brand orientation of luxury brand Chanel. We will be looking at how the brand’s unique value proposition is communicated to consumers and investigate the link between emotion, response and brand resonance. We will evaluate the available digital and social media platforms that Chanel has available as their brand communication.
There is much to learn about famous French fashion designer Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel. She was born in Saumur in 1883 and was raised by nuns in an orphanage, where she learned to sew at a young age. Chanel started her career as a milliner opening her first shop in Paris in 1913 following in the footsteps of fellow French milliner and fashion designer Caroline Reboux. As she expanded her business to Deauville and Biarritz, she began designing clothing, her first hit was actually jersey dresses. However, Chanel is most known for her legendary collarless jackets and well-fitted skirts, which borrowed elements from menswear and focused more on tailoring and comfort than femininity and restriction. Chanel is also known for popularizing the little black dress, worn by Chanel as chic mourning wear after the death of a lover. The idyllic little black dress is now a closet staple for all occasions. Chanel also launched a phenomenally successful perfume – unheard of by a designer at the time – called Chanel No. 5(made famous by Marilyn Monroe). This single innovation revolutionized the industry and was the single factor that contributed to her insatiable success. (the UK, 2018)
Brand orientation can be defined as “the degree to which the organization values brands and its practices are oriented towards building brand capabilities” (Bridson & Evans, 2004). (Duncan & Moriarty, 1998) state that “everything sends a message”, and that all messages sent by the brand must be strategically consistent and should focus on other stakeholders, even beyond the consumer (Klopper & North, 2012). Through integrated marketing, a brand can communicate its unique value proposition to an audience.
Chanel’s integrated marketing communication uses advertising, fashion shows, and magazine promotional strategy. This brand knows how to keep customers happy, which is to make simple, but sophisticated clothing. Chanel is always featured in Vogue Magazine, one of the most influential magazines in the Fashion Industry, in which the models wear Chanel pieces, and thereby marketing her pieces. Chanel has many Ads in Vogue, Elle, Nylon as well as Glamour. These Ads in the magazine make Chanel stand out, because her brand is one of the best brands in the world and on top of being featured in good magazines, builds her clientele even more so. Chanel’s fashion shows stimulated the public at large, this is because, during these fashion shows, the public is given sight of what to expect from her next collection. Thus through these fashion shows, she rolls in more customers, but at the same time, maintains those that she already has. Fashion reporters who attend these fashion shows of her have always left her shows, having to say something good about it, sometimes their reviews can be bad, but Chanel has never given the public a bad design. This is all because this brand knows how to maintain customers, roll in more and keep them stimulated enough, to wait for what is next.
Chanel’s Unique Value Proposition (a clear statement that describes the benefit you offer, how you meet your customer’s needs, and what makes you different from the competition), is seen as high brand awareness because most people know the Chanel brand around the world, therefore it’s a highly recognizable and responsive brand. Chanel is responding to environmental changes to create continuous value for its customers. In Forbes’s list (2017), the brand ranked as the 87th most valuable brand. Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s president of global fashion also mentioned that “we will only do what the client wants to do. And we will only move at their pace”. The other prior desire of customers, who prefers luxury fashion brands, is their wish to feel special. Target customers of luxury fashion brands are mostly value seekers. To provide customer satisfaction, brands have to offer that aspect (Okonkwo, 2007) (Tynan, et al., 2010)(Payne & Holt 2001). Brands are delivering that value through customer experience. Their service quality, packaging, and stores are part of their value offerings more than their products in today’s world (Payne, et al., 2009) (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004). Chanel is offering high-quality packaging, service and sophisticated stores. Even in the packaging, Chanel is reflecting its brand image by applying its minimalism and authenticity. As Michel Duplis, who is the director of package development in Chanel, mentioned “merchandising is like theater. The first contact with the brand is the package. You need to have everything together” (Magazine, 2009)Chanel is also offering value, based on its authenticity and heritage. Customers are seeking extraordinary brand experience to compensate for the high prices when they are shopping from luxury fashion brands. Chanel is creating value by helping them to experience the difference in every aspect.
Despite not adopting social media and integrating the platform with videography until 2009, its marketing strategy is nothing short of stupendous. Selecting admirable public figures such as Keira Knightley and Nicole Kidman to star in Chanel’s unmistakable short films, revived the brand as an iconic symbol of both cultural and digital relevance.
With the use of video and social media integration, Chanel has grown to have more than 57 million social followers globally, the highest in the luxury fashion industry. The brand focused on Facebook as their initial social media platform, due to the video capabilities, such as extended video length, that Twitter and Instagram do not support. For the brand’s primary consumer, the wealthier and mature client, Facebook was the ideal platform for accessing this demographic. However, in an unexpected move, the brand has recently announced its collaboration with the e-commerce platform Farfetch. Chanel insists that it is not going to begin trading online in case the brand loses its perception of exclusivity, and instead the intention of the partnership is to build a branded app, to help create a personalized experience for millennial consumers. However, with a large percentage of shoppers now being influenced and even making decisions based on what they see online – social is a hugely important tool for luxury brands looking to deepen consumer engagement.
Chanel was named by Insight pool as the most influential luxury brand on social media (based on overall engagement), topping the list above others like Louis Vuitton and Christian Siriano. With a total of 40.8 million followers on Twitter and Instagram alone – Chanel has generated a huge following.
Chanel has famously abstained from fully entering the world of e-commerce, only selling limited ranges of eyewear and beauty products online. But while the brand is clearly mindful of protecting the exclusive nature of its products, it has been less cautious when it comes to digital and social media marketing, creating a heavy presence across most channels. That being said, Chanel is still keen on maintaining a sense of exclusivity where possible. So, while it has millions of followers across social media platforms, Chanel deliberately follows no one back (apart from its own Chanel Beauty on Instagram). As well as helping to portray an aloof image, this also takes away the need to interact with users or stray into using social channels for the purpose of customer service.
The decision to avoid communicating with consumers online has its negative. Brands that do reach out and reply to comments and tweets are typically viewed favorably by users – plus it can take the strain off other areas of customer service. For a luxury brand like Chanel, however, this is clearly not a priority, or at least not one big enough to risk diluting its exclusive reputation. Another way Chanel extends its control over social media is with the type of content it produces – specifically content that makes it seem aspirational rather than accessible.
Unlike brands that promote products in the context of consumers’ everyday lives, Chanel deliberately depicts its own world – one that is overtly editorial and arty in nature. Chanel has relinquished complete control over its image in some ways though, particularly when it comes to working with social media influencers. Again, this can be a dangerous strategy for luxury brands, with influencers potentially diluting exclusivity and veering into mass-market promotion.
According to reports, Chanel’s social success has sky-rocketed in a short space of time, with the brand seeing an average growth of 50% across multiple platforms in just a year. One reason seems to be its video strategy. Chanel posts consistently on YouTube in particular, using the platform for narrative-led, feature film content. It’s first – ‘The One That I Want’ starring Gisele Bundchen has amassed over 18 million views to date. Alongside celebrity-driven campaigns, the brand also uses video for more behind-the-scenes content, such as it’s Inside Chanel’ series, which is designed to remind consumers of the brand’s long history and unique vision.
Consequently, it’s Make-Up’ playlist is full of short and informative tutorial-based content, designed to instill a desire for products as well as offer value for viewers looking for tips and advice. Despite an overriding focus on video content, Chanel doesn’t use a blanket approach, instead choosing to optimize content for different platforms. For example, it often takes snippets of ads to pique interest on Instagram, while it might post the long-form ad on YouTube or Facebook.
Meanwhile, although the brand works so hard to retain its exclusive image, Chanel doesn’t set out to alienate or exclude consumers. It’s a tricky balance, of course, but Chanel also uses social media to make users feel like they’re being let in a secret, or in the case of #ChanelTower – an invitation to a private party. ChanelTower was the hashtag used by the brand for its Autumn/Winter 2017/18 runway show in Paris, which included a scale replica of the Eiffel Tower for its models to walk around. The brand massively hyped up the show on Instagram in particular, using the hashtag to collate content relating to the event, including videos of celebrity guests and exclusive snapshots of new designs.
Reports suggest that the event created a huge splash for the brand on social, with likes and comments increasing massively on the day. What’s more, with users tagging their own content using the hashtag, Chanel saw increased reach and exposure on Instagram during this time. Optimized (video) content FTW. While image and text-based content are effective, video content can be far more so when it comes to generating engagement on social. Chanel is a great example of a luxury brand that has wholeheartedly embraced the medium, using varied video content (and optimizing it) to drive interest cross-platform. (Proformagraphics, 2019)
Consumers want to be offered a unique experience, while they are shopping especially from luxury fashion brands because the main value is living that memorable experience. For creating that, brands are paying attention to sensory, affective, and other experiential appeals (Schmitt, 1999); (Pine II & Gilmore, 1999)To be different amongst the competitors “motion-rich” experience has to be provided by brands. (Morrison & Crane, 2007)explains in Chanel’s example, it is clearly seen that, the shopping experience including, “customer interaction, physical surroundings, personnel, and customer-related policies and practices” (Kerin, et al., 1992) is creating harmony to be memorable and unique. The design of the stores is impressive and reflecting the Chanel identity. People are even posting pictures in the stores of Chanel on their social media accounts.
Chanel resonates with a strong brand presence and its current target market enjoy a high repeat purchase rate from this group of consumers. By owning a Chanel product, consumers feel that they are a part of the elite community. The history of Chanel is emphasized through its theme of sophisticated branding and re-creates its history through the use of Coco Chanel and Marilyn Monroe through advertisements.
Consumers also have a great sense of pride when they wear or own a Chanel item; they feel elite, fashionable and attractive. The high price and luxury mean Chanel owners feel at a higher status, more confident and wealthier. It sticks to a sophisticated theme using Coco Chanel and this allows consumers to identify with the brand. The Chanel trademark gives customers the assurance of consistency in the quality and durability of products delivered. Chanel has implemented a digital marketing strategy, which allows customers to read their own journey through the brand. It creates an individual relationship with the customer and a new standard of service. (the UK, 2018)
Chanel’s brand identity reflects Coco Chanel, and being “the ultimate house of luxury, defining style and creating desire, now and forever” (Farfan, 2015). Chanel is a symbol of uniqueness, and the brand’s personality reflects creativity. Continuously offering new designs, and reflecting the brand image by using them, is increasing the value for their brand personality.
In conclusion, Chanel has an effective integrated marketing communication strategy and brand orientation, because the brand keeps its iconic history, simplicity, and tailored methods. The brand keeps its authenticity because consumers are familiar with the brand’s unique value position and that is communicated through its various social and digital media platforms that they follow. Chanel is such a popular and worldwide luxury brand, therefore, the consumers are well aware of the brand’s resonance and how they will be perceived by the public, owning any Chanel product.
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