Chanel - Cultural Artefact

Research question

In what ways does Chanel embody brand’s values and identity as a cultural artefact in fashion industry through Chanel N° 5 YouTube campaign?

This report aims to research and evaluate the key factors that lead to the success of the Chanel N° 5 perfume, looking up at different PR techniques used by the brand house departments. In order to fulfil this purpose, the research question will be explored through the perspective of branding and celebrity endorsement by applying relevant frameworks. In the interest of having a focus case study, I chose Chanel N° 5 – The one that I want YouTube video, released in 2014. In terms of research, the semiotic analysis will be applied in order to understand the meaning of details that construct the presented campaign. One factor that leads to this evaluation is theorised by Hackley with ’Technological advances in communication are creating a promotional environment that has no precedent in modern history’ (2005: 13).

The impact Chanel N° 5 has on society is marked by J. Wallach (1998: 136) who claimed that after WWII soldiers ‘lined up on the Rue Cambon, patiently waiting to receive free gifts of Chanel N° 5 to bring back to their wives and sweethearts.’ This is just an inside of what Chanel means to the world and how impregnated the brand is in the society culture. According to Baz Luhrmann, Chanel No. 5 remains the ‘flag of the brand’, creating an artefact for fashion industry and a reference point for the brand’s values. The importance of fashion industry is not only that it shapes lifestyle, but it is also ‘the centre ground in popular understanding of modern culture’ (Breward, 2003: 9).

Introduction

Building a legacy, Chanel never stops to create a ‘secret life’ of abstraction (Hackley, 2005) for clients. Even though they create ads for one season or mini films (YouTube: Inside Chanel) that will live forever, their imagination has no boundary. Passing the time test, Karl Lagerfeld succeeds to capture the essence of Chanel through every campaign (Keira Knightley, 2015). Within this context, I will analyse the ‘You are the one that I want’ campaign, starring international model Gisele Bündchen and Michiel Huisman. The focus point of the campaign is to promote the Chanel N° 5 perfume, but at the same time, it directly promotes the brand itself. Chanel N° 5 has recently been declared the best selling perfume of all the time, as Vogue stated, one bottle of N° 5 is sold every 30 seconds, despite its price which is justified by Agins (1999) who claimed that the value of an item is given by the expenses: advertising and celebrity endorsements. Moreover, according to Hackley (2005: 19) price reflects the brand’s quality and prestige. However, according to the fashion house, Chanel values are modernity, simplicity, freedom, elegance and quality.

Compared to other Chanel videos, ‘You are the one that I want’ campaign was a real success with 13,545,409 views, 50,933 likes and 1936 comments only on YouTube platform. Baz Luhrmann (2014), the commercial director, claimed that he does not know how to create an advertisement, but he definitely knows how to make a trailer for a movie. And that is what he did for Chanel N° 5 campaign: an elaborated, imaginary world for the nowadays Chanel woman (Hackley, 2005: 48). He claimed that the campaign was not focusing particularly on the fragrance, but on the world the brand is promoting (Luhrmann, 2014). The director created a character, a modern woman who juggles with her family life, career, and especially love, but as he reported, all ‘Chanel women chose love in the end’ (2014), following Chanel’s value of freedom. However, the story reflects the symbolic meaning of a perfume, as according to Cirloc (2002) a fragrance is memories’ materialization.

In this report I will first discuss the literature review, analysing relevant subjects such as celebrity endorsement, brand identity and postmodernism in fashion, elaborating them based on this case study. In order to answer the research question I will follow a specific analysis methodology, explained below. However, I will evaluate the results of the analysis into an overview conclusion upon the research question.

Literature Review

Postmodernism

In order to understand the framework that sustains this report, I first looked up at the advertising development in fashion culture according to Joseph Hancock. Starting with the modernism era where advertising was focused on showing the utility of clothes, the promotional culture advanced at the point where garments bought their own universe (Hancock, 2009). After WWI everyone dreamed of the American lifestyle, and brands started to incorporate the items within that context. However, probably the most relevant artistic current that is timeless is postmodernism (Hancock, 2009). Jean Baudrillard shaped his thesis around this period, creating four important stages in postmodernism (Appendix 1.0). However, taking into consideration these stages, there could be said that within this context, the hyperrealism of Chanel is presented through an unrealistic lifestyle explained by Baudrillard. The background in which the action takes place marks the absence of the basic reality. Through these techniques, the director shaped a surreal world theorised in the brand identity (Hackley, 2006). The director gave meaning to the fragrance by framing it in an imaginary world dominated by couture and high social class, summing it in the art of storytelling (Hancock: 2009).

Celebrity Endorsement

Chanel N° 5 video stars international model Gisele Bündchen and Michiel Huisman, a Game of Thrones character. The rise of celebrities’ importance in culture was argued by Turner (2004) who identified the fictional personalities of famous people as being considered role models for fans. He also critiqued the criteria followed by society in terms of making a famous person a celebrity. Turner analysed the process of becoming a celebrity, claiming that nowadays it is easier for movie starts to shape a public image. Therefore, Michiel Huisman, one of the commercial’s main characters, by associating his name with the brand, he built a bridge for Chanel’s fans and Game of Thrones’ viewers.

However, Coombs and Holladay (2006) theorised the importance of PR regarding the brand building. In The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR chapter, the authors outlined the necessity of unpaid advertisements in which customers believe more. The one that I want runs exclusively online, yet it could be classified as an unpaid advertisement. Moreover, the notion of celebrity endorsement can be found within this category. However, even though a PR campaign or a celebrity endorsement is not defined as paid publicity, the money spent for these causes may extend the costs of a TV commercial. (Coombs & Holladay: 2006).

Brand Identity

The importance of brand identity is stated by Sheridan (2010) who attributed the industry’s success to ‘its instinct for product branding’. J. Hancock (2009: 6) also discussed the importance of fashion branding, claiming that a garment can have a unique identity that leads the customer to make the decision of buying it, phenomenon entitled by Sheridan as ‘written garment’ (2010). Within this context he conceptualised the brand identity as a long process in which a fashion house creates a unique, innovative and exciting world for their customers, contextualised into a perfect storytelling process. Agnis (1999) argued that ‘top designers use their images’ to create a brand with attitude and ‘a lifestyle that cuts many cultures’. Hancock also claimed that ‘we are what we buy’, yet the image we construct about ourselves is shaped by our choices in fashion. Thus, the importance of a brand identity that a customer can identify with is essential: ‘Fashion is a way to express identity’ (Hancock, 2009: 3), yet shaping another relevant value for Chanel. The author also discussed about the brands’ transfer from macro interface to the individual level in terms of fashion meaning, developing the MACRO system, inspired by AIDA model (Appendix 1.1) (Bohdanowicz and Clamp, 1994: 117). Thus, in order to reach the desired target audience, the identity has to be specific, universal themes attracting the masses, but not the niches (Hancock, 2009), theory highly disagreed by Angis: ‘a fashion house has to establish an image that resonates with enough people’ (1999: 14).

‘Brands signify in the sense that they are signs or combinations of signs that communicate values or ideas to various consumer communities.’

(Hackley, 2005: 18)

The visual culture is essential in order to understand the impact images have upon the customers’ decision-making process, as the combination of signs ‘resonates with cultural meanings’ (Hackley, 2005: 18). The reasons behind the choice of actors, colours, backgrounds and even sound are crucial for understanding the brand identity, as Hancock suggests that ‘Fashion branding provides a structure that uses images and language to impart a meaning to retail products.’ (2009: 24). Nicholas Mirzoeff (2009) claimed that visual culture surrounds the world, especially the online platforms. According to his statistics, 1/7 of the entire world population has at least one online account, yet the visual culture is part of many people’s way of living. However, Belting (2005: 314) recognised the ‘mixed media’, in which the presented case study is framed. He explained the mixture of medium, such as sound and image, as in the Chanel commercial. However, according to René Descartes the subjectivity of sign interpretation can lead to misunderstandings. As written by W.J.T Mitchell (1994), the technological development created a ‘pictorial turn’ (1994: 20), advantaging the scholars to assume that ‘all cultural forms were language’ (Mirzoeff 2009: 5). This theory leads the discussion to the semiotic analysis that proves the importance of signs and meanings in order to decode the message (Sebeok, 1977: 1). According to Thomas A. Sebeok (1977) the ‘coding system’ has to be constructed in a way that the result of the investigation should not differ too much from the initial meaning.

The first philosophers that argued the importance of this discipline were Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sander Peirce (Chandler, 2002). Umberto Eco (1976) defined this discipline as ‘semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign’ (7). Saussure claimed that ‘every sign has two faces: the form and its content’, yet Hjelmslev considered ‘expression’ being more adequate than ‘forms’ (Sebeok, 1977: 3). Ernst Casirer (1944) ‘classifies signs into signals and symbols’ (Sebeok, 1977: 9). In order to understand this practice, I researched the types of ‘signs’ in the media. According to Daniel Chandler (2002) signs can occur in many forms: words, images, sounds, gestures and objects. Therefore I found this relevant to my case study, as it also ‘analyse texts as structured wholes and investigates latent, connotative meanings’, whereas content analysis (the ‘prominent rival to semiotics’) mainly ‘involves a quantitative approach’ (Chandler, 2002: 8).

Sebeok criticised semiotics by claiming that ‘things may change function’, fact that affects the semiotics’ relevance as an analytical technique. He justified this hypothesis by deliberating C. Morris’ (1946) theory regarding substitution. (1977: 7). Another issue regarding the signs definition is inter-definability. Sebeok believed that within a set of concepts individual members can not be isolated and defined separately, but only in relationship with others (8). Chandler supported this idea by creating the ‘sign-systems’ (2002: 2). Regarding Chanel case study, the semiotics help to decode the consumers’ subconscious decision-making process: ‘cultural idiom of style and sophistication to imply that the perfume has those qualities and so, by association, will the reader [viewer] who buys the brand’ (Hackley, 2005: 48).

Results

In this section I will use semiotic analysis in order to codify the message expressed by the ad. The importance of a semiotic analysis was argued above. However, within the context of a perfume ad I found the following quote worth considering: ‘Many perfume ads in lifestyle and fashion magazines make no direct reference to the odour: instead, they juxtapose sensuous images with an enigmatic strapline or slogan that evinces some abstract notion of the brand.’ (Hackley, 2005: 47). In order to create a clear overview of the subject, I will examine every aspect of the commercial from casting, location and music to the choice of the outfits. According to Hancock (2009: 6), ‘The advertising medium, context and style, should reflect the brand’. Therefore, I will link the semiotic analysis with the brand identity in order to contextualise the best results. Hancock recognised the importance of context and display in which a garment is incorporated, the meaning being constructed for a fashion item only within a medium, even though it is a window display or a commercial.

Location

The ad captures different locations (Appendix 2.0), each corresponding to an angle of the Chanel woman. The commercial starts with a transition from the ocean to the city, showing the symbol of Chanel 7 times in the first 10 seconds. (Appendix 4.1)

Beach

The main part of the story takes place in New York, which Baz described as the ‘crossroad of the world’, thus the place where everything is possible even in an aspirational world designed by Chanel, whereas the ocean in perceived as the ‘source of life’ (Cirlot, 2002: 281). Moreover, Luhramnn admitted that he captured the character practicing surfing because he wanted to induce the idea that the Chanel woman has her own space of being with herself for ‘a moment of Zen’. This is justified by the landscape as the dominant colour is blue which stands for thinking (Cirlot, 2002) and waves, the symbol of purity. (Appendix 2.5)

House

The action then moves to a minimalistic house (Appendix 2.1) that Baz Luhrmann described as being very Chanel. Contradictorily, in symbolism, house is seen as the reflection of a man’s personality (Cirlot, 2002: 153). The interior of the house is classified as a luxurious and grandiose but with modern accents, yet another Chanel value. Furthermore, the character placed the letter entitled ‘To my heart I must be true’ next to a vase. In popular culture flowers are seen as ‘archetypal image of the soul’, yet there could be admitted that the letter’s content is reflected in the context in which it is located. The next frame captures Gisele hugging her child, in popular culture young people being seen as ‘the future’ (Cirloc, 2002).

Studio

Moving forward, the next location is the studio (Appendix 2.2), showing the transaction from the model’s family life to the work environment, highlighting the complex personality of Chanel woman.

Bridge (Appendix 2.3)

Following the story of the commercial, after she leaves the studio she drives by the Queensboro Bridge in a retro car, expressing the high standards she lives in. I found this frame relevant as the director used the same bridge in The Great Gatsby film, fact that subconsciously makes the viewers to understand the importance and the stake of this commercial. Cirloc (2002) explained the meaning of a bridge by picturing it as the ‘link between what can be perceived and what is beyond perception - change of desire’. This interpretation can be applied to this case study, as the main character’s adventure is in fact the journey of life’s changes.

Bar

However, the bar (appendix 2.4) her husband was waiting in for her has baroque influences and it completes the romantic atmosphere along with the song played. The predominant colour in these frames is red, which represents the ‘pulsing blood, tearing emotions’, yet it completes the desired atmosphere (Cirloc, 2002: 53).

Chanel Symbol (Appendix 4.0)

Chanel’s double C’s are recognisable all over the world and the director successfully created unique medium for it, showing Chanel’s logo 30 times in 3 minutes and 16 seconds. The first time the number 5 appeared in the ad is within the first seconds and it is shown as a giant reflection on a glass building, outlining the importance of the brand and the fame it gained worldwide. Then, the background shifted from the glam of the city to a street lighted only by Chanel signs, which could be a metaphor or the fashion industry in which Chanel is the only ‘light’. However, in the ocean scene Gisele wears a Chanel costume and she is using a Chanel surfing board, making the commercial be more specific, shaping a world where everything can be Chanel. Alongside the pillows covered in Chanel signs, the jewelry and the outfits, even the car keys have two Chanel signs. Moreover, according to Cirloc (2002) number ‘five’ symbolises health and love.

Costumes

Chanel signed all the outfits wore by both Gisele and Michiel and thus the brand creates the restricted world accessed only through Chanel gates. All the outfits are the statement pieces of the latest Chanel collection priced up to £10,000. Through this technique they created a high standard of living for their viewers, yet they accomplished their goal: to create the perfect aspirational women. In one frame, Gisele is wearing a gold outfit (Appendix 3.1), fact that suggests superiority and quality. (Cirlot, 2002)

Music

I found the music choice very interesting as it expresses the director’s ideas. He justified his choice by claiming: ‘Something you think you know and turn it over and find something new.’ The link between this choice and Chanel is that Karl Lagerfeld himself rethinks the identity Coco Chanel created so long ago. Therefore, the customers experience this feeling with every new collection. ‘He does with that classic song what Karl does with fashion.’ (B. Luhrmann). Analysing the lyrics of the song I found even more links to the commercial’s aim.

You're the one that I want

The one I need

Oh, yes, indeed

Filtering these lyrics through semiotic analysis, they do not describe the woman’s love for a man anymore, but in fact they suggests a woman’s love and need for Chanel, as there can be claimed that ‘the one’ is referring to No 5 perfume and not the fundamental meaning. Even the campaign hashtag #TheOneThatIWant suggests the same hypothesis.

Therefore, the campaign highly outlines the brand’s values and identity through every detail. Costumes, music and location create the perfect imaginary world for the nowadays Chanel woman, and as the commercial suggests, this state could be reached by applying a sprinkle of perfume.

Conclusion

To sum up, in the last decades, according to Agins (1999) the power shifts from brand to customers, entrusting the self-decision-making. Agins sustained that fashion receives less credits than before as ‘people’s values changed’, entitling this trend ‘commoditisation of fashion’ (1999: 12). This could justify the brands’ tendency to create more complex and elaborated campaigns, featuring international celebrities, as ‘top designers stopped gambling on fashion’ (Agins, 1999: 13) and started betting on smart advertising ‘fashion has returned to its roots: selling image’ (14). However, the results of the semiotic analysis proves Hackley’s theory about the visual rhetoric in a fragrance ad: ‘brand transports the ordinary woman from the everyday life to a different world in which she can be free to be any self she chooses’ (2005: 48).

In this report I analysed the theories around brand identity, celebrity culture and postmodernism by applying the statements to the case study. Therefore, I justified the choice of the semiotic analysis and its relevance to this report. The following section, Results, was shaped by an in-depth semiotic analysis of the commercial’s most relevant elements: location, Chanel symbol, costumes and music, framing the brand’s value and identity. Through this essay I explained the importance of Chanel within Fashion culture and its impact upon communities and I am planning to research future Chanel commercial in order to analyse any change of brands’ values and identity by applying the same methodology.

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