Chanel Brand Evaluation: The 5 Ps

At the beginning of this project, I was directed to choose a brand to research and explore before creating five different looks inspired by the brand. The brand I chose was Chanel. I chose this brand because it’s one I am familiar with thanks to working a temp job on one of their makeup counters. Though I didn’t own very many Chanel products, I was working with them regularly at work, understanding the quality, the pricing and the promoting.

The history of Chanel plays a huge part in the brand as a whole. Chanel was founded in the early 20^th century, and has grown to become one of the most internationally recognized high-end brands, producing high fashion, ready to wear clothes, luxury goods and fashion accessories.   

 Famous for their Chanel No. 5 fragrance and their masculine to feminine blend of products, the approach ‘less is more’ applies perfectly to the ethos of Chanel. The values of this brand are ultimately heritage, elegancy and minimalism.

Chanel has over 200 boutiques worldwide, situated in department stores, major airports and high-end shopping areas. The stores and counters all ensue the signature Chanel style, sleek, black and glossy. Even the packaging of Chanel’s makeup products mirrors this trend with the timeless casing of their products marked with the infamous Chanel logo, the inverted ‘CC’s.

Chanel’s cosmetics fall into the high-end price bracket in comparison to other makeup brands. A less expensive product would be a lip pencil, which is priced at £17.50. At the higher end, a compact foundation costs £42.50 and if you were to invest in Chanel skincare, you are looking at prices in excess of £100.

I believe purchasing any Chanel products is an investment into an item of excellent quality.  The products exude class whilst still being on trend for the relevant fashion season. I love how the brand continually produces new, innovative colours, textures and products. I believe it is a true testament to the creative artistic directors of the brand who, time after time, continue to outdo themselves and keep Chanel cosmetics so relevant and popular.

Chanel’s target audience is the upper class, more so elegant women aged from 18 through to 39.  They engage this audience through advertising in luxury magazines, television commercials and ad campaigns. Chanel considerately employ celebrity endorsers who perfectly reflect the sophistication and elite status of Chanel, making the brand all the more desirable.  And with a brand value of $7b (as of Nov 2014), Chanel sits at number 79 on Forbes list of the World’s Most Valuable Brands.

Overall, I am pleased with my choice of Chanel. It was great to learn even more about a brand I like so much. Coco Chanel famously said, “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different” and that is Chanel, always changing and expanding yet staying true to the origins of the brand.

Chanel on the Forbes World's Most Valuable Brands List. 2015. Chanel on the Forbes World's Most Valuable Brands List. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.forbes.com/companies/chanel/. [Accessed 01 May 2015].

  

Luxury Marketing: Critical evaluation of Chanel &Hermès | Melis Yurtbay - Academia.edu. 2015. Luxury Marketing: Critical evaluation of Chanel &Hermès | Melis Yurtbay - Academia.edu. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.academia.edu/8992537/Luxury_Marketing_Critical_evaluation_of_Chanel_and_Herm%C3%A8s. [Accessed 01 May 2015].

Chanel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2015. Chanel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanel. [Accessed 01 May 2015].

Chanel Make Up - Bestselling Chanel Makeup and Reviews. 2015. Chanel Make Up - Bestselling Chanel Makeup and Reviews. [ONLINE] Available at:http://makeupbrands.co.uk/chanel-make-up. [Accessed 01 May 2015].