Stay original, or cater to the market?

When people see Jean Paul Gaultier perfume advertisements, most of them will be drawn to the cinematic story the brand is creating. From the classic Corset girls and the sexy male sailors, to the humorous drama that is put into the latest Scandal series, a good brand has always been a good story teller.

Freedom, wild, love, mystery, sex appeal and drama have always been the key words Jean Paul Gaultier wanted to express. However, in the face of increasingly fierce market competition and capital intervention, more and more consumers are influenced by the brand's business model and social status. How does Jean Paul Gaultier convey coherent brand concepts to consumers through different campaigns?

Jean-paul Gaultier once said in an interview that for today's masses, clothing and products are simply seen as a tool for brand exposure. Brands choose to pay celebrities to wear clothes or use their products for marketing purposes, and the influence of social media has made many people want to be fashion influencers. "I decided to stop publishing my ready-to-wear collection because the world is becoming more and more marketing-oriented." Jean Paul Gaultier admitted. But at the end of the day, is the love for brands still real, or is it all just profitable?

It has always been an unavoidable problem for brands to maintain their original intention or cater to the mass market. In the perfume industry, big brands like Dior, Givenchy and even Chanel have all started their high-end perfume lines. While Jean Paul Gaultier still sticks to the essence of his design concept -- the organic combination of gender and neuter to create a dream world for a specific group of people. Therefore, we can also see gaultier's different designs for different people. Pregnant women, the elderly, transgender people and other groups often appear at his fashion shows, rather than conveying a sense of luxury and sophistication as other brands do.

For Gaultier, bringing new possibilities to a diverse audience through brands is far more important than commercial "success". Seven years after its closure in 2014, Jean Paul Gautier's ready-to-wear collection, featuring the brand's best-known sailor theme “Les Marins”, made a comeback this year.

The first element of the brand strategy is to celebrate the Jean Paul Gaultier brand itself, with an emphasis on brand value, brand history and brand archive.

Can Jean Paul Gaultier take the brand to the next level in today's commercialized world?

by Johnny Qi

30/11/2021

(All the pictures are from Internet, if there is any infringement, please contact us to delete, thank you!)

References

https://runwaymagazines.com/jean-paul-gaultier-ready-to-wear-2021-les-marins/

https://www.vogue.fr/mode/article/jean-paul-gaultier-nouvelle-ere-capsule-pret-a-porter

Digimind : Data visualization tool for Paco Rabanne perfume

1 Million de Paco Rabanne

To begin with, we will carefully study the data given about Paco Rabanne’s masculine best -seller perfume : 1 Million. Launched in 2008, this marketing triumph has become the pride of the Catalan groupe Puig, owners of the brand.

It is with no great surprise that we discover the fragrance, 13 years later, is still largely being spoken about on social media, in a positive way, almost as much by women (46%) than by men (53%).

At first observation I naturally expected some spikes in the trend between the months of December and January, and that they would correspond to the rise in interactions during the Christmas festivities.

However, I couldn’t get my hand on why the trend would grow so much in the month of December 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic, which at that time last year was still pretty disastrous to the economy, with many lockdowns still taking place over the world.

So when digging deeper into the statistics, I stumbled upon an article from the daily mail UK which caught my attention :

The inability for clients to test new scents in person may have also contributed to the increase in sales of nostalgic scents, as consumers opted for familiar classics. 1 Million from Paco Rabanne was included as the top selling perfume of the year, just behind Eau Sauvage from Dior in the UK, because of its iconic and memorable fragrance. This fragrance evokes nostalgic and comforting memories of a time where people were free to party, travel, seduce, and gave people a sense of escapeism.

We can surely expect a new rise in trends from now until the end of December 2021, as many people have mentioned 1 Million for Black Friday, and speaking about the way this cult fragrance leaves a trail in everyone’s minds.

Finally, the age proportion of people speaking about this legendary perfume is between 26 and 40 years old, as shows the graph below.

By Clara O'Mahony

30/11/2021

Interview Dior

We tried to understand customer emotion towards Dior by asking them about their emotional attachment with Dior.

Q) What is your name?

A) My name is Robert Miller.

Q) Where do you come from?

A) I come from California, United States.

Q) What do you do?

A) I work towards my family business of Import/Export.

Q) How passionate are you with Perfume Industry?

A) I am a perfume enthusiast and have using perfumes like Le Labo Santal, Armani, Gucci, Jo Malone, Dior etc. I read a little about these brands and it fascinates me to see what marketing strategies they use.

Q) Have you ever used Dior Sauvage?

A) Yes, I have been using Sauvage Original since 2014 and I personally love the smell. According to me, It’s a must have perfume for men.

Q) Were you aware of the Johnny Depp campaign which came out in 2019 and the controversy around it?

A) Yes, I am aware about the controversy. I know all about the enragement which happened because Dior choose Johnny Depp to be the Brand Ambassador of Sauvage. Quite frankly it did upset me when such a reputed brand like Dior made this mistake and reluctantly made a fancy advert.

Q) Did it change your perception towards the brand?

A) Honestly, NO. Even though I thought Dior should have anticipated this controversy and taken right measure to avoid it, it did not changed my brand/product perception. I have been using the product for a long time and I Loved it. I don’t think I could have given up on the product just based on the controversy.

Q)How did you feel about Johnny Depp being casted for this Advert?

A) I was shocked. Like most Americans, I did not knew that he belonged to the Comanche Tribe, hence I did feel bad after seeing the advert. It was not until later when the campaign was pulled off by Dior and official proofs were released about Depp’s acceptance in the Indo-American tribe that we believed it. I agree we should have known about it before making a big fuss about it but in our defense, How could have we known?

Q) Did the controversy change your Purchasing decision?

A) For a brief moment, it did. For almost a week of release and heated debate going on, I did not felt like buying the product. It almost felt like Dior did not care about American Culture and they wanted to sell more. But after a week when things cooled down, I tried the product and it was irresistible. Dior had once again proved why are they Industry leaders. It felt Spicy but also Floral, I liked it soo much that I immediately bought it.

Q) Did you watch Dior’s new advert with Johnny Depp which released on September 2021? What did you think about that?

A) Yes, I did. First let me point out that Johnny and Amber’s Court case has been a buzz in the news since a long time. And I personally supported Depp after knowing his side of the story. But hearing about how the entire industry left him alone was kind of sad. Even Disney took away his future projects. In such a tough time, Dior stood by him. I was impressed by Dior by that action alone. A lot of Americans who supported Depp felt the same way. And when the new advert came out, everyone including me accepted it whole heartedly. I feel Dior’s timing was great. It did increased the brand trust as well, and I am sure they hit the expected sales target as well.

by Ayush Kesari

30/11/2021