Praise to a new freedom – Bleu de Chanel

A signature parfum for men sold by Chanel. Although being very expensive, it is one of the best-sellers worldwide. Sprayed on by men all over the world. What might be some possible reasons for the success of this parfum?

One possible explanation is with the pricing of this parfum, it is obvious that for luxury brands like Chanel to have set the price very high. It feels good for the person that is spraying on such expensive product on their body, it’s like they are walking with luxuriousness. The same actually applies to all products being sold by these kind of brands, e.g. Chanel, Dior, YSL etc. Also, these brands’ major products sold are handbags, leather goods that costs at least £2,000 to buy. When they have something that is relatively cheaper (the parfum is sold for £66), people who likes luxury goods, but are unable to purchase the ‘real’ products, may turn to the cheaper cosmetic lines to ‘have a taste’ of being rich.

Celebrity endorsement is another extremely influential factor for the success of this parfum. The advertisement for Bleu de Chanel features a famous actor – Gaspard Ulliel, with him being successful and extremely attractive, there is a tendency for people to attribute his success and attractiveness with him using Bleu de Chanel. In the advertisement, it has been packaged so it looks like this perfume has accompanied with him from starting to becoming successful, matching with the theme that there are hopes for people to attribute success with the perfume.

In the advertisement, close shot with the elegance of the perfume bottle is emphasised as well, this is certainly targeting on the peripheral route of persuasion. In fact, the perfume bottle is very pretty.

Obviously, Chanel is also targeting on ‘what’ they are selling, not only are people paying for the product inside, they are also paying for the aesthetics of owning such a pretty bottle that you would keep on the shelf after you have finished, just like an art piece. So, in a sense, you buy a lot more by just purchasing for the perfume itself.

For something this expensive, there is also a need to target the central route of persuasion, as people would be hesitating whether they would invest that much money on a just a bottle of perfume.

Chanel did exactly so. They have an olfactory description of the perfume. Not only have they listed the ingredients, they have also provided detailed information about how special the ingredients are. For example: ‘A sensual interpretation in which amber dry cedar notes lend sensuality and voluptuousness’, for the ingredient of Cedar. Providing such in-depth information makes sure that buyers are making the ‘decision’.

In short, this perfume smells really nice, but there are no ways that it should be sold at £66. Thanks for the techniques of persuasion and marketing, its price could soar to this high while still being purchased by numerous men, in attempt of being sexy and successful.