Luxury brands have been the slowest to adapt to digital marketing as they are scared to lose their sense of exclusivity if they indulge in marketing online . But Chanel realized that in order to appeal to the tech savvy millennials and Gen Z , they have to devise a smart digital strategy which remains accessible while remaining aspirational . Last year, Chanel was named by Insightpool as the most influential luxury brand on social media (based on overall engagement), topping the list above it’s competitors 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.
What makes Chanel leader in this domain ? Here’s a few reasons behind its social winning strategy.
1) Storytelling through videos and digital platforms
Given that storytelling enables conversations between consumers and the brand in terms of unconscious and conscious levels of thinking, it is one of the most effective approaches to establish relationship between the essences of the brand and the consumers’ self-identity. To communicate the core values of the brand to the consumers, Chanel takes advantage of its rich history and the symbolic figure behind the brand, Gabrielle Coco Chanel. To articulate the brand identity in a narrative way, Karl Lagerfeld, head designer of Chanel, has directed several mini films to revitalize the brand image. Key elements in such fashion films include city of Paris, brand history, feminism, pursuit of perfection, etc. For example, in the film “Once upon a time…”, Karl uses the form of silent film to retell the story of the origin of the brand. Although rejected by the mainstream consumers at first, Chanel managed to develop a clientele of affluent, strong-minded women . These women know exactly what they want and appreciate styles that go against the grain. The short film highlights Chanel’s unique style in tailoring and the use of unexpected fabric, while revealing her rebellious spirit.
A content-based microsite, INSIDE CHANEL, was launched in 2013 , on youtube , to invite consumers to look into the life of the creator, along with the evolution of the brand and its products . Using a true narrative approach, the site includes ten chapters of short videos that tell the unique story behind the brand’s iconic items to allow consumer to better comprehend the core values of its identity as well as the heritage of the brand . The microsite presents the brand’s story in a chronological way. The content of the videos is concise and compelling, making it a cultural experience for the consumers. For instance, one of the videos “Coco-Inside Chanel” features the life story of the brand founder. It summarizes how Coco reinvented herself, from a young orphan to an independent successful woman. The inspiring story of Coco Chanel resonates well with its audience; as a result, the video earned 6,863,855 views on YouTube and was shared on different social media platforms.
One of the key lessons from Chanel’s storytelling campaigns is that a strong narrative with good content is central in a digital marketing strategy. It aims at deepening consumers’ understanding of the brand and its culture to create intrinsic motivation to purchase the products. The content of the Chanel stories not only demonstrates the core elements of the brand, but it stays true to its legacy and expresses the brand’s values and identity in a creative and powerful way. What encourages the audience to share the videos on their social network is the inspiration they receive from the cult of the founder and her revolutionary spirit. The success of crafting intriguing stories is attributed to the deep understanding of the brand’s customer profile. The existing and potential customers of the brand are not only affluent and fashion-savvy, but most are also knowledgeable, educated and informed. They consider the brand they use as a tool to communicate their identity and personal values to the others , therefore such value-expressive stories can attract their attention and resonate with them on a higher level. As Coco once said, “Fashion dies, style remains.”, it is the same with the online strategy in the marketplace today. No matter how rapid the digital world is transforming, how much we are changing our way to communicate to the customers, good content remains. While conveying the brand knowledge to a larger community, the brand successfully creates long lasting effects in the minds of the consumers.
2) Strategically Humanize the brand
Being a luxury brand , Chanel has to maintain its’ brand image of being exclusive . One way in which they do this is by not following anyone (apart from their own beauty page, as you can see over on their Instagram). They don’t follow social media influencers, other designers or even their very own Creative Director, Karl Lagerfeld.
They also don’t comment on anyone else’s posts, either on Instagram or their Twitter page. Chanel, on the other hand, gives off an aura of ‘we don’t need to try to be seen, we know we will be.’
By doing this, they keep up their appearance as an esteemed, reputable brand that people should admire and respect, not one that grovels at the feet of social media stars. They don’t need to try and gain attention through other people’s platforms, they have all they need on their own.
That being said, we can’t deny the importance of influencer marketing and how great it can be as a tool for luxury brands. Chanel certainly doesn’t dismiss it, harnessing the power of the most popular celebrities for their high studded campaigns . The brand tries to evoke message of heritage by purposely taking mother daughter duos as their brand ambassador , so as to reinforce the value of humanize the brand . For example , Lily Paradis was famous French actress / model /singer who was Chanel’s icon for many years . Her legacy at house of Chanel is continued by her daughter Lily Paradis these days . The key is to strike a perfect mix of showing that you are trying to be inclusive brand while remaining exclusive .
3) Using latest Technolgy
Aside from online advertising and social media, Chanel also implemented an innovative and effective digital tool to increase sales in 2017. Since Chanel only sells its’ accessories through its e-commerce website , while still upholding the brand’s elusive image by forcing customers to go their flagship stores to buy clothes and bags, it makes sense that brand put more efforts in upgrading their e-commerce website by implementing latest technology for accessories such as sunglasses . The augmented reality tool was introduced to Chanel’s sunglasses e-commerce site, allowing customers to virtually try on and compare sunglasses before purchase. Though other brands across sectors have recently implemented similar tools, few are as user-friendly and accessible as Chanel’s. This is just one component of Chanel’s hugely successful overall digital strategy to drive high engagement and sales.
By
Shaleen BAINS
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