So lectures have begun again, and it is actually really nice to get back into a routine, rather than having nothing to do with myself! This module is looking at marketing a product, particularly looking at perfume, as this actually quite basic product allows lots of freedom for creativity. After watching the BBC documentary, I have began to understand the different ways in which different market levels reach their target audiences, and the first lecture of the module really helped me develop that further and look at the different categories and stories many fragrance companies use in order to sell their product.
There are key elements when selling a product, and the narrative and story is one of these. Although there are many different categories other than these four I have learnt about, these are the main groups which many perfume adverts fall into.
Sensuality and Indulgence
Trust and Honesty
Humour and Kitsch
Tradition and Heritage
After having a few hours to think about this, I put together some adverts, from magazines, which fit into these groups to look at the similarities between each.
Sensuality and Indulgence
I found that with sensuality and indulgence themes, the advertisements tended to be seductive and passionate, using colours often associated with love and sexiness, such as deep reds, plums and golds. This may be because gold is associated with wealth and purple has often had a history of being the rarest dye colour to create, and so by using this to create a very forbidden and desirable story, the perfume sells itself as being superior and rare. You can often see many lingerie companies such as Victoria Secret also using this trend in order to sell their products.
Trust and Honesty
Trust and Honesty adverts all sell their products as if they are pure and natural. Many of these companies therefore use earthy colours such as greens, browns and blues and often include many natural objects like trees, water and sky to create a sense of authenticity to their product. Many of these adverts also strip away all colour to emphasise this natural form, having their adverts mainly in black and white, and others will also use bare skin, blush colours and nudity in order to stress the minimal look they are trying to achieve. I think that skin care companies such as Dove and Clinique are also great at using this trend as it links to their brand values very well.
Humour and Kitsch
These types of advertisements take a completely different approach, using lots of bright colours (oranges, yellows, blues, hot pinks) in order to create a playful atmosphere to their adverts. Using outrageous props and facial/body expressions, the adverts portray fun and laughter, whilst can also have a surreal aspect to them. Many companies choose to use kitsch to their advantage, however others do not mean to come across in this way, but due to over exaggerated features in a bottle or advert, the images may come across in this manner by mistake. Many photographers, such as David Lachapelle have mastered this look for different types of brands, and I also think that Kenzo use lots of humour in order to advertise their product.
Tradition and Heritage
For me, tradition and heritage was the hardest to categorise, as I feel many perfume ads are moving away from this trend as it can often become quite hard to brands to constantly play on their pasts when they are trying to be innovative and ahead of the trend. However, I did find that with this category, soft, pastel colours are used in order to create a romantic and vintage ambience. The clothing brand, Jack Wills, are incredibly known for their traditions and so use this brand value as an aspect in their adverts.
#fcpreflection
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