This past year, Chanel re-issued its original Première watch, which was the first watch model the company ever created in 1987. The original Première was inspired by the octagonal shape of the No 5 perfume bottle’s stopper, which was originally inspired by the shape of Place Vendôme as seen below:
Place Vendôme, Paris, France
Expected from the luxury brand, the new Première watch looks classic, and chic – truly a Chanel creation. The proportions are slimmer and more delicate than the original, a stark contrast to the chunky, flashy watches other luxury brands offer. The watch also stands out from Chanel’s popular J12 unisex watch model. The Première’s product website beautifully showcases the design inspiration behind the 2 new basic models in steel (Chanel pearls) or yellow gold with black accents (black apparel, gold chain bag, gold jewelry, No 5 perfume), and the most coveted diamond-set version. Besides these models, the watch has up to 14 customized versions – a different look for each woman.
Before this campaign, Chanel’s watches were arguably in the plateau area of the maturity stage in the product life cycle. The re-designed watch effectively extends the product life cycle of the French couturière’s watches. The new Première watch increases the number of users by appealing to a much younger market and also increases the frequency of use by positioning itself as an everyday watch that could be worn to work and to a dinner party (as opposed to a jewelry watch). This line extension’s purpose to extend the product life cycle can be seen in the Première’s promotion video, which reveals gorgeous, fashionable young women sporting the watch doing quotidien things like grocery shopping or calling over a waiter.
In response to classmate Kate Gao’s September blogpost about greenwashing terms, Coca-Cola literally greenwashes an entire neighbourhood in Lithuania through their Roll Out Happiness stunt, part of their Where Will Happiness Strike Next? campaign. Watch as a whimsical Coca-Cola truck temporarily installs some green turf along with a vending machine that dispenses free Coke when people took off their shoes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ih0Drtuufc
While perhaps this stunt was not meant to greenwash, it effectively associates the Coca Cola brand with a few things: happiness, the outdoors, and ultimately, the colour green. The campaign targets the behavioural aspect of consumer attitude in order to influence consumer buying behaviour.
Personally, I associate the colour green with the following terms: natural, healthy, outdoors, calm, growth, and uplifting. In contrast, when I think about Coca Cola, these terms come to mind: red, sugar, refreshing, energy, and happiness. By default, green and Coca Cola’s signature red are opposites of each other on the colour wheel. However, Coca Cola’s green initiatives and campaigns try to merge the different positive associations of both colours under its own brand. These campaigns aim to maintain the core values of the brand while jumping onto the larger bandwagons of healthy eating and sustainability.
A recent ad for Coca-Cola made by Johnny Kelly, the creator behind Chipotle’s popular Back to the Start campaign, equates happiness, movement, and Coca-Cola – these are ultimately the brand associations Coca-Cola wants.
In 2012, Nike gave Casey Neistat, a New York-based filmmaker, a budget to make an advertisement for the #makeitcount campaign and the Nike FuelBand. The video shows 10 days of Casey running around the world on Nike’s budget with quick cuts, daredevil stunts, a pulsing dance track, and inspirational quotes that fit the theme both the #makeitcount campaign and the original Just Do It slogan. The video feels spontaneous – perfect for Nike’s adrenaline-filled, fitness-loving target market.
The reaction, as suggested by the 10 million combined views on Nike and Casey’s YouTube channels, was explosive. It’s inspiring and motivating, raved fans. It’s a conceited, expensive travel log, claimed critics. Many pointed out that Casey isn’t seen with the Nike FuelBand, or with any other Nike apparel for that matter.
Two questions pop into my mind after watching this again. Was it really spontaneous? Casey stated that he came up with the overall idea of the video on the run. He also claimed it was a risk because Nike didn’t know about his plans. I don’t believe that Nike didn’t know about the concept from the start. Nike chose Casey for a reason; the directors must have seen his YouTube videos and decided that they wanted a similar video for the ad.
More importantly, however, was it effective? The ad was supposed to showcase the FuelBand and support the #makeitcount campaign. I think the ad only accomplished the latter, but since Nike still benefited overall from the campaign, I believe the video was extremely effective. Casey produced an uninhibited ad that spoke to Nike’s target market, and that’s what matters. The 10 million views is a testament to how effective the ad was and still is for Nike.
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