That which made Coco roll...

From time immemorial, (my entire undergraduate career) I've always chosen Chanel as my brand of choice when doing case studies or presenting relevant examples. I always chose Chanel because in my head I was a Parisian girl at heart (thank you mom for singing to me in French when I was a kid). I own one Chanel product but I'm brand loyal because it's the only perfume I've ever bought. I think I bought it in Paris just for the authenticity.

I love the Chanel brand. It exudes style, elegance, class, chicness and luxury. The No. 5 Perfume is the signature fragrance of the Chanel brand and its television commercials which equaled mini films further set it apart from all other fragrances.

Nicole Kidman = superb

Audrey Tautou = magnifique

Brad Pitt (part 1) = snoozefest

Brad Pitt (part 2) = well... okay

I took a while to write this post because I've tried to like the latest commercials. Goodness me, I've tried. Part 2 is entirely better than Part 1. I'm yet to understand why Karl Lagerfield signed off on this. Brad Pitt wasn't even wearing black. Black is sexy. Black is Chanel.

 However, there was style in diction, elegance in the cinematography and success in the fact that everyone has been talking about it for the past week. The campaign certainly did not go unnoticed. People talked about it for the mere fact that Brad Pitt was paid $7mil to do it. Some were foolish and starstruck while others grunted in dismay.

If Patrick Dempsey was not tied to his own fragrance he would be my first pick. Johnny Depp would be my 2nd pick. Yes, I know he likes the disheveled look and probably wouldn't even be interested in representing Chanel but think Johnny Depp in the film 'The Tourist'. Very similar to Brad Pitt's image but winning personality. The mini film aspect was missing. Keep Brad Pitt. Give me a mini film. 

What do you think of the latest Chanel No. 5 campaign? 

Sound off below.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold?

Last week I came across POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and my first question is... why didn't we watch this for any of our marketing classes?

A movie about product placement, marketing and advertising funded by product placement, marketing and advertising. Brilliant! Here's the trailer:

I love the fact that this documentary is loaded with satire. Even more pleasing to me is the fact that it's the type of satire that you laugh at for the first few minutes and then you're forced to think and ask yourself questions like: "Do I like these shoes because the aesthetic is pleasing to me or because they were worn by a leading Hollywood actor/actress in the latest Blockbuster film?"

As a marketer, one of my pet peeves is being marketed at. This week I went in to Verizon to buy a new phone and the salesperson was putting it on thick. What a turn off. I decided to buy online instead. I most definitely appreciate being marketed towards. The difference between the two is the approach. No one likes that person in the subway station who pushes flyers up their nostrils. Instead, I genuinely appreciate when a company takes the time to do research and target a demographic appropriately or reaches a target audience through creative initiatives. When working for clients it's necessary not only to understand their business but also what their competition isn't doing!

Spurlock also addresses the consequences to buying advertising. No one likes to be addressed as a 'sell out' and most creatives hate losing control of their creative vision. However, the documentary explores how quite often this is the case in Hollywood. 

Section 324: the product must have 15 seconds of screen time on 4 separate occasions.

Nice try POM, I may or may not give you a trial in the future. Brand integration. Product placement. Co-promotion. Apart from The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, my favorite feature was watching the Ford Focus park itself on the Amazing Race last season. I can appreciate a good product placement, keep it classy or unexpected and I won't change the channel.

What's your favorite feature of product placement? Sound off below.

Netflix = Noflix

A week ago I took the time to have a Scandal marathon on Netflix.

• The quality was HD
• I didn't have to queue the next episode, it played automatically
• An overall lazy and lovely marathon experience......until I looked for more marathon worth content and came up short. 

I've always had hope for Netflix. We had some good memories, the two of us. Yet, sadly enough, since it's breakup with Starz, our friendship just hasn't been the same. We went our separate ways and I paid occasional visits whenever my friendship was begged for. Netflix finds our friendship important. A free trial gift because I'm missed? No. A free trial gift because I'm needed.

I've always had hope for Netflix. However, a 10% fall today in the stocks is no surprise since this is my 4th free trial. Yikes. If Spotify Premium gave me another free trial I would be a happy camper but Spotify understands the detriment to that. Continuous free trials tells the customer your product isn't as valuable as it is priced. Quite frankly, I don't understand why there has been a shift in content being provided. There's an entire section 'Just For Kids' and all 3 kids in my household watch video content on the television. Is this a failure to conduct adequate market research? Another shift noted has been towards adult television. Hulu dominates in this area, therefore; this is an attempt at being delusional. A distinct DVD plan further takes steps to becoming obsolete since redbox takes the cake with supermarket shoppers.

I still have hope for Netflix. A hope for an imminent Amazon acquisition. I look forward to my next free trial offer (even though I may pass on it).