The web of Chanel n. 5
The legend of Chanel n.5 lives again on the Web with a micro-site which tries to go beyond a TV spot that is such a dejavu. For such an iconic perfume I would have expected a touch of innovation that is definitely not there in the commercial and not even in the extended version available on the Web.
On the other side, I think that the contents on the website represent exactly what a Chanel n. 5 fan would like to discover. And here the discussion begins…
Should traditional/luxury brands just meet the expectations of their consumers or should they add a touch of surprise and innovation to everything they do? In my opinion the second option is always the best, especially in Chanel’s case, as the brand has been among the first to develop an application for the iPhone. This time their approach to online communication is too much concentrated on beauty and aesthetic and too few on interactivity.
The production values of the spot are just amazing (but, again, with Jeunet and 3 weeks to shoot it, you would expect so), but I agree with you on the website being far from enough to keep me interested. Felt very static and informative but didn’t bring anything to the table to keep me plugged in. Felt like a YouTube profile with fancy cosmetics…
Shouldn’t every brand try to go further then the expectations? In case of small budgets, I can understand it doesn’t always work but they should at least try. In case of big marketing budgets, it’s an obligation. If the expectations are not exceeded, fire your ad agency… Or am I being too hard?