Semiological Observatory

1
Semiological Observatory
New communication codes of luxury in
advertising 2004-2006 report
2
Methodology and tools
Overview of the principles of semiotic analysis
Semiotic analysis concentrates on signs, on the
relationships between them, and on the conditions
for production of messages here, the focus is
on comparison between various advertising
messages from luxury brands (fashion and haute
couture, luggage and jewellery, beauty and
perfumery, cars, multimedia products, alcoholic
drinks and so on) since 2004. This is a
comparative study of the linguistic, iconic and
scenic expressions at a given moment (a study
comparing sources). The principle is to
understand and conceptualize a situation of
communication, in this case to explore
communications in the luxury sector in France
since 2004.
A study built on two sources of information The
TNS CREATIVE EXPLORER advertising database,
wherein all new advertising campaigns in France
are described, as well as the main press and
television campaigns in 25 countries. Press
digests from THE NEWS DIVISION, to gain a deeper
understanding of the context of new advertising
campaigns.
3
Corpus
This luxury watch is built on a comparative
analysis of selected communications in 14 sectors
throughout the 2004-2006 period. The selection
criterion is that of creative relevance in the
context of both their original sectors and the
whole consumer sector.
Typology of the sectors analyzed ? Foodstuffs
coffee, chocolate, desserts, ices ? Alcoholic
drinks ciders, aperitifs, whiskies, spirits and
liqueurs ? Beauty and perfumery make-up,
skin-care products, fragrances for men and
women ? Fashion and haute couture ? Watches and
jewellery ? Cars and multimedia
telecommunications, audio-visual products,
photography ? Tourism and sport airlines, travel
agencies, sports equipmen, etc. ? Furniture and
decoration
4
Principles and objectives
This semiotics observatory on new communication
codes of luxury is a horizontal thematic study
whose aim is to assist you in strategic thinking
about your brands in the search for new identity
markers associated with prestige and luxury
sphere. The principle of this analysis is to
give you an overview of the wide range of fields
of expression that both characterize the luxury
sector and distinguish the mass-market brands
that make use of them. Through a report on
evolutions in luxury communications since 2004,
and a benchmark of BACARDI MARTINI and competing
brands in 2005-2006, we shall analyze - Specific
creative approaches in traditional luxury. -
Emerging creative approaches regarding new luxury
brands (populuxe and masstige). - Prospective
creative approaches for your brands in the search
for a new legitimacy in these fields of
expression.
5
Introduction 2004-2005
2004-2005 justification of rational purchasing
TRANSPARENCY In a context of exacerbated
economic challenge (decrease in spending power),
consumption patterns are changing toward a
discount attitude that gives priority to price
and its relationship to quality and
quantity. This is a severe blow to manufacturers
who have to face up to new competition and a new
suspicion among consumers, who wonder if makers
are justified in asking higher prices than for
own-brands.
2004-2005 Rationalization of purchasing styles
Manufacturers brands Relationshipquality
price
Supermarket own-brands Relationshiplow prices
quality
DIVERGENCE
Challenges for supermarkets Strengthening own
brands that display distinguishing identity
valuesidentity transparency
Challenges for manufacturers Regaining consumer
confidence regarding price transparency
6
2004-2005
Manufacturers brands
Supermarket own-brands
v
La Tribune 06/2005
CB News 25/04/2005
Le Nouvel Economiste 22/07/2005
Intermarché - 2005
7
Introduction 2005-2006
2005-2006 the return of emotional purchasing
PLEASURE In the context of a communication
cacophony (talking about prices has become an
institution), brands no longer provide any
distinguishing marks to consumers, who are
disenchanted by a system that forces them to act
only as purchasers and as customers to be made
loyal. Fed up with all the talk about prices, the
customer is now expressing a new need to feel
unique and individual. This is an opportunity for
manufacturers to return to the brand culture that
they had been neglecting drawing inspiration
from codes for luxury (exclusivity) while still
working on their legitimacy on prices
(accessibility).
2005-2006Return of emotional purchasing
Luxurybrands Relationshipbrand identity
Manufacturers brands Relationshipquality
brand
CONVERGENCE
2006-2007 challenge for designers To strengthen
the super-luxury image an unaffordable identity
Challenges for manufacturers To build added
value into the price message, a brand culture
TOP OF THE RANGE
Challenges for designers To develop a populuxe
attitude through a brand culture TRENDY
8
2005-2006
/
Manufacturers brands
Designers brands
Multiplication of prestigious partnership
strategies between chains or brands and
designers HM and Lagerfeld, La Redoute and
Gaultier, Habitat and Paul Smith, Pronuptia and
Lapidus, Danone and Ora Ito, and so on.
Ikea - 2004
Marketing Magazine January/February 2006
USA American designer Isaac Mizrahi
9
the synergic sociocultural context

New consumers are more demanding, and ways of
buying are more complex an
alliance between economical (fair), esthetic
(pretty) ethical (good) shopping
Typical ideal consumers of luxury goods nowadays
each wear several faces. They take their models
from different groups, and blend different
categories of objects of different prices and
different styles. Mobility, hybridization and
diversity have taken over from formal
everything-by-the-book luxury Gilles
Lipovetsky
LExpress 17/01/2005
LANCIA - 2005
La Tribune 04/2005
10
Mass consumption and pauperization

New consumerist demands and denunciation of
high-priced living quality, water, space,
petrol, and so on are the new luxury products in
days when essentials are getting scarce
Carrefour - 2004
Volkswagen - 2005
Renault - 2006
Suez - 2005
SNCF - 2005
11
Luxury and democratization
In todays world, which loves to get carried away
with monograms, logos, vintages and counterfeits,
luxury is a way of life that is becoming general.
Advertising is taking part in this
socio-economic development, which may to some
extent be observed through a double trend to
converge - The use of traditional codes for
luxury by mass-market brands (the up-market
positioning strategy) - The development of new
creative and artistic codes by the luxury sector
(the proximity strategy)
With the broadening of consumption, luxury has
taken on new proportions in our societies. No
longer is it a marginal phenomenon limited to a
narrow elite Through branding, it is omnipresent
in the world of communications. (April 2003)
Gilles Lipovetsky Philosopher
In an economy that extols product turnover and
pushes brands to get away from the shores of
timelessness to become fashion brands, or even
fashionable brands, what has happened to luxury?
(February 2005)Benoît Heilbrunn Semiologist and
Professor of Marketing at the Paris Economic
School
12
In advertising, what has happened regarding these
sociocultural developments in luxury? We observe
three types of luxury that have emerged from
advertising between 2004
and 2006 Traditional luxury Emotional
luxury Industrial luxury
13
contents
Evolutions of codes for luxuryin advertising
since 2004. Construction of a typology of various
luxury items present in their most traditional
and their newest expressions.
1
2
Benchmark of alcoholic drinksin 2005-2006 based
on a selection of the competing brands that are
active in the alcoholic drinks sector, and on an
analysis of the most creative of your brands
14
1
Evolution of luxurys representations in
advertising 2004-2006
15
From traditional luxury to industrial
luxuryemotional luxury
? masstige/industrial luxury (mass market
prestige) institutionalization of codes from
the luxury world by mass-market brands
strategies of partnerships with designers
(generalization of luxury). Faced with this
strategy of taking consumer goods up-market, the
luxury sector has reacted by locking up the
market both at the top (super-luxury) and at
the bottom (populuxe) ? super-luxury/traditiona
l luxury reaffirmation of historical identity
via limited editions and collectors items,
made-to-measure and handmade items, using high
aesthetic communications the restoration
concept. ? populuxe/emotional luxury
democratization of luxury (e.g. Chanel and its
sportswear line, Isabelle Marant and its range
that is 30 cheaper than the headline range) via
segmentation of the offering (accessories,
cosmetics, perfumery) or via disruptive
communications strategies (e.g. Dior and John
Galliano, who presents trash and grunge in his
shows new trendier, more streetwise codes and
so on) the breakdown concept.
16
TRADITIONAL LUXURY OR SUPER-LUXURY
What are the imaginings that form the basis of
the traditional culture of luxury?
17
Introduction
Traditional luxury is based on classic fields
of communication, where it has been settled for
many years. We have approached them via
communications about alcoholic drinks that link
up through the convergence of the codes used
Egotistical luxuryConventional usageSelfish
approach
Theatrical luxuryObsessional usageFestive
approach
Venoge - 2005
CanardDuchêne - 2005
Louis Roederer - 2005
Château Canon - 2004
18

Social luxuryconventional consumption
Luxury through unbridled opulence, exuberance,
decadencebut also through the conservatism of a
heritage, a culture, a social inheritance and the
skills of craftsmenwhich all enshrine luxury
brands as timeless and traditional
Craftsmanlike luxury
Monarchical luxury
Social consumption Conventional usage
Mythical luxury
Austere luxury
Cultural luxury
Narcissistic luxury
Classical luxury
Egotistical luxury
The luxury of indolence
Opulent luxury
Timeless luxury
19
Community-based luxurySocial heritage and the
economic elite
TOYOTA 2005
20
Austere luxuryA return to the austere classicism
of the thirties and to a representation of the
unattainable femme fatale
Chanel show in 2004 in buses from the 1930s at
the heart of Paris. Small groups of models went
from bus to bus in the street
YVES SAINT LAURENT
SHISEIDO, JAPAN
21
Narcissistic luxuryReferences to black the
incarnation of mystery and refinement
22
Egotistical luxuryIdentifying products that
reveal the selfI am what I consume my
consumption reflects the rest of me
MAGNUM 2006
23
The luxury of indolenceInactivity in praise of
laziness
NATUZZI - 2004
NOKIA
PSP 2004
24
Opulent luxurySpace, the privilege of luxury
the luxurious way of life derided An urban demand
for the renewal of the habits of luxury
RENAULT ESPACE 2005
25
Classical luxuryNo message but a musical
identityThe product fits into an identifying
cultural heritage
MASERATI 2005
MERCEDES 2004
26
Cultural luxuryThe art and nobility of our
heritage
ROLEX 2004
27
Timeless, discreet luxuryMinimalist elegance
the contrast of black and white
28
Mythical and familial luxury The sign and the
monogram symbolism linked to the architecture of
luxury I criticize Dior, Chanel and Vuitton for
being recognizable not by their styles, but by
the identifying logo Jacques Helleu, Chanel
artistic director
29
Craftsmanlike luxuryMade-to-measure and handmade
products
Stratégies 2004 N1392
Stratégies 23/02/2006
HONDA -2004
30
Craftsmanlike luxury Limited editions
CB NEWS- 12/2005
31
Craftsmanlike luxury
Luxury and tradition a new appreciation of the
specialist shop, of the concept store service,
personal welcome, atmosphere
Having your own shops is a key point. Distance
and desire are re-established Luxury and the
Internet are poor bedfellows. In the act of
purchasing a luxury product, the setting is a
determining factor decor, prestige, personal
welcome, wrapping and so on form an integral part
of the pleasure of buying and being Elyette
Roux
Marketing Magazine March 2006
Fashion Daily News May 2006
Libération, October 2005
32
Social consumption Champagne and wine occupy
this terrain that emphasizes use governed by
convention and ritual
33

Theatrical luxuryobsessional usage
Expressions of luxury exposed, laid bare in its
most intimate excesses (provocative luxury).
Super-luxury here declares its wish to break with
the conventions of cold, social luxury so that it
can appear on stage, be theatrical (decadent
luxury) and even dramatize (schizophrenic luxury)
a way of life that disembodies the singularity of
the individual (surrealist luxury)
Expressions of a luxury that turns in on itself,
that is individualistic, that lays the
foundations for a transformation of the
traditional brand codes into a new emotional
luxury
Baroque and Gothic luxury
Surrealist luxury
Collective consumption Obsessional usage/
targeting youth
Schizophrenic luxury
Expensive luxury
Decadent luxury
Glamorous luxury
Provocative luxury
Esoteric luxury
Mystical luxury
34
Surrealist luxuryReference to the jet-set
lifestyle day-to-day living sublimated in the
absence of limits
JAGUAR 2006
ROCHE BOBOIS 2006
35
Expensive luxuryProliferation of representations
of gold as an allegory for the preciousness of
the product
36
Glamorous luxury Representation of internalized
sensuality and organic pleasureFusion with the
product
37
The luxury of perfectionReferences to the world
of fashion
Panasonic -2004
BMW
OPEL
Canon 2004
38
Provocative luxuryDramatization of chic
pleasureand liberated sexualityNonconformity
39
Decadent luxuryDramatization and
nonconformityAll the power of the material
USA /GB
ELLE BRAZIL May 2004
MAC - JAPAN
40
Schizophrenic luxuryTheatrical dramatization and
deconstruction of the humanized identity
Dior show - 2006
HR 2005
41
Therapeutic luxuryA surgical cult of youth and a
promise of everlasting beauty
42
Esoteric luxuryThe charismatic power of the
product
43
Mystical luxuryReference to black and the power
it embodies
44
Baroque and Gothic luxury Introspective mourning
and neutralized identityThe all-powerful nature
of the product (exaggerated size)
JAPON - CLINIQUE 2005
Libération, 28 February 2006
45
Collective consumption Implanting champagne and
aperitifs on this festive terrain, and shared
pleasures often associated with excess, loss of
control decadence, exuberance, thumbing the
nose at the codes for traditional luxury
46
Powerful /authoritarian consumption Implanting
whiskies in the terrain of preciousness,
establishing a relationship of exclusivity
between the bottle and the consumer, the
allegorical resemblance between the substance and
gold
47
Conclusion
Traditional luxury
YouthHedonismPleasureInsouciance Introspection
ElitePower DominationSkill Representation
SOCIAL LUXURY Conventional usage Historical
approach
THEATRICAL LUXURY Obsessional usage Egotistical
approach

- Visual esthetics - Recognized prestige
positioning
- Visual narratives (strength of the press) -
Connivance with a young target
- A world with connotations of excess (the dark
side of luxury) - Youthful, festive ideals that
carry negative values self-centeredness,
indecency, vulgarity
-Hierarchical social ideals traditional
France breaking down with the ways of lifes
evolutions - Egotistical identity establishment
of a dominant/submissive relationship with the
customer
-
48
EMOTIONAL LUXURY OR POPULUXE
What are the new ideals of luxury that will
revitalize the contemporary culture of luxury?
49
Social codes for luxuryThe disquiet of gilded
youth decadence and defiance in contradiction
with the return of courtliness and to the
education of youth (reproaches to authority)
DECEMBER 2005
Programme on M6 So much for manners!
50
introduction
Luxury is seen more and more as representing
non-commercial values clean air, silence,
space, conviviality, happiness, peace, and so on
escaping a little at a time from the realm of
superfluity and extravagance. Luxury is
developing toward sensory experience so as to
escape from the ordinary, everyday world it is
becoming a more vague way of life, more exclusive
and individualistic, more confidential and
intimate. So we are not so much witnessing the
democratization of traditional luxury as its
transformation toward favouring an emotional way
of life that combines aesthetics and
ethics. Brands therefore have to renew their
identities in favour of values that sublimate the
society in which they function experimental
luxury and vital luxury are the two fresh ideals
associated with this new luxury, which is
becoming simultaneously more public-spirited and
more intimate, more creative and more
sensitive. Consequently, we are not so much
consumers of brands and logos as we are consumers
of pleasures and sensations.
51

Experimental luxuryclandestine consumption
Emotional luxury defines emerging fields of
communication that feature formal codes that
break with those of traditional luxury,
emphasizing creativity and availability.
Nomadism and mobility are the new key values in
consumption and especially in emotional luxury.
In fact, the blending of types, periods and
realms characterizes this nomadism of luxury that
is developing through the comings and goings of a
society that is going global.
Experimental luxuryClandestine consumption
Retro and futurist luxury
Graphic luxury
Kitsch luxury
Unexpected luxury
Pop-rock luxury
52
Retro and futurist luxurySuperimposition of
epochs and thinking about time
INTER/COURREGES - 2005
INTER/CUSTO - 2005
53
Kitsch luxuryCodes of the 80s flashy, disco,
vinyl
Return of the punk mania reinterpretation of the
80s and affirmation of contrasting colours
54
Pop-rock luxuryAdvertising and the pop-rock
museFrom perfection to personality
MADONNA
DEMI MOORE
55
Unexpected luxuryHybridization producing the
unexpected
The hatching of a generation of young
half-designer, half-stylist creative types who
are breaking the bonds of marketing, attracting
luxury brands more and more as they seek to stand
out from this new mass-market luxury
Les Echos - 1st February 2006
56
Unexpected luxuryHybridization and blending of
realms
CB News December 2005
Stratégies supplement No.1303
FASHION DAILY NEWS MAY 2006
IFF, February 2005 Visionnaire Taste, a
selection of 12 flavours associated with photos
of artists
57
Graphic luxuryThe dreaminess and innocence of
childhood illustrations and codes from cartoons
SNICKERS
58
Clandestine consumption Aperitifs join in with
this sociocultural development in consumption
that emphasizes mobility, simplicity and
functionality in lifestyle consumer goods
Stratégies Mars 2006
Panasonic Ultra-feminine representation of a
telephone, all curves, complete with a mirror and
a biorhythm calendar.
59

Vital luxuryorganic consumption
Ethics and aesthetics comprise the new
paradoxical alliance that is nourishing the codes
and ideals of luxury. In this way, a new
sensitivity is being expressed through the
classic field of reference involving nature and
the plant kingdom, of sensations and emotions.
Its a back-to-basics idea that implies a return
to ourselves and our bodies air, space, freedom,
and so on are the arguments for the luxury of
linking up once again with the elementary realm
that is becoming this new vital form of
luxury. In this way, consumption situates itself
among the minimalist representations that denote
fundamental values and a vital one-ness.
Vital luxuryOrganic consumption
Intimate luxury
Poetic luxury
Vital luxury
Bucolic luxury
Sensory luxury
Ethical luxury
60
Sensory luxury
SEAT- 2005
MAGNUM - 2005
SEPHORA - 2006
61
Sensory luxuryThe authenticity of the product
that provides sensory intensity anchored in the
hedonistic, radicalized vision of luxury
CARTE DOR - 2005
62
Sensory luxury A blending experiencethe
precious gentleness of gestures
GB- NOKIA 2004
Sony France
63
Poetic luxuryNo message, but the urban is made
magical again
Kenzo reinventing urban poetry
STEINER - 2004
BMW - 2005
64
Bucolic luxury Childrens dreams and fairy tales
explored once more by nature (innocence)
65
Ethical luxuryA marriage of paradoxes to create
ethical aesthetics
Louis Vuitton (France/Germany pavilion) at the
Universal Exhibition in Aichi the set designer
Gérard Cholot produced this concept of a islet
covered by 4000 tiles made of sea salt, an
inexhaustible material symbolizing purity. Return
to craftsmanlike luxury the brand profited by
this to exhibit its carbon emission balance sheet
and to announce that it will now favour export by
ship instead of air freight so as to reduce CO2
emissions.(BAM May 2005)
66
Vital luxurySilence, space, air, water and the
plant kingdom
AIR FRANCE - 2006
67
Vital luxurySilence, solitude and therapy
through the body the new obsession with health
and the more intense search for well-being
Floating Space sensory deprivation and
weightlessness
68
Organic luxury
fusion between colors and body

Sergio Tacchini
GB-ORANGE danse
contemporaine osmose des corps
69
Organic luxury
fusion between colors and body

JAPON / HÄAGEN DAZS 2005
DIESEL 2006
70
Minimalist consumption/the essentialsAperitifs
(vodka, vermouth, wine) are depicted in
minimalist, hyper-aesthetic representations
(white backgrounds) that refer to the ethical
purity of the product and to its fundamental
character
71
Conclusion
HumilityRespect CommitmentSharingThought
TribeHybridizationEqualityArt of
livingCreation
Emotional luxury
VITAL LUXURY Sensory usageOrganic approach
EXPERIMENTAL LUXURYFUNCTIONAL USAGE Urban
approach
- Event-driven communication an alliance between
advertising and marketing - Luxury positioning
creating new codes and an avant-garde identity -
Creative freedom in codes and values
- Response to social trends and to consumer
expectations returning meaning and pleasure to
consumption - Gives substantial sustenance to the
brand culture

-
- Anti-consumerist ideals - A terrain that is
also found in supermarkets industrial luxury
-Emerging luxury and changeable codes no
immediate recognition - Targeting the initiated
some risk of intellectualism
72
Conclusion
What positioning can mass-market brands adopt?
Traditional luxury
Emotional luxury
Externalization
Internalization
Society
Tribe
ElitePower DominationSkill Representation
TribeHybridizationEqualityArt of
livingCreation
SOCIAL LUXURYConventional usageHistorical
approach
EXPERIMENTAL LUXURY Functional usage Artistic
approach
Individual
YouthHedonismPleasureInsouciance Introspection
THEATRICAL LUXURYObsessional usageEgotistical
approach
HumilityRespect CommitmentSharingThought
VITAL LUXURY Sensory usage Ethical approach
73
INDUSTRIAL LUXURY OR MASSTIGE
How do food brands communicate about luxury to
develop a new prestige positioning?
74
Introduction
Masstige, or industrial luxury, defines the new
positioning of supermarket brands in the terrain
of traditional luxury, and less commonly that of
emotional luxury. Consequently, it is important
for these brands to allude to codes that provide
immediate affiliation to prestigious ideals. In
fact, codes for so-called emotional luxury, and
even emerging codes, insist on independence from
the tradition of luxury and from its exclusive,
even sectarian, dimension. Various procedures
are available to brands to allow them to
infiltrate this realm of luxury that is now less
and less walled off The star system Cobranding T
easing Retro-marketing The diversion
strategy Discursive minimalism The long
format Anglicisms Referential borrowings and
formal borrowings
75
The star system Borrowing a muse from luxury
brands for the mass market
Kate Moss
Charlize Théron
76
CobrandingBorrowing the values and personality
of the designer
HM 2004
77
LinkageBorrowing the creative power and fashion
of the media
Germany The surprise effect of linkage between
Vogue (elite, selective beauty) and LOréal (mass
market)
78
Event-driven cobrandingPrestige entertainment
creation and distribution
Sponsored postage stamps The Austrian Post Office
has just published a limited edition set of
stamps featuring the image of Häagen Dazs! They
consist of reproductions of the graphics from the
brands latest advertising campaign.
Cosmétique Mag May 2006
79
The concept storeA blend of prestige and
conviviality
Cosmétique Mag May 2006
Apartment customdesigned by Stelle Cabente
80
Cobranding and teasingCobranding between
mass-market brands (e.g. SFR and Caisse
dEpargne) with a luxury brand (e.g. Lancôme) for
the TV launch of a product (Hypnose) in the
content of the ads along with teasers
SFR

TOYOTA
CAISSE DEPARGNE
LANCOME -Hypnôse
81
TeasingIntrigue and a burlesque story-line
extravagance and opulence
Moretosee.com is a blend of story, treasure-hunt
and community of people working together on the
Internet to solve a mysterious puzzle.
Sharp 2004
Symbolic representation of radicalized luxury
82
Teasing
intrigue and journalistic story-line
mysticism and mystery
VOLVO 2004
83
TeasingDiscursive minimalism and construction of
a circle of initiates or chosen ones
Aiwa France a change of visual identity in 2004
KIA 2004
84
Discursive minimalismCodification and
reinforcement of collusion the essence of
emotional luxury
85
Discursive minimalismpurity and new expression
of optimism
86
Discursive minimalismThe comparative offensive
similarity between the copy of the luxury item
and the original
Minimalism of comparative demonstrations and
refocusing on the product in the car
VOLKSWAGEN in Brazil
87
Retro-marketingIdentifying with a craft product
In a context that is marked by the dethroning of
brands and the loss of reference points for
consumers, were observing messages retreating
into a lengthy historicity. This newstalgia has
taken on multi-sector dimensions but reveals
itself particularly in the spheres of fashion and
beauty. At one and the same time, for consumers
this represents a regret for an idealized period
that they have never known, the reaffirmation of
an authentic beauty that can never go out of
fashion, and a way back from a consumerism that
is both invasive and rootless.
NEWZY June 2005
LE MONDE 15th April 2005
STILA
The 1930s, creative euphoria Rediscover
romanticism and the taste for seduction (cabaret
and the American Dream)
PAUL JOE
88
Long formatsPoetic, novelistic narratives
forbidden fruit and inaccessibility of luxury
CHANEL 2005
LEVIS 2004
89
Long formatsPoetic, novelistic narratives
MOET and SMIRNOFF, UK, 2005
Distilled three times purer and prettier
90
AnglicismsMarketing mix and mixing up the codes
star system (populuxe) narrative (masstige)
tradition of the luxury boutique (super-luxury)
NESPRESSO 2006
91
Referential borrowingsAlternative to traditional
luxury craftsmanship and handmade goodsThe
rural tradition and in praise of slowness
DAUCY 2006
VIEUX PANE 2005
MAISON DU CAFE 2005
92
Referential borrowingsAlternative to traditional
luxury ostentationThe precious nature of the
product and its exclusivity and rareness
NESCAFE - 2005
JACQUES VABRE - 2004
NESCAFE - 2005
93
Referential borrowingsAlternative to traditional
luxury opulenceAccumulation, multiplication,
product diversity and an assumed materialism
94
Referential borrowingsAlternative to traditional
luxury heritagePrecious nature of the product,
which is rare and integrated into the culture
95
Referential borrowingsAlternative to traditional
luxury dominationOmnipotence and power procured
through the product
LANCEL
LOREAL
Retro/1960s social beauty
96
Formal borrowings Borrowing colours, styles and
staging
HERMES
CLINIQUE
LA REDOUTE
ING DIRECT
97
Formal borrowings Monochrome and duotone graphic
aesthetics with a play on colours and contrasts
98
Conclusion
? Positionings that lay emphasis on the terrain
of traditional luxury. ? These borrowed terrains
reinforce the egotistical culture of the brand by
giving prominence to the aesthetic handling of
the image a characteristic of traditional
luxury in its social/elitist treatment. ? This
sub-category may actually damage the brand and
its relationship with the consumer. ? In 2006, a
trend towards humility and the redemption of
brands has pushed creativity toward frames of
reference closer to emotional luxury diversity,
optimism, creativity, breaches of codes and so on
are the approaches that should receive attention
in a strategic rethinking of a brand. ? Through
strategies for partnership between brand names
and designers, masstige is developing the
telescoping of genres and thereby bringing
together the values and codes of emotional luxury.
99
Conclusion
Traditional luxury
Emotional luxury
Industrial luxury
SCENIC
MINIMALISM/RARITY
MINIMALISM/RARITY
MINIMALISM/PURITY
COLOURISTIC
BLACK/GOLD
BLACK/GOLD
FREE/WHITE
X
ARGUMENTATIVE
LINGUISTIC
NARRATIVE
AUTHORITY
ACCESSIBILITY
DIVERSITY
IDENTITY
REFERENCE
TRADITION
CONSUMPTION
ART
COMMUNICATIONCONTRACT
FASCINATION
SEDUCTION
CONCEPTUALIZATION
100
2
Benchmark of the alcoholic drinks sector 2005-2006
101
Benchmark of brands from Bacardi-Martini France
and from competitorsFOCUS 2005-2006
?
Prospective thinking on new positionings for
Bacardi-Martini France brands in the luxury
products sphere
?
102
Vodkas
103
THE PRINCE
BACARDI MARTINI FRANCE/ERISTOFF (BLACK)
? Distinguishing strategy for close-ups
off-centre framing AUTHORITY, INTENSITY the
bottle is not shown in its entirety ? Discursive
minimalism, white background, black
bottle AESTHETICS, THE ABSOLUTE ? Insistence on
cultural identity (since 1806, Russian dynasty)
TRADITION, SKILL
TRADITIONAL LUXURY/social and conventional
egotistical approach Aesthetic and dreamlike
sublimation of the product
104
THE SOVIET
MOET/SMIRNOFF
? Reinforcement of the historical and aesthetic
underpinnings of Smirnoff via the white
background and the construction of a hard-hitting
narrative based on the key values AUTHORITY,
AGGRESSIVENESS, INTENSITY, PURITY, QUALITY
INDUSTRIAL LUXURYBorrowing the values of
traditional luxury along with codes from mass
consumption minimalism and a narrative
commercial pitch
105
THE STAR/the actress
LIXIR/ABSOLUTE VODKA
? Narrative power of the dramatized identity of a
bottle dressed up in its qualities of freshness
and flavour. Treatment via the exaggerated
materialization of the image (igloo, invasion of
raspberries etc.) and via the text SENSORY
VALUES, SENSUALITY, LIGHTNESS, THE POETIC ETHIC
EMOTIONAL LUXURYThe blending of paradoxes
aesthetics and ethics, lightness and intensity
106
SKYY/SKYY VODKA
LA MARTINIQUAISE/POLIAKOV
RICARD/WYBOROWA VODKA
INDUSTRIAL LUXURY Borrows the codes for
traditional luxury intellectuality festivity
(art nouveau)
EMOTIONAL LUXURY graphic aesthetics (solar
effect) street art setting
NO LUXURY Dynamic treatment that opposes the
slowness and contemplation that characterizes
luxury
107
ROTHSCHILD FRANCE/DANZKA VODKA
? A functional identity from the design aesthetic
of the bottle, which was developed from technical
principles to enhance its storage life.
SIMPLICITY, DESIGN, PURITY, SENSORY PERCEPTION
MASSTIGE Democratization of the luxury product,
which is communicated about in a manner similar
to a mass-market product usage, sales pitch
108
BACARDI MARTINI FRANCE/GREY GOOSE
Feminization of the visual identity (e.g. via
manual typography) and prestige sales pitch a
paradox between the desire for positioning in the
luxury terrain and a B-to-B challenger style
message A world of expression to be explored
traditional luxury in its dramatic, decadent
version (the culture of excess of the United
States) combined with an organic sensory nature
(orange and France)
MASSTIGE
TRADITIONAL LUXURY
109
So
Bacardi-Martini Group/vodka leader in the
territory of the traditional luxury
Masstige
Traditional luxury
SOCIAL
VITAL
EXPERIMENTAL
Industrial luxury
Emotional luxury
110
Spirits aperitifs
111
BACARDI MARTINI FRANCE/MARTINI
? Aesthetic and creative identity PURITY,
FEMININITY, CREATIVITY (minimalism, white
background, transparency) ? International
identity (Italy, London, Paris) ELITISM,
INTELLECTUALITY ? Cultural and festive
consumption LIGHTNESS, REFINEMENT, SOCIETY
EMOTIONAL LUXURY cultural identity and
theatrical creativity
112
BACARDI MARTINI FRANCE/MARTINI mini
? Aesthetic and creative identity PURITY,
FEMININITY, CREATIVITY (minimalism, white
background, transparency) ? Functional
declaration of nomadic use SIMPLICITY, PLEASURE,
MOBILITY ? Playful and festive identity (first
size level dramatized) ABILITY TO BLEND IN,
SENSORY AWARENESS
EMOTIONAL LUXURYRenewal of uses mobility and
sensory awareness
113
BACARDI MARTINI FRANCE/BOMBAY SAPPHIRE
? Surrealist artistic identity PURITY, INTENSITY,
ABILITY TO BLEND IN (monochrome, dramatization
of product) ? Young talent participates in
production ELITIST COMPLICITY, INTELLECTUALITY
and dramatization ? Declaration of exceptional
usage NARRATIVE, AESTHETICS, MYSTERY, RARITY
contemplative look at the image ? Relationship
distanced by the cold, hostile colour scheme
EMOTIONAL LUXURYRenewal of uses preciousness
and definite ritual nature
114
KRITER/KRYO
? Discursive minimalism and contrasting AUTHORITY,
AESTHETICS handling of white on the black
background ? Sparkling identity expressing
the FESTIVITY, FEMININITY product all dressed
up in furs ? Borrowed reference from the sphere
of vodkas hypothermic RARITY, REFINEMENT, POWER
expression of the freshness of the product
through the contrast of black and white
TRADITIONAL LUXURY/social and conventionalThe
aesthetic and magical sublimation of the product
BLACK ON BLACK from CLAN CAMPBELL the mystery
and secrecy of the limited edition
115
LIXIR/CAMPARI
PERNOD/ GLOSS DE SUZE
PERNOD/ PASTIS 51
INDUSTRIAL LUXURY Borrowing codes from
traditional luxury theatrical intensity,
preciousness, qualityContemplation of the product
INDUSTRIAL LUXURY Borrowing codes from
traditional luxury theatrical glamour,
femininity, pleasureMerging with the product
INDUSTRIAL LUXURY Borrowing codes from
traditional luxury theatrical glamour,
femininity, celebration Seduction by the product
116
RICARD/RICARD
? Ricard has three identity strategies to help it
renew its positioning by rationalizing around the
yellow colour scheme summer consumption,
conviviality, celebration etc. 1/ Artistic
identity 2/ Militant identity 3/
Clandestine identity
NO LUXURYColour scheme still too closely linked
to promotional and discount messages
Artistic identity
Militant identity
Clandestine identity
117
BACARDI MARTINI FRANCE/GET 27
? Metonymic rhetoric mint (an ingredient) used
to represent the whole (Get 27), which declares
the brand to be following a creative
process. ? This artistic dimension of the iconic
treatment is nevertheless shattered by the text
the typography and the interrogative register
stops the process of sublimation of reality that
characterizes the realm of luxury.
NO LUXURY
118
So
Masstige
Traditional luxury
SOCIAL approach
Bacardi-Martini Group leader in the avant-garde
terrain of codes for emotional luxury
Egotistical brand culture
FUNDAMENTAL approach
EXPERIMENTAL approach
THEATRICAL approach
Emotional luxury
Industrial luxury
Empathetic brand culture
119
Cognacs whiskies
120
REMY COINTREAU/ REMY MARTIN LOUIS XIII
FRAPIN/FRAPIN COGNAC
TRADITIONAL LUXURY Borrowing the dramatization
and colour scheme of a luxury that extols
preciousness (gold) and exclusivity (discursive
minimalism bottle reader) of prestigious
consumption (black)
Anchorage to an artistic, dynamic, hypnotic
historic identity Seduction and femininity
Anchorage to a royal historic identity
charismatic stasisContemplation, authority,
masculinity
121
RICARD /CLAN CAMPBELL
REMY COINTREAU/ MACALLAN
LA MARTINIQUAISE/ GLEN TURNER
TRADITIONAL LUXURY Dramatization of codes that
promote the culture of the brand around esoteric
ideals and give the product a mysterious power
traditions, legends, secrets, clans
etc. Sublimation of the product
122
BACARDI MARTINI FRANCE/JACK DANIELS
LEXIR /GLENFIDDICH
LA MARTINIQUAISE /LABEL 5
INDUSTRIAL LUXURYQuantification of the iconic
nature and authority of the product through the
linguistic message and not via the
imagery Imposition of the product
INDUSTRIAL LUXURYBorrowing codes from
traditional luxury (black background, authority
of the product, sacredness, preciousness)
shattered by the explanatory tone of the message
Presentation of the product
INDUSTRIAL LUXURYSurrealist dramatization of the
contents of the bottle, sublimated yet living
Action of the product/incitement to act
123
RICARD /CHIVAS
NO LUXURYDeclaration of the brand in an active,
urban, masculine way of life Temporization of use
INDUSTRIAL LUXURY refocusing on the product and
its precious identity (warm colours)
Seductiveness of the product
INDUSTRIAL LUXURYPrestige positioning
radicalized by the charismatic minimalism of the
set design Contemplation of the product
March 2005
June 2005
March 2006
124
MOET DIAGEO /JB
NO LUXURYCodes of traditional luxury maintained
(black background) deconsecration of the
product in favour of expressing its sensory
nature Action of the product
EMOTIONAL LUXURY Conceptualization and
sublimation of the glass and the material
Intellectualization, contemplation
September 2005
May 2006
125
MOET DIAGEO /JOHNNIE WALKER (blue label)
EMOTIONAL LUXURYConceptualization and
codification of an international cultural
identity without any visual reference to the
bottle, the glass, tradition or know-how this
strategy is based on brand recognition
established by the recurrence of those codes that
are specific to the brand Intellectualization
of the product
126
BNI /COGNAC COLLECTIF
LIXIR /THE BALVENIE
EMOTIONAL LUXURYCodes from the illustration,
graphical minimalism (tapping off) and
confirmation of the linguistic narrative.
Reference to tradition, to know-how, education
and pleasure values of traditional luxury
revisited via creative, playful codes drawn from
a new, more expressive generation of luxury.
Intellectualization of the product
127
So
Masstige
Traditional luxury
Emotional luxury
Industrial luxury
128
SO
? Cognacs are grounded in codes for traditional
luxury - Black background, warm colour schemes
preciousness and rarity - Discursive minimalism
charismatic authority and sublimation
? Proliferation of brands of whisky in the
realms of expression of traditional luxury while
still communicating about the accessibility and
use of the product - Black background, warm
colour schemes preciousness and
rarity - Discursive compliance accessibility and
seduction
Innovation of mass-market brands (JB, Johnnie
Walker) is intended to meet the luxury brands
(The Balvenie) in the realms of emotional luxury
129
Conclusion
Industrial luxury
No luxury
Emotional luxury
FUNDAMENTAL approach
EXPERIMENTAL approach
Positionings that do not fit in with the identity
of the Bacardi Group. An exploration of the
spheres of expression of emotional or traditional
luxury may redynamize the identities of - JACK
DANIELS make the pitch of black and white
visible on the graphics and sculpture of the
image, on the value of the minimalist, timeless
elegance of black and white, and so on. - GET 27
invite young creative types to participate in a
sensory design for the bottle Or codes for
traditional luxury (less familiar terrain for
aperitifs)
Traditional luxury
SOCIAL approach
THEATRICAL approach Mystique and glamour
130
TO BE CONTINUED