Mid-Term Well Known Brand

“Among the key designers who made a bold and lasting impression on women's fashion in the twentieth century, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883–1971) deserves special recognition.” (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chnl/hd_chnl.htm) “Chanel's shops developed a dedicated clientele who quickly made her practical sportswear a great success. Much of Chanel's clothing was made of jersey, a choice of fabric both unusual and inspired. Until the designer began to work with it, jersey was more commonly used for men's underwear.”

Customers:

Chanel is a luxury brand and its consumers are just as luxurious. Chanel’s target market is upper class woman ages, 30-50 years old. Woman who wear, Chanel demestraight elegance, and class. In the past ten years Chanel’s target market has branched out to more than just upper class woman. Chanel is worn by many celebrities as well, such as Alex Chung, and Blake Lively.  Today twenty something olds are floking to the brand. “Chanel's aggressive plans are self-explanatory, industry observers said. ''Young consumers are the lifeblood of the beauty industry,'' said Irma Zandl, president of the Zandl Group in New York, a consulting company that specializes in the under-30 age category. ''A brand not recruiting teens or young adults is just getting old.''(nytimes.com)

Competitors:

  Chanel’s major and direct competitors consist of Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton. “Chanel’s competitors have spent millions of dollars in (mostly) ill-fated attempts to produce perfume bottles as memorable as No. 5’s. Very few packages are as well known as, if not better known than, their contents: the Coca-Cola bottle is one, the Tiffany box is another.”(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/style/tmagazine/22rawsthorn.html)

Where it stands:

Chanel still dominates the market today. With fashion innovator Karl Lagerfeld running Chanel this brand will continue to have the same class, and elegance that Gabriele “Coco” Chanel had work so hard to build.  “Chanel succeeded in packaging and marketing her own personal attitudes and style, making her a key arbiter of women's taste throughout the twentieth century.” (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chnl/hd_chnl.htm) “Continuing to combine current trends with the class and simplicity of original designs Lagerfeld has a strong vision and continues to keep the brand at the forefront of the fashion world.”(http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/lifestyle-fashion/styletrends/chanel-4308.html)”Coco Mademoiselle has made great inroads into the 18-to-34 market, which represents a third of the $2 billion women's fragrance market. According to a study by NPD BeautyTrends in Port Washington, N.Y., which tracks the beauty industry, the leading brands owned and used most often by women 18 to 34 in 2001 include: Happy by Clinique, which had overall sales of $101 million in 2001; Romance by Ralph Lauren, at $63 million; Tommy Girl by Tommy Hilfiger, at $42 million; Victoria's Secret Divine (which is not tracked by NPD, but has annual sales estimated at $40 million); Lancaster Cool Water Woman at $30 million; Calvin Klein's Obsession at $27 million; and CK One at $20 million.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/15/business/media-business-advertising-chanel-makes-big-pitch-for-new-perfume-aimed-young.html)