TV Advertising Contextual Study

Chanel: Coco Mademoiselle - 'The Film'

Still from Coco Mademoiselle 'The Film'

The Coco Mademoiselle perfume ad starring Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, Love Actually) in the role of Chanel founder Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel was released to market the women's fragrance in the holiday shopping season of 2011. The campaign featured both television and print advertisements, as well as a short film with Knightley that was later cut down to appear in shorter television advertising slots.

'The Ultimate House of Luxury, defining style and creating desire, now and forever'

- Chanel's Company Mission Statement

Chanel's brand identity focuses around luxury and style, as confirmed in their 'mission statement' above, with imagery and semantic fields around classic, timeless style and elegance; a sense of exclusivity; an interlacing of masculine and feminine qualities leading to both arousal and power.

The Coco Mademoiselle advert is aimed at this market, through the emphasis on luxury and elegance, however its core audience for this television ad itself is marketed slightly younger to entice 25-35 years olds (and potentially the 16-24 year old bracket as well) to invest in the new product line to Chanel's world famous No. 5 fragrance. The Coco Mademoiselle perfume itself is advertised as a less expensive option, typically selling for between $75 to $100 per bottle. With that in mind, Chanel is looking to attract a 'younger market', which seems to be reinforced in the naming of the product as 'mademoiselle' and the use of actress Keira Knightley, who is popular with younger women due to her parts in various romantic comedies and blockbusters (e.g. Love Actually and Pirates of the Caribbean). The target ethnicity is not clear, as every spokesmodel for Chanel has been a young, white woman, however due to the saturation of such representation in the media it could be argued that various ethnicities are still within potential buyers. The lower price range of the product suggests that this audience could afford - or invest - in such an item, especially due to its marketing closely linked to romance (the affair 'Coco' has with the male photographer) and womanhood (the smart but sensual costume, sophisticated pearl necklace etc); both things stereotypically attractive and important to young women.

Form: Mini-fiction, series
Style: Sex, celebrity endorsement

The structure of the advertisement follows a linear narrative: the female protagonist, 'Coco' (Knightley) is portrayed as a beautiful, strong, independent woman who finds romance with the male photographer while he captures her image. In the end, Coco leaves the photographer and is shown driving away on a bike, clearly the dominant and successful figure of the narrative. Coco's attributes are promoted positively, and Chanel's brand identity links strongly into the portrayal of masculine and feminine traits combining to pleasure and power. This creates an aspirational image not only around Knightley, but also around the product itself.
Coco Mademoiselle 'The Film' (and its shortened versions) is the second in a three part series that ties in the celebrity endorsement with Keira Knightley in three different ways. (See 'She's Not There' and 'Love'.) However, unlike adverts like BT's 'The Family' series, there is no continuation of the narrative between the adverts, and each one closes its narrative, wrapping up the individual story. This means that viewers do not have to be familiar with all the adverts to be engaged, though potentially weakens the consistency of brand identity.

The primary persuasive technique in place is celebrity endorsement: the Coco Mademoiselle campaign is built around Keira Knightley in the role of the company's founder. Making use of celebrities within productions and around brand identities highlight the marketing value of embedding 'meanings that relate to each star's cultural image' (Miller, J.), which consumers then aspire to. Other persuasive techniques linked to the use of celebrities include memorability; individuality in a saturated market; brand identity; giving the product star status (intrinsically linked to Young and Rubicam's THE ASPIRER).
Sex is also a key technique in this advert. It includes two young, conventionally attractive characters who find themselves in a passionate and desirable relationship, implied to be caused by the product itself. This is effective as it suggests that by buying the product will increase the audience's sex appeal and win them similar experiences.

ASA Official Ruling

Ad: A TV ad, for the perfume Coco Mademoiselle, included scenes that showed the actress Keira Knightley being photographed on a bed. The photographer was shown unzipping her clothes before she undressed herself, showing her shoulders and part of her back. The actress was then shown dressed only in a bed sheet crawling towards the photographer before lying back on the bed. The photographer appeared about to kiss her when she put a finger to his lips and said "lock the door".
The ad was cleared by Clearcast with no scheduling restriction.

Issue: The complainant, who saw the ad during the film Ice Age 2, challenged whether the ad was suitable to be broadcast during a film that was likely to appeal to children, because she believed it was overtly sexual.

Assessment: Upheld.

The ASA acknowledged that the undressing in the ad took place in the context of a photo shoot but nevertheless considered those scenes involved sexually suggestive content. We noted that the photographer was directly involved in unzipping the actress's garments and that there was a suggestion that she was naked aside from a bed sheet. We also noted that there was clear sexual tension between the pair and that they appeared about to kiss on the bed. We noted that Ice Age 2 was of particular appeal to children. We considered the ad was suitable for older children, but that the sexually suggestive material was unsuitable for young children. We therefore concluded that the ad was inappropriately scheduled and an ex-kids restriction should have been applied to prevent the ad from being broadcast in or around children's programming.
The ad breached BCAP Code rule 32.3 (Scheduling).

Action: The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form in or around programmes of particular appeal to children.

Amazon Prime - 'A Lonely Little Horse'

Still from Amazon Prime 'A Lonely Little Horse'

In 2015 Amazon.co.uk launched two video advertisements to be shown on television and online sites such as YouTube to promote and remind viewers of the services available through their Amazon Prime service, and to introduce the new Amazon Prime phone app. One of the ads, 'The Lonely Little Horse,' featured the new app being used to allow a lonely pony to live in the house of its owner.

'Amazon Prime is drawing younger and wealthier shoppers who are now

using the website to shop for an increasingly diverse range of products'

- Fortune report on Amazon Prime's growing audience

Amazon Prime's brand identity centres around convenience and use of modern technology to make shopping easier and quicker. Simple designs with cool, primary block colours; a sense of accessibility and diversity both in products and buyers, though very attractive to young adults particularly.

Amazon Prime is targeted towards a 24-35 age bracket, where individuals are likely to be earning enough disposable income to pay for convenience services such as those offered by Amazon, and are frequent enough users of online shopping sites for it to be worth the money. Additionally, the inclusion of offers such as student discounts on Prime that offer 6 months free of charge, and then 50% off of normal Prime membership suggest Amazon also aims to encourage an 18-24 year old audience as well. This is then supported by the weight of online services available on top of the next-day-delivery service: unlimited online streaming of TV and film; online kindle lending library; unlimited online music streaming etc. Younger age ranges are known for their interest and spending on convenient online services, so this could definitely be attractive to these audiences, as well as the slightly older 24-35 age range that perhaps does not have time to watch live TV, go to the cinema or invest great amount of time in reading. Furthermore, the use of animals as the main 'protagonists' in the adverts subverts the need for diverse representation needed when Amazon targets a mix of genders and ethnicities - although the two human characters in each advert are young, white adults. While this would show appeal to their age and gender target audience, it fails to incorporate the mix of ethnicities aimed at.

Form: Mini-fiction, series
Style: Humour, animals

'The Lonely Little Horse' follows a linear narrative in which a female farmer releases a small, adorable pony into a field of large black horses. But when the other horses run away from the new addition to the field, the young woman 'saves the day,' as the tagline states, and buys a pony flap so that he can come into the house. The positive message that, when using the Amazon Prime service, you can make someone happy by buying them something that can make them 'closer to you,' and this is then enforced through the relatable situation of being ignored by a certain group of people you try to make friends with.
This advert is accompanied by another animal-based mini-fiction (see 'The Dog in the Cast') which similarly uses an animal in need of kindness (this time a dog with a cast on its back leg) to show the positive impacts Amazon's service can have. Like Coco Mademoiselle, this series does not follow a continuation of the narrative, but instead create brand identity with match cuts of the Amazon Prime app, similar storylines and consistent tagline.

Humour is used as a persuasive technique in this advert: though audiences might relate to the situation the pony is in, and therefore feel more invested in the narrative, there is an element of comedy when the solution provided is a 'pony flap.' This is then reinforced with the non-diegetic soundtrack singing 'little man,' comparing the pony to an unconventionally attractive man, and the characteristic close ups of the pony looking sad. The lightheartedness of the advert therefore creates an affectionate appeal to the target audience and suggests that not only can positive things be achieved by buying Amazon Prime, but the service can solve give a more convenient and happy approach to life (values attractive to the Life Matrix's FUN/ATICS).
The use of animals is also an important technique in the advert. The small pony included obviously contrasts the large, black horses around it, and so the audience can immediately understand the 'segregation' between them. Furthermore, the associations between height and strength in horses instantly tells suggests to the audience that the pony is in a more vulnerable position, which makes the audience feel sorry for him. This emotional and affectionate connection is proved to be one of the most effective selling techniques, and the use of an animal avoids any prejudgements that might apparent if the protagonist were human.

No complaint has been sent to ASA concerning the advert, and so no ruling has been necessary. The advert does not feature controversial subjects like alcohol or smoking, and is unlikely to cause offence as the protagonist is a horse (not human). Furthermore, there is no indication that animal cruelty has been involved in the production of the advert, and so the ad adheres to the CAP Advertising Standards.

John Lewis Home Insurance - 'Tiny Dancer'

Still from John Lewis Home Insurance 'Tiny Dancer'

John Lewis is renowned for its successful adverts (its annual Christmas special particularly) but their 2015 home insurance 'captured hearts' (according to The Telegraph) with eight-year-old Bunny May Lawrence McHugh. The television campaign includes the 'tiny dancer' bounding around a house, leaving an innocent but partially destructive mess in her wake.

'By leveraging the strong values of John Lewis and behaving more like them, we landed the brand and made it a credible alternative in a highly competitive market'

- Keith Bibby, Head of Marketing at John Lewis Insurance

John Lewis' brand identity focuses mainly around quality in comfort: with their experience in home stores, aesthetic and a 'homely' feel is vital to keep up brand consistency, as well as also exaggerating trust in customers that they can also protect the home as well as supply it. Furthermore, strong family values are also key to their identity, so a strong tie in to children and/or growing families is likely to appear repeatedly.

John Lewis has a strong core of middle-class, middle aged (35-49) married individuals, often with children and strong family values. The 'Tiny Dancer' advert perfectly captures this, with an emphasis on the little everyday damages that happen when there are lots of people running around the house, but still keeping up the entertaining and affectionate response to a child lost in their own imaginative world. As John Lewis already has a strong audience through its home stores, of middle classed families looking for quality and security in their everyday lives, the introduction of home insurance to their services was not hard to gain customers - the same target audience fitted for both sections of the company. Though potentially older (50+ ages brackets) might also be interested in home insurance from John Lewis, and therefore could be targeted, the niche audience captured by the television advert is that of parents looking to have security their home and family. Reputably these viewers have little time, and so are harder to reach than the older age bracket; so a television advert suitable for younger viewers is the perfect opportunity to catch the attention of parents while they are watching television in the early evening with their children. The target gender ethnicity for the advert is likely mixed, however white representation implies typical white middle class families are at the center of the business, and though both genders are likely to be involved in making decisions over home insurance the inclusion of a young girl dancing suggests a closer rateability to mothers who might remember doing the same as children and stereotypically have more involvement in home management.

Form: Mini-fiction, stand alone
Style: Humour, children

The form of John Lewis' advertisement is also a mini-fiction, and follows a linear narrative around the young dancer. As Elton John's 'Tiny Dancer' plays non-diegetically, the girl dances around the living room, hall and stairs of a typical suburban house, accidentally knocking over plants, pillows, papers and glasses. Though this is potentially a painfully relatable situation that could incite frustration in many parents, the upbeat music and warm colours add a loving and comedic tone. Furthermore, the pure elation and genuine enjoyment of McHugh's performance adds suggestions that sticking with John Lewis and their already-formed reputation will ensure happiness in families, even if there are children unintentionally breaking grandfather clocks and televisions. (The inclusion of objects like a grandfather clock, large television and piano reinforce the reasonably-wealthy middle classed target audience.)
Unlike the previous mini-fictions, 'Tiny Dancer' is a stand alone. Due to John Lewis' track record of successful television advertisements, the integrity of the brand is not in danger in this way, and the consistently 'homely' mise-en-scene and emotional techniques hold the brand identity strong.

The use of humour is a key technique to creating the lighthearted and happy atmosphere to this advert: as mentioned before, a child lost in their own world and accidentally wrecking the rooms they pass through could be a tender subject with parents who want to uphold their neat and safe household, however the comedic edge given to 'Tiny Dancer' makes viewers look at the situation in a positive way. The exaggerated dramatic ballet movements show the audience that they are not supposed to take the advert entirely seriously, and the zoom out when McHugh is on the stairs, to a younger brother watching with a confused and almost embarrassed expression shows the dramatic behaviour in a comedic way, as well as reinforcing the idea of family values and relationships in the brand (a part of the Life Matrix's PRIORITY PARENTS).
Children and their performance is also a persuasive technique used in this advert, as the inclusion of the young girl as the comedic and affectionate drive of the narrative is something immediately attractive to parents who are likely to purchase the home insurance. While the adults might themselves remember doing similar things in their own homes growing up, the target audience of families will include parents who have watched their own children lost in their own worlds around the house and will therefore be emotionally engaged in a sentimental way.

Again no ASA ruling has been necessary as the advert has reached the advertising standards established by CAP. Specific regulations around children include that they are not sexualised or encouraged for involvement with activities such as smoking or drinking. As the advertisement is essentially a little girl innocently (and destructively) dancing around the house, there is little room for offence or misrepresentation.