Brand Health Check: Chanel No.5 - Breath of fresh air or unnecessary hype?

The French fashion house is seeking to rejuvenate a brand launched in 1921, shifting its appeal from stuffy New York madams to the likes of Paris Hilton.

With Oscar-nominated director Baz Lurhmann of Moulin Rouge fame at the helm, the commercial is more a mini-movie than a 30-second promo. The three-minute spot has Kidman playing the the world's most famous actress, running from screaming fans and paparazzi into a taxi, where she finds herself seated next to a handsome stranger. After a passionate night, she returns to her glamorous life and clamouring fans, leaving him with only memories.

But according to branding experts, in its bid to bring new life to Chanel No.5, the spot breaks the golden rule of advertising: 'Never come between your client and the spotlight'. "Does Chanel No. 5 really need to borrow values from celebrities?" asks Peter Wilkin, partner at The Brand Company. "If ever a perfume brand could make it work the other way around, Chanel No. 5 could." He believes a key issue Chanel faces is its 'exclusivity', which is undermined by its popularity.

Meanwhile, Trevor Beattie, chairman and creative director of TBWA\London, describes the ad as "naive, clumsy, utterly unsubtle, old fashioned, naff in the extreme" and, he adds "the plotline had my toes curling so dramatically, I'm now forced to wear Aladdin sandals".

Worse, he believes the ad displays a total lack of brand self-confidence: "For the world's most famous perfume brand to be so terrified of people not knowing who's advertising to them that it has to flash giant, garish, gilt logos in the viewer's face every nine seconds degrades its values.

"We've grown out of 'brick through the window' branding. Perfume is the subtlest product you can buy. Doesn't it demand equivalently subtle marketing?"

DIAGNOSIS

SHAUN BRANAGAN Executive creative director, Publicis Asia

What is all the fuss about, Baz? I don't get it. So far, Lurhmann's made one good film, Strictly Ballroom. Now we have his latest tour de force, the Moulin Rouge No.5 clip, sorry Chanel No. 5 clip. Basically it's Moulin Rouge in two minutes. It's got every cliche in the book: cliched love story, cliched Gotham setting, cliched music. The script is unbelievably cheesy.

Thankfully, production designer Catherine Martin and cinematographer Mandy Walker save Lurhmann's honour, again. As does Karl Lagerfeld's ballgown, with a four-metre train and embroidered with 3,000 silver crystals, which took 10 people 700 hours to make.

If only the same attention to detail had been applied to the script.

Will it do anything for the brand? Once the fawning articles have petered out, I doubt it. Chanel No. 5 is arguably the most famous scent in the world.

This ad has a famous person in it, but I wouldn't call this famous advertising. Famous for being the most expensive campaign in the world, perhaps. Proof that money can't guarantee a great idea.

Despite all the money lavished on this extravaganza, the ad's a bit gauche.

Like cheap perfume, it assaults your senses, rather than seducing them. Good perfume, on the other wrist, is subtle and complex.

Unfortunately nuance flew out the window and crass flew in.

LUCINDA THAW Planning director, Leo Burnett Singapore

Coco Chanel was a revolutionary, a creator of modern fashion for women. The brand is associated with many firsts, and Chanel No. 5 represents the essence, the heart and soul of the indefinable Chanel magic.

Standing for elegance, style, innovation, uncompromising perfection and passion, the brand, until recently, lost some of its magic.

Today, my perception of the brand has started to change. When a brand is as long-standing as Chanel and charged to produce three new collections a year, is it any wonder that occasionally it runs out of steam? The secret to reinvigoration is of course to rediscover what made you great in the first place.

I believe that the new Baz Lurhmann film does just this: its gets to the heart of the brand's elegant chic and ravishing femininity.

Only the most cynical woman could be left untouched by the romance of impossible love. Who among us, does not want to be seen as unforgettable and don't we all hope our signature scent will have this very effect?

The casting is inspired: Nicole Kidman is a class act; she is a modern style icon who embodies elegance.

The direction, artful, the branding, understated. This is more a brand film than an ad, which is fitting given the refinement of the brand. Crass commercialism would be an affront.

TREATMENT

Branagan's prescription

- First hire an advertising agency - not a video clip director. Agencies make advertisements every day of the week. Fashion houses don't. A good agency would apply some strategic rigour.

- Go back to the brand's roots to rediscover a unique positioning. Come up with an idea.

- Respect the viewer's intelligence and give them something subtle and intriguing.

- Then, hire a famous director. And get him to do a pack shot.

Thaw's remedy

- Stay true to the brand: never compromise or go against its values.

- Continue updating the Chanel classics: be playful, have some fun. Retain the essence but update it with today's looks; leather, street etc.

- Consider creating a fusion line, 'Coco', that is more affordable, more hip, to attract younger customers.

- Update store design and service, which is intimidating. Remember, well-bred people never look down their noses at others.