Content vs context in the pre-Christmas fragrance wars

If, like me you are a bit of cynic, you could split the marketing year into four seasons: Pre-Christmas, pre-Christmas sales, post-Christmas sales and summer, with a few weeks in-between each season to accommodate various sporting events.

The longest of these seasons is pre-Christmas, which now starts in September, but some retailers have decided that this still doesn't leave enough time, so many national stores in the UK already start selling Christmas merchandise in August.

Christmas is the key time of year for fragrance sales, so while organised housewives stock up on tinned shortbread and greetings cards a full four months ahead of the big day, perfume power houses unveil their flagship scents as the ideal gift for a loved one.

"Some of the imagery and messaging can be so oblique it requires a longer period of exposure to register"

In a global industry worth in excess of £6.2 billion (about R69 billion), it comes as little surprise that the high-end fragrances tend to start their campaigns sooner, presumably because their budgets allow for a long-haul campaign. This is just as well, as some of the imagery and messaging can be so oblique it requires a longer period of exposure to register with consumers.

The explosion in popularity of the branded content presents the perfect medium for fragrance houses to communicate their branding with all the pensive looking models and atmospheric photography they choose. Christian Dior and Chanel have recently launched high profile campaigns, with both enlisting A-list talent: But which is the more effective?

Christian Dior - Homme

"Une Rendez Vous" is directed by Guy Ritchie, and stars Jude Law and Slovakian model Michaela Kocianova in a thriller-style vignette set against the backdrop of a Parisian skyline.

"Does it make sense? Not in the slightest"

Cue lots of jump-cuts, dramatic soundtracks and Jude gazing into a mirror, liberally applying Homme as part of his preparation for a dramatic showdown. Does it make sense? Not in the slightest, although content like this rarely does on first viewing. While it certainly looks the part, what lets the Dior effort down is some woeful dialogue reminiscent of the fragrance parodies in Zoolander.

"Une Rendez Vous" can be viewed in its entirety online, while a truncated 30-second spot has started to appear on TV. Obviously expensive, Dior Homme succeeds in living up to the established clichés of the industry. It will be interesting to see if this clip forms part of a narrative series, in which case it may be too early to pass judgement.

Chanel - Bleu de Chanel

Hollywood veteran Martin Scorcese heads Chanel's latest offering for Bleu de Chanel, which stars up and coming French actor Gaspard Ulliel. Although much shorter than the Dior offering, this is altogether a more successful affair. Scorcese continues his association with the Rolling Stones, using "She Said Yeah" from the ancient rockers extensive back catalogue for the soundtrack. The symbolism is a lot more obvious without being unsubtle, and the narrative is easy to follow. In a smart bit of cross promotion, "She Said Yeah" was released as a digital format single to coincide with the screening of the clip.

Chanel wisely keeps dialogue to an absolute minimum, reducing the need for pretentious sound bites. The result is a taut piece of work that demonstrates the ostentatious posturing that is so common in this brand category.

"An enormous gamble to take with today's media saturated consumer"

The verdict

Visually, the Dior work is stunning, although an over reliance on advertising clichés serves to simply re-affirm another - that less is more. Proof that long-form branded content may be an exciting medium, it isn't always the answer. The Bleu de Chanel spot leaves the viewer with a much more immediate reaction to the brand, while the Dior's Homme film clip requires deeper though and possibly repeated viewings, which is an enormous gamble to take with today's media saturated consumer.