Ch. 10 - Product Concepts

Chanel has been a part of the fashion industry for approximately 107 years. The company started in Paris and is now recognized around the world. The product offering, is an important element of an organization’s marketing program, is generally the foundation when constructing a marketing mix. The product consists of everything, favorable and unfavorable, that a person receives in an exchange. Chanel products are consumer products that are bought to satisfy an individual’s personal wants. Depending on how much effort customer used to shop, we can classify for different types of products: convenience products, shopping products, specialty products, and unsought products. Chanel perfumes, cosmetic products and glasses are part of Shopping Products, which requires comparison-shopping. Those products are more expensive than the convenience products and customer can only find them in Chanel retail store or big department stores.

All ready to wear, shoes, watches, handbags, perfumes are Speciality Products because customers have to search for them extensively as well as those products are a symbol of their identity. Chanel’s new products fall into the category of unsought products until Chanel advertise and promote them.

Over time, firm change product items, lines and mixes to take advantage of new technical or products developments. Chanel was originally designed to for the comfort of women, so they'd feel comfortable and fashionable in classic tailored style. Chanel has various signature looks in their ready to wear line, such as tweed suits, the classic quilted two-chain bag, and also well known the little black dress. Chanel designs many clothing lines such as, ready to wear, haute couture and cruise wear.  And using a different variation of fabrics and colors using the original shapes. Chanel product mix is broad, as I mention they offer numbers of product lines, clothing, shoes, jewellery, watches, fragrances, cosmetic products, handbags and glasses.

Chanel has deep product line; for example, the fragrance: No.5, No.19, Eau Premiere, Cristalle, Allure Eau Sensuelle, Chance, Coco, Coco Mademoiselle, Poudre and etc. An example of product modification is Chanel’s reinvention of the sister perfume to No.5 named, No.19.  This perfume is named after Gabrielle Coco Chanel’s birthday, which is August 19th. Created in 1970 by Chanel’s in-house perfumer Henri Robert. The bottle used to look identical to Chanel No. 5 but the reinvented fragrance has a light green color and a slightly different bottle.