Analysis of a Fashion Advertising Campaign - Admission/Application Essay Example

Fashion: Analysis of a Fashion Advertising Campaign of the of the Contents Contents 3 Background 4 Analysis 4 Image of the Brand 9 Values 9 Target Audience 10 References 12 Bibliography 13 Background Advertising plays a very important role in creating perceptions regarding fashion brands. Dolce and Gabbana has almost always used hyper sexuality in its advertising campaigns. According to the findings of Kilbourne (2005 cited in Gill, 2008) the use of sexuality in fashion brand advertisements rose from one-third in 1964 to one-half in 2003. Dolce and Gabbana has been well known for the use of homoerotic expressions, gang rape and necrophilia that have resulted in multiple legal and political debates (Dianoux & Linhart, 2010). However, recently advertising campaign of Dolce and Gabbana is focusing less on nudity and more on Italian cinema and strong culture of the country. This paper describes the advertising campaign of the brand by Steven Klein. Analysis The advertising campaign of Dolce and Gabbana in the Fall of 2010 can be considered as one of the desperate attempts made by the brand to deconstruct its hyper sexual image. The advertising campaign by Steven Klein tries to portray the concept of an Italian family to show the collection. The use of cinema-inspired advertising campaign has been noted in the works of Misiura (2006). It has been observed that use of cultural heritage in advertisements have captured the attention of management to build trust in different cultural markets. In the advertising campaign of Dolce and Gabbana, global superstar Madonna has been portrayed as internationally renowned Italian Actress Anna Magnani(should be in inverted quotes). The shot below shows the star similar to a still from the movie “Mamma Roma” grocery shopping for her family. The other shots represent a close integrated family conceptualizing women power. In a particular picture Madonna is seen embracing an infant portraying the maternal instincts of the star. One of the pictures show her enjoying a brunch with her close family and other shows her waiting while an old member of the family fixes her dress. In all the images, the fashionable clothes in the lavish production are juxtaposed in mundane joy of domestic pleasure that has the potential to evoke emotional response. Image of the Brand The setting of a domestic theme and dressing models in traditional clothing shows strong faith in Italian culture and cinema. The use of cultural heritage in branding is relatively new in management. According to the research conducted by Urde (2007) using cultural heritage in the advertising campaigns acts as a tool of differentiation that cannot be copied by others owing to its authenticity. Researcher like Stewart Allen (2002) have pointed out that benefits of using cultural heritage branding lies in distinctiveness of positioning the brand evokes a feeling of credibility across consumers of different groups. The present ad campaign that has been created by Steven Klein focuses on strong Italian culture through films. The campaign wants to establish Italy as a leader in fashion by capitalizing on beautiful and strong women of the country. Values The use of cultural heritage branding has a major impact on the brand value of products. According to the findings of Heine (2010) the concept of a brand can be related to identity-orientation of customers. The values propagated by use of culture in branding arouse a sense of strong identity coupled with cultural sense that is genuine and compelling at a cultural level. The advertisement created by Steven Klein has used monochromes with details of Italian heritage ranging from the lavish interior productions to the intelligent use of outdoor locales. The models in the advertisement are styled in a homely fashion that could be easily related by the target audience. From the pictures above it can be seen that the campaign celebrates the power of a strong, independent and confident woman. According to findings of Martin and Kennedy (1993) the consequences of women viewing idealized female figures can create unintended circumstances. Use of strong female superstar like Madonna in the advertising campaign and yet distancing the campaign from a strong sexual content implies that advertisers are changing the way in which they are promoting and targeting women.. The rationale behind the major departure of Dolce and Gabbana from its previous visually explicit advertise content can be treated as a gesture to sensitive treatment of women based on the role they play in the society. Additionally researchers like Richins (1991) have shown that use of idealized women in advertising have an overall effect of dissatisfaction in them regarding body type. Dolce and Gabbana have used a real life figure like Madonna who does not represent traditional supermodels. This decision can be regarded as a conscious one that portrays the body type of normal women instead of skinny supermodels so that larger audience can relate to the campaign. Target Audience Dolce and Gabbana has established itself as a global powerhouse of fashion that appeals to consumers across continents. The core target market of the company includes people in the age group of 25 and above who belongs to robust financial background. It targets consumers who are trend setters and opinion leaders. Dolce and Gabbana targets women at its core group. Most importantly the brand targets women of contemporary era who likes to be powerful, independent and feminine at the same time. The market for men is targeted to audience who are elite, classy and successful (Thomas, Peters & Tolson, 2007). The advertising campaign of 2010 Fall of Dolce and Gabbana continues to target the same audience. This means that though the brand has made a conscious decision to steer away from its previous controversial image yet it does not make much effort to adjust its product line according to the changing economic times. The new campaign can be treated as a success at least in terms of creating a strong message. It can be implied that the fashion being promoted by the brand is rooted in a humane approach embedded in culture. The message conveyed in the advertisements portrays the multiple characters played by women. The use of monochromes can be equated with a deliberate attempt to avoid the use of glossy images and can be interpreted as celebration of strong women. The larger than life image of Madonna disintegrates in the images and it gives way to an identifiable feminine figure that is strong and vulnerable simultaneously. It can be argued that audience all over the world can relate to the images and identify their own self in them. References Dianoux, C. & Linhart, Z. (2010). The effectiveness of female nudity in advertising in three European countries. International Marketing Review, 27(5), 562-578. Gill, R. (2008). Empowerment/sexism: Figuring female sexual agency in contemporary advertising. Feminism & Psychology, 18(1), 35-60. Martin, M. C. & Kennedy, P. F. (1993). Advertising and social comparison: Consequences for female preadolescents and adolescents. Psychology & Marketing, 10(6), 513-530. Misiura, S. (2006). Heritage marketing. London: Routledge. Richins, M. L. (1991). Social comparison and the idealized images of advertising. Journal of consumer research, 71-83. Stewart-Allen,(there is not a hyphen between two names) L. A. (2002). Heritage branding helps in global markets. Marketing News, 36(16), 6-12. Thomas, J. B., Peters, C. O. & Tolson, H. (2007). An exploratory investigation of the virtual community MySpace. com: what are consumers saying about fashion?. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 11(4), 587-603. Urde, M. (2007). Corporate brands with a heritage. Brand Management, 15(1), 4-19. Bibliography Ferguson, J. H., Kreshel, P. J. & Tinkham, S. F. (1990). In the pages of Ms.: Sex role portrayals of women in advertising. Journal of Advertising, 19(1), 40-51. Ford, J.B., LaTour, M.S. & Lundstrom, W.J. (1991). Contemporary women’s evaluation of female role portrayals in advertising. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 8(1), 15-27. Read More