Brad Pitt for Chanel

It's taken me awhile to write about this one, so admittedly it's a bit of old news.  I've been so intrigued by it, yet still slow to formulate my own opinion.

Brad Pitt for Chanel.

It's a bold choice to feature a man in a woman's perfume advertising campaign ... typically the men do the men's cologne and the women do the women's perfume.  Rarely they switch gender roles in this category ... but I guess with Chanel is was "inevitable."

It's also a bold choice for Brad Pitt to do a woman's perfume ... he's a blockbuster star and he generally doesn't do American advertising.  It's customary for big American celebrities to do advertising overseas, but rarely in the home states.  Brad Pitt decided to go big ... big brand with a huge outdoor and print media plan.  And he picked a woman's brand to do it.  A rare thing coming from a guy.

Now at first I didn't get it.  Why would Brad Pitt rep Chanel?  And why would Chanel want Brad Pitt?  I asked every woman I could find and they had the same questions.  It's hard to get, quite honestly.

Then I realized.  Because it is a bold move for a perfume brand, and because it's different.  And because they know their target.  It was "inevitable"... and that I get.

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Marketing Professor, NYU

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