Cacharel’s Case Study Solution

Brand Identity Decoding

1a)

Brand identity the outward expression of a brand includes its name, trademark, communications, and visual appearance (Kepferer, 2008). It is something which is from the brand owner’s side (Kepferer, 2008).

 Cacharel’s brand from the start of its operations focused young and inner innocence of women by conveying the message of its brand through its different products like Anais Anais and Loulou. The element of innocence and seduction can be seen from all the perfumes of Cacharel (Chandon, Wertenbroch & Rowell, 2007)

Cacharel’s brand identity can better be explained with the help of frame work called brand identity prism (Kepferer, 2008) and conceptualization of brand identity (Christophe. B & Marc. J, 2008)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 It includes six facets which can be used to elaborate the distinctive brand identity of Cacharel each facet addresses a different dimension of brand uniqueness.

The foremost and most necessary thing for brand is to define its physique and it includes the flagship products that represent the brand qualities. For Cacharel it is the name of its perfumes Anais Anais and Loulou which gives the energetic feel and the design of its bottles like blue bottle with red top showing innocence and sensuality of youth tangible component of Cacharel’s brand identity the rest shows its conceptual components. During the launch phase of perfumes Cacharel always showed the brand relationship and reflection in all its perfume adverts Loulou or Anais Anais Cacharel showed the young and showing the “inner instinct of women”. Same is with its personality and culture representing conceptual but very important components of Cacharel like Innocence, seduction and trendy.

According to Cacharel’s website they describe it in five words as Coolness, romanticism, freedom, seduction and avant-gardism but my analyzing all taglines of its perfumes and their designs it looks there brand identity can be summarized in these five words Innocence, Seduction, Tenderness, Trendy and Inner-Feelings. These five words better describe the brand identity of Cacharel.

  

1b)

Cacharel umbrella brand can be better expressed with the help of Brand Mantra. A brand mantra is 3-5 words expression of the most important aspects of a brand and its core brand associations (Keller, 1998) which can be Cacharel’s sub-brands. Brand mantras can provide guidance as what products to introduce under a brand (Keller, 1998) so Cacharel umbrella brand itself has identity beyond of its sub-brands.

Brand Mantra

	EMOTIONAL MODIFIER	DESCRIPTIVE MODIFIER	BRAND FUNCTION
NIKE	AUTHENTIC	ATHLETIC	PERFORMANCE
CACHAREL	INTERNAL SATISFACTION	YOUTH	INNOCENCE &TENDERNESS
DISNEY	FUN	FAMILY	ENTERTAINMENT

A brand mantra explains the true identity of a brand and which can be used to develop further marketing strategies. Figure (b) shows brand mantra of NIKE, Disney and Cacharel. Keller (1996) explains the brand mantra of Nike as authentic, athletic and full of performance. A brand mantra can provide guidance as to what products to introduce under brand and it identity (Keller, K.L, 1999). Like Cacharel is a brand for internal satisfaction for youth females covering the element of innocence and tenderness.

The sub- brands which contributed a lot for Cacharel’s brand identity are Anais Anais and Loulou.  The sub-brands got different persona but they got distinctive feature which contributed a lot for Cacharel’s identity. Anais Anais “the delicate and ultra-feminine” (Cacharel, 2011), the tagline shows the delicacy and elegance which enhances the identity of Cacharel. The white bottle of Anais Anais represents the inner feeling and innocence although the perfume is ultra-feminine (Chandon, Wertenbroch & Rowell, 2007) but it is contributing a lot to its umbrella brand. Colors represent the temperature like blue being cool and red is considered hotter (Zaichkowsky, J.L, 2010)

Loulou the other most famous brand of Cacharel which helped it to put the milestone of success is also responsible for creating Cacharel’s identity.”Loulou combination of tenderness and seduction” (Cacharel, 2011) the tag shows the tenderness along with the indulgence of seduction. The design of the perfume bottle is complementary with Loulou identity and says “bottle inspired by magic lamp” (Cacharel, 2011). Consumers quickly notice if the packaging does not match the perceived brand identity (Packaging Brand Identity, 2010) and this is the reason why even the packaging of sub-brands contributed a lot for Cacharel’s brand identity.

 The combination of Loulou’s bottle design and brand personality enhances the Cacharel’s identity by representing the inner women with the touch of seduction. Although it’s different brands got different tag lines and carries different persona but somewhere these brands are representing the core identity of Cacharel and they are responsible for creating its brand identity.

Brand Revitalization

2a)

There can be a lot of reasons for Cacharel’s maturity crisis but the root source which created a major dent is the branding mistakes. The brand which was initiated on creativity and launched Anais Anais and Loulou completely on creativity with complete coherence with umbrella brand launched some products which strayed from Cacharel’s original identity.

The era of Anais Anais and Loulou was 1978 and 1987 respectively in which both brands were introduced to young target market. The both brands were mirror image of Cacharel’s brand identity although they got their distinctive features but they were representatives of Cacharel. The introduction of Eden to capitalize the seduction power of Loulou (Chandon, Wertenbroch & Rowell, 2007) failed as in its adverts it showed a couple and their involvement in mating instead of showing young women and her feelings. In order maintain long-term customer relationships and brand loyalty brand identity is necessary and should be reflected in all the products (O’Shaughnessy, 1987)

Along with the strayed products from original Cacharel’s identity some over spending on promotion and cutting media spending put plenty of indirect effect on Cacharel’s brand identity. Media spending is essential to keep the brand identity in customer’s eyes otherwise the brand start fading out from customers mind and competitors start taking their place. Brand Identity in simple terms is the message which sender wants to send to its target audience without media spending it is impossible (Kapferer, 2008)

Understanding brand identity can help in plenty of different ways to put Cacharel from maturity crisis. Cacharel is representative of young women and the inner feelings with slight innocence and seduction power. By keeping in mind the brand identity a thoughtful media campaigns can be initiated which can revitalize the brand in target audience.

 According to O’Reilly and Chatman (1986) the identification with the identity of brand refers to an individual’s acceptance of social influences which lead to a feeling of belonging to a group. A relationship of Cacharel, its physique, personality and reflection can be shown to audience in a better way. Without understanding the original identity of Cacharel it’s impossible to create effective media strategy or design a new product for the market.

2b)

Kataschnias should bring the Cacharel brand closer to where the market is now. Brands face number of challenges and they have to understand how to tackle those challenges and turn them into opportunities. There are number of factors for Kataschnias have to bring Cacharel closer to market (Keller, 1998).

1)      Savvy Customers

2)      Brand Proliferation

3)      Increased Competition

Customers are getting well informed with time and they are demand more from brands. They know the latest trends and they want to keep the brands to stay updated. Cacharel is pursuing its same identity which it used to purse at the start of its operations. The consumers of that time and this era are now different.

Big brands like Apple and Virgin added different many new products and sub-brands under their umbrella brand and providing customers more customized products. Kataschnias should extend its product line according to market needs and bring Cacharel more closely to market it will help Kataschnias to revitalize the brand. A line extension that follows the business can help a brand to revitalize (Aaker, 1997) not only to increase sales but to improve strategic positioning and identity in market (Young and Rubicam, 1991) with passing time the competition is getting stronger and stronger. Brands are competing each to serve customers better and those which are successful are very close to their target audience.

He should focus on meeting the desires of today’s consumers and update the brand’s original identity but keeping in the mind brand’s core identity which is innocence and seduction. Modification in brand identity is needed in order to meet the desires of today’s consumers and to increase the sales of Cacharel. Even customers who were used to be value-conscious are now willing to buy premium brands that are highly differentiated (Vishwanath and Mark, 1999) but only if brand provides differentiated values.

If it’s brand identity is not updated it will keep on facing the decline in sales because new consumers are not getting attracted to Cacharel and it is losing its existing customer base so in order to increase sales and gain more market share it must upgrade its brand identity but keeping in mind its core identity.

               

References

Aaker, D.A. (1997), "Building brands without mass media", Harvard Business Review, January /February, pp 135-44

Cacharel” Anais Anais Tagline”,

 < http://www.cacharel.com/_en/_int/home.aspx?lg=en&exo=&> viewed 1^st Oct 2011

Cacharel” Loulou Tagline”, < http://www.cacharel.com/_en/_int/home.aspx?lg=en&exo=&> viewed 1^st Oct 2011

Cacharel” Noa Tagline”, < http://www.cacharel.com/_en/_int/home.aspx?lg=en&exo=&> viewed 1^st Oct 2011

Chandon, P, Wertenbroch , K & Rowell, N 2007, Parfums cacharel de L’oréal 1997-2007: Decoding and revitalizing a classic brand, Insead Cases.

Christoph. B & Marc. J (2008), "Towards an identity-based brand equity model", Journal of Business Research, Vol 63, no.3, pp.390-397

Day, J.  1999, "Cacharel unveils youth scent Noa", Marketing Week, vol. 21, no. 44, pp. 11-11.

Kapferer, J-N 2008, the new strategic brand management: creating and sustaining brand equity long term, 4th edition, Kogan Page, Philadelphia, PA.

Keller, K.L (1999), “Brand Mantras: Rationale, Criteria and Examples”, Journal of Marketing Management, vol 15, no.1, pp. 43-51

Keller, k (1998) Strategic Brand Management, Prentice Hall. New Jersey

O’Reilly Charles A, Chatman Jennifer A. Organizational Commitment and psychological attachment: the effects of compliance, identification and internalization on pro-social behavior. Journal of applied psychology 1986; 71(3):492-9

O’Shaughnessy John. Why people buy. Oxford: Oxford Univeristy Press; 1987

"Packaging Brand Identity", 2010, Package Printing, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 28-28.

Vishwanath, V. and Mark, J. (1999), "Your brand's best strategy", Harvard Business Review on Brand Management, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA

Young and Rubicam (1991)," The brand asset value model", available at : www.rediffusiondyr.com/bav_cycle.htm (accessed August 10, 2004).

Zaichkowsky, J.L (2010), " Strategies for distinctive brands", Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 17, no 8, pp.548-560  Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Ltd

APPENDICES

BRAND IDENTITY PRISM CACHAREL

BRAND MANTRA CACHAREL

	EMOTIONAL MODIFIER	DESCRIPTIVE MODIFIER	BRAND FUNCTION
NIKE	AUTHENTIC	ATHLETIC	PERFORMANCE
CACHAREL	INTERNAL SATISFACTION	YOUTH	INNOCENCE &TENDERNESS
DISNEY	FUN	FAMILY	ENTERTAINMENT