Ch.1 - An Overview of Marketing (Brief History and Mission Statement)

Chanel S.A., which is also known as The House of Chanel, is a French private company owned by Alain and Gerard Wertheimer. Chanel S.A. is a well-known upscale fashion house that specializes in haute couture and ready-to-wear clothes, luxury goods, and fashion accessories. It sells its products through department stores, specialty stores, and some of the products are also available online. Chanel currently operates its boutiques in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, Oceania, and South America.

The house of Chanel initiated in 1909. Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel was a French fashion designer and founder of the Chanel brand. Coco Chanel as a fashion designer, pandered to women’s taste for elegance in dress, with blouse and suits, trousers and dresses, and jewelry of simple design that replaced the extravagant, conservative design, and constrictive clothes and accessories of 19^th century fashion. Coco Chanel used jersey cloth because of its physical properties as a garment, such as how it falls upon and falls from the body of the woman. By 1915, the house of Chanel’s designs and clothes were famous throughout France. In 1921, as correlative to the suit of clothes, Coco Chanel appointed a perfumer to produce a perfume for the House of Chanel. The successful of giving the perfume as gift prompted the House of Chanel to offer it for retail sale in 1922. Coco Chanel planned to expand perfume sales beyond France and Europe, and to develop other perfumes. She partnered with Wertheimer who owned 70 percent of the business, Bader who owned 20 percent, and she owned 10 percent. In 1953, Chanel collaborated with jeweler Robert Goossens to design jewelry to complement the fashions of House of Chanel. Throughout 1950’s, the House of Chanel also introduced leather handbags. After Coco Chanel died, Jacques Wertheimer bought the control over the House of Chanel. During 1974, No.5 de Chanel perfume was not selling well in the U.S. Alain Wertheimer, son of Jacques Wertheimer, reduced the number of outlets carrying the fragrance from 18,000 to 12,000. He also removed fragrance from drug store, and invested millions of dollars in advertisement for Chanel cosmetics. He also used famous people to admit the perfume. Alain’s methods did back up the sales. During the 1980's, more than 40 Chanel boutiques opened worldwide. By the end of the 1980's, the price of Chanel goods was ranging from US $200 per ounce perfume, US $225 ballerina slipper to US $11,000 dresses and US $ 2000 leather handbags. Chanel cosmetics and fragrances were distributed only by Chanel outlets. During the early 1990s, Chanel’s sales was decreased because of the recession, but they recovered by expanding the boutique during the mid-1990s. The same year, Chanel entered the glasses market under a license contract with Luxottica. They presented a line of sunglasses and eyeglass frames. Chanel continued to expand. By December 2002, Chanel operated 25 boutiques in US. Currently, Chanel operated more than 300 boutiques around the world.

The mission Statement of Chanel is “to be the ultimate house of luxury, defining style and creating desire, now and forever.”  Chanel’s mission is to become the top of the fashion house in a way that they continue to invent new products but also keeps the distinction of its past and maintains its legacy of its product brand. The mission is designed to ensure that the “defining style” of Coco Chanel is successfully in current society and forever, and also “create desire” for others.