Dior brand strategy – Dior vs Chanel (2024)

Products

Christian Dior SA offers some products in different categories:

• Christian Dior Couture
• Wines and Spirits
• Fashion and Leather Goods
• Parfumes and Cosmetics
• Watches and Jewelry
• Selective Retailing

Logo

The logo of the company Dior is the name of the founder and fashion designer of the brand Christian Dior. The Dior logo represents a simple word mark with the brand name and using a Nicolas Cochin font. Despite the fact that the company is world-renowned in the luxury industry, the logo remains simple and straight-forward, reinforcing its ease of identification and being easily recognizable for consumers.

The Dior logo is associated with notions as luxury, glamour, prestige, sophistication and originality. It is also representative of the personality of its creator as many brands of luxury.

Regarding colors of Dior logo, the use of black and white color in it transmits a natural feeling of warmth, reinforcing the power of the overall design and the classy impression it gives.

Dior values

The company has made efforts to keep the same values promoted by its original founder Christian Dior. Indeed, Dior was primarily a female brand. After the World War 2, the designer wanted to “liberate” women from the horror of the war but also giving joy and lightness by creating elegant clothes with new design.

Dior’s company is also synonymous of dreams. The designer always wanted to reach the excellence in every pieces he created and it’s on the same motto that the company has reached the success known today. Know-how, respect of the client, and the willing to bring beauty for every woman are also values that define the company. Employees still carry these values in their works, by respecting the tradition and heritage of the company.

Though earlier Dior focused only on women, it diversified into products for men under the brand of Dior Homme, and for children under the brand of Baby Dior with the same aspect of perfectionism.

Even if creation directors have changed through the time, each one has contributed to the reputation of the company Dior that is one of the strongest brands in the luxury sector.

Finally, here is a diagram that can represent the Dior’s company values and association:

Brand personality

One efficient and clear way to assess the key elements of the Dior’s company personality can be done through a prism of the brand:

Even if other luxury brands can present the same aspects and elements than this prism, we can still figure out some differentiation in the spirit and message that Dior wants to communicate to its consumers.

Communication on brand personality

Dior as many fashion brands, communicate on its products but also on its brand through various supports and media.

Fashion magazines such as Vogue or Marie-Claire and TV spots are indispensables media for fashion brands as Dior, where we can find some ads focusing on their products rather than the brand itself. The ad is always really elegant and sophisticated with quite often the appearance of a famous person being the “muse” of the brand. The logo is also present in a simple way, reflecting the strength of the brand with a clear recognition and association with French luxury and high quality products. If these ways of communicating remain more classical, where the consumer can easily rely on the values of the brand with a “dream” touch, the real power of Dior’s brand is the way it communicates on the brand itself and its history.

Indeed, if fashion shows are an occasion for luxury brands to highlight their own couture clothes and increase their reputation among consumers, Dior has developed through years a further way to develop its image of excellence and unique know-how.

A museum has been created in Granville in memory of Christian Dior where he spent his childhood. This exhibition shows some pieces created by the designer and promote the evolution of thebrand through an historical point of view.

The company has also developed the ability to create the buzz regularly by creating special events and adapting sales shops with new universe and concepts for a limited time: A mini Fashion Theatre with the most emblematic Dior creations, a re-looking and exposition of the famous mall Harrods in London mixing French Savoir Faire and British charm, or the presentation of an exclusive film event by Bruce Weber, ‘Can I Make The Music Fly?’ for the opening of the new Dior Homme boutique in Miami. All these exceptional events contribute to the notion of dream and exclusivity related to the brand.

As a premium brand, Dior has released regular series of aspirational films in order to encourage online purchasing and strengthen its exclusivity image. In 2011, 4 short films based on the concept of “Four cities, Four women” with Marion Cotillard inspired from the Lady Dior bags. The latest one has been exclusively promoted on their Facebook page with an invitation to purchase the bag. These short movies enabled the brand to increase its aspirational image and conducted the consumers to express their “love” for the brand through numerous comments.

The communication action mentioned before is also part of a digital strategy that Dior has successfully established. Dior is present on many channels: Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Mobile application remaining the basic channels for digital strategy but also Instagram, Tumblr or Pinterest where only few luxury brands have already created some accounts. Through these channels, Dior has succeeded to create a unique link with its community offering VIP access to backstage scenes, exclusive stories and contents that focus on fans’ interests (make-up tips, new products released…). By offering original visual contents on various topics, the company increases the loyalty of its followers and remains coherent with its core values.

Dior is a luxury brand unique, which wants to be close to its customers. This luxury house has understood the importance of social media presence and seeks to interact with its community to expand its universe to Internet.