BRAND STRATEGY IN DESIGN PERSPECTIVE

CHRISTIAN DIOR

Christian Dior SE, commonly known as Dior, is a French luxury goods company
controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also
heads LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group.

The company was founded in 1946 by designer Christian Dior. It currently

designs and retails leather goods, fashion accessories, footwear. Jewellery,
timepieces, fragrances, makeup, and skin care products, while also maintaining
its tradition as a creator of haute-couture under the Christian Dior Couture
division. The Christian Dior label remains largely for women’s offerings,
although the company also operates the Dior Homme division for men and the
Baby Dior label for children’s wear. Products are sold throughout its portfolio of
retail stores worldwide, as well as through its online store.

History
1946: Creation of Christian Dior's fashion house
Christian Dior and the industrialist Marcel Boussac join forces to create the
Christian Dior couture house. On December 16, the couture house opens at 30
Avenue Montaigne, with three ateliers and a staff of 85 people.

1947: First collection

The first collection, Spring–Summer 1947, is presented on February 12, in the
salons of 30 Avenue Montaigne. Dior names his new lines Corolle and En 8.
Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, declares: “My dear
Christian, your dresses have such a New Look!”

Vision and Mission

The vision statement for Christian Dior is, "To become the world's most popular
brand in all products that enhance their lifestyle.”

Their mission statements says, to only leave beauty as a legacy.

It means being fully committed to reducing their carbon emissions by 46% full
scope by 2030 and aligning their business with the 1.5°C pathway. It also
means to gather their efforts in favour of biodiversity with flower farming as
driver of regeneration.

At the heart of everything we do lies the limitless love of flowers that inspired
Monsieur Dior. They are the source of every fragrance, skincare and make-up
we create. We believe it is the responsibility of Parfums Christian Dior to
harness the power of flowers to regenerate biodiversity by cultivating,
preserving and reintroducing them into ecosystems.
1) LOGO
The name of its creator is immortalised on the logo of the luxury
brand.Christian Dior’s tradition and heritage are reflected in a minimalist logo.
Even though the brand represents the luxury industry, its identity is very
simple and restrained. A clear word mark without unnecessary elements makes
the fashion house easily recognisable. At the same time, he is associated with
uniqueness, aristocracy, sophistication, prestige, glamor, and wealth.

1946

Like many other premium brands, Christian Dior uses a logo with its name. It
was originally a complete version of the inscription. The designers used the
Nicolas Cochin font for both word marks, named after the French art critic,
writer, and printmaker. This is a long and thin serif typeface designed by
Georges Peignot.

1948

Then there was another word mark containing the abbreviated name of the
company: Dior. It was written with a capital “D,” and the rest of the letters
were in lowercase in the early years.
2018

In 2018, the designers moved the “I,” “O,” and “R” to the upper case to
underline the importance and global prominence of the French fashion house.
At the same time, the font has hardly changed.

In addition to it, there was a symbol with the abbreviation “CD.” The
developers stylised the letters “C” and “D,” making them mirror images of each
other. The symbol is perfectly symmetrical: upside down, it looks the same as
in the usual one. “C” merges with “D” at the bottom, and at the top, they are
open.

The Gestalt Principles seen in this symbol are:

1. Continuation’
2. Symmetry
2) Colour psychology

The Dior colour palette, it is as simple as possible. The lettering and monogram
are always black, and the background is white in most cases.

This monochrome combination reflects the classics of high fashion, symbolises

good taste, and enhances stylish logos.

It also symbolises elegance and sophistication.

3) Tagline

~To only leave beauty as a legacy~

4) Indoor Branding

Choosing the unique retail infrastructure – Dior ensures to tap into

prime locations of the city or country. For instance, Dior’s first store in Mumbai
was launched in the iconic Taj hotel. Dior ensures it hires the best architects
and interior designers to give the air of luxury to each store.

Dior stores use neutral colour combinations for their interior to represent class
and elegance.

The extravagant interiors and lounging spaces add to the luxurious experience
one expects.
5) Outdoor branding
Dior’s outdoor branding is mostly billboards, posters and ads on kiosks and
screens such as in Time Square
6) Social media branding
Dior’s social media presence is mainly on Instagram, twitter, and YouTube.
They post aesthetically pleasing and attractive content to build their popularity.

I. Instagram
Out of all the social media platforms, Dior has the most amount of following
on Instagram
Followers: 45M
Following: 301
No. Of posts: 11,140
Frequency of posts: Daily

Dior launched a successful social media campaign on Instagram with the

hashtag of Dior Love Chain in 2017.
Since then, they have been posting regularly everyday to build their following.
Dior uses celebrity endorsements as its main form of promotion and creating
influence.

Instagram is their main platform for using these endorsements to their

advantage. Posting the celebrity ambassadors is one of the major reasons they
have a huge following.

So, the main content on Instagram is celebrity ambassadors doing

photoshoots, in magazine covers, such as VOGUE, Harper’s Bazaar, etc, and
attending events/exhibitions.
II. Twitter
Twitter is second in line with the number of followers - 9.2M

The Twitter handle for Dior is quite similar to Instagram, but here they post all
updates about who’s wearing their brand to events and more information on
exhibitions and new arrivals.

They don’t just post ambassadors here, but any celebrity that is seen wearing
Dior in public events.
III.YouTube
Lastly, coming to Youtube - 2.59M

Their YouTube content is much more diverse than the other two platforms.

Here, they post about fusion shows, the behind the scenes of shows/
exhibitions/events, advertisements, celebrity endorsements, interviews and
much more.