Wow I can't believe them! I remember you mentioning how in love with Chanel you were so how ridiculous of them to not value your support.
I have to agree with regards to their more recent make-up; there was a big stirring about one of their fairly recent releases that I thought I'd head to the store to buy, but once I tried it on my hand I was surprised how mediocre it was and concluded that a similar brand did the exact same thing, yet for a smaller price AND with a bigger range of colours! Once I decide I'm buying something, very rarely do I not end up doing so but this was one of those occasions where I was left feeling completely uninspired by their offering.
I regularly witness the effect of brands being supported by the bigger blogs (like yours) and how it can create a buzz far greater than anything the mags can achieve, so for them to take such a fickle approach seems very short-sighted.
Here's the thing that people at the Chanel press office don't get: magazines are local. I live in Houston, Texas, USA, and I'm a bit of an anglophile, so there are times when I'll splash out $10 for InStyle UK (which I much prefer to InStyle US because it features more beauty,) and I've found a few British brands (from Barry M to Cowshed) through methods like that..
..but the average person barely buys magazines from their own country anymore. Honestly, most of the magazine subscriptions I have, I was gifted. The only time I really buy magazines is if they're British, and I know I'm not alone with my general apathy toward glossies.
Yet, blogs are international. As I said, I'm reading your British beauty blog from my house in the fourth largest city of the United States. You have more of a pull without knowing it than top fashion glossies do. Furthermore, I'm pale, and things like swatches are my #1 reason for or against buying a product - and magazines won't give you that.
To be honest, as much as I love looking at Chanel on the runways, I'm not a fan of Chanel's beauty products. I have one Glossimer ("Eclipse") from a few seasons ago that I stocked up on, but I don't have a problem not buying from them again.
If Chanel wants to think that they're better off without bloggers, they can see how much better off they are without customers, too.
Huge fan of their handbags and some of their beauty products [inimitable mascara, vitalumiere & tan de soleil] but really not a fan of others. There lipsticks dry my lips out and I don't think their nail polishes have the staying power of many cheaper but still good brands.
It's so disappointing when you're a huge fan of a brand then somewhere along the line they let you down. Another example for me was the service in store in New York....embarrassingly bad yet in Bloomingdales in NYC and Selfridges in Manchester it was FANTASTIC!
Hopefully they'll turn this around and realise that the customer ALWAYS comes first x
I love buying Chanel whatever BUT I'm a very average person who has to save up before a splurge. This doesn't mean my money is worth less than someone who has far more than me - rather Chanel should feel honoured that my pennies are going to them as opposed the countless other companies that are out there and offer fantastic products.
The snobbery within Chanel seems to be promoted all the time. I can't tell you the number of times a Chanel sales assistant (cosmetics or clothing) has been utterly rude to me. For no reason whatsoever!
I'm glad you've spoken out BBB. My feelings are certainly changing towards Chanel and not for the better.
My friend is works high up for Chanel I will not say her role but it has clout and to be honest I have half wondered if the way she acts since joining them is pure BS or hype or delusion from sniffing too much perfume – “apparently as it’s a private company the Wertheimer are notoriously secretive and they have no need to talk to bloggers or press who don’t fit their criteria as they are so prestige” – well excuse me for thinking this is dumb but we have another four years of the recession at least before we even see a small chink of light and during the next four years social media will be in another place all together as it changes daily so by dismissing the changing face of media and how readers become consumers via the power of blogs me thinks you’re out of touch and will come rushing clumsily late to the party – after almost 35yrs in retailing can I say if you do adapt and change with customer perceptions you can soon lose that “hot/converted/ lusted after “brand title as there is always someone trying harder on your heels – plus after what she told me about Chanel and Bourjois it has now put me off the range and the fact they are hardly innovative on the product front so not attracting new consumers ……..
oh no...why? you have blogged about their april, june polishes if I remember well. it is a pity cause they could ''use'' your blog to show us another side to Chanel, an insider view, a behind the scenes, much like the one you did with Jo Loves.
I have a feeling this is a treatment glossies may get, for example I can imagine them saying to so and so glossy editor, don't feature our product next to Y brand, it doesn't reflect good on us. Probably they think your blog is a case of that or they are not professional enough. I mean if you look at US blogs, I see that Chanel USA keeps feeding all the blogs, so why for example Chanel UK is saying they dont get blogging? Unless they are doing a tom ford kind of new thing.
On another level, I am sorry but the Chanel PRs, how professional or knowledgeable about PR do they look to you? I don't want to trash them, I am sure there are some great ones in the office, but the majority of PRs in beauty or fashion are just pretty and nothing else. You ask them what is this product all about or what is the collection all about and their answer is, I am sorry I don't know.
Yet Did they really tell you they dont get blogging? cause that's like suicide....
Hilariously, I dared to ask for a Press Release some time ago now. I don't know what possessed me to be honest but there we are, I did. I had a reply asking for my stats as the people above the person I was talking to were incredibly fussy. I don't mind sharing my stats, not one little bit, so I did, but that said I knew there and then I wouldn't make the grade.
It's fine...but I was miffed to never hear from them again. You know, Thank you for providing your stats but at the current time you're not the kind of blog we want to work with would have done. Whatever Chanel.
What will they do when there are no glossies left? I can't think of a recent glossy magazine launch. Do they knoiw that Vogue is offering subscriptions with 60% off the cover price until 31.03.2012.
Rouge Coco Shine was a thundering disappointment of a lipstick. How can a glossy lipstick be so drying.
Right now British industry needs all the help it can get so can I recommend Lulu Guiness if you need a quilted bag. I would welcome suggestions for a British alternative to Glossimer?
i am the anon above. let;s not be spiteful here. Chanel maybe be stuffy but their rouge coco shines are not drying. in their time they have set some trends, look at rouge noir nail polish, the greige craze with particuliere...
Why SHOULD they care about you? Chanel is a high class brand with an already established customer base that isn't going anywhere soon. trying to pull a "don't you know who I am!" at them is not going to get you free things.
Well this very much reminds me of my heart breaking Chanel moment.
We all know how much I love Chanel. LOVE Chanel. My aspirational, wonder brand that I dreamt about buying into for years.
I waited 9 years for my classic bag, and when I got it, it was a dream come true. I blogged about it with tears of joys and my readers (or at least some of the girlier, more sentimental ones) cried with me.
The sparkle of owning my own Chanel bag was very much tarnished at the hands of Chanel's young PR team.
I was invited to the press day and I attended with my beautiful new bag.
The season before I attended without it and had a lovely reception.
This time was very different. I was stalked around the showroom by a PR as I was likely to 'shop lift', they let me snap away with my camera, as were many others, and then cornered me and told me not to put the photos online as they had had problems with bloggers (?!).
I agreed not to use them but asked for a press release to be sent. The PR half-heartedly agreed.
I then went to look at the makeup and speak to the lovely Lisa Eldridge (the only nice welcome I had) but was quickly ushered away from her.
As I left (well practically ran out, ENTIRELY UNPROMPTED they told me they had no goody bags left as they pushed a stash of them through a doorway.
No one smiled as I said goodbye.
As I walked down the street I wanted to shove my bag in a bin! Of course I came to my senses.
I have no idea what happened between one press day to the next but all I know is that it was incredibly unpleasant and I never want to attend another Chanel press day again.
I don't need a PR team making me feel like a second class citizen.
I waited weeks but never received an email let alone a press release.
I rebelled, published every single photo and vowed they would be my last!
I don't get it. With their makeup confidential website in for a revamp (I really enjoyed the old version and am looking forward to the new one), I would have thought they would be more welcoming towards online content pointing traffic their way. I do sort of understand that they try to preserve a level of exclusivity, but this is not achieved by displaying bad manners. I think that, right now, triple Bs are more alluring than double Cs. ;o)
Anonymous anon above, I'm not being spiteful. I find Rouge Coco shine drying on my lips. It's the lipstick that lingers at the back of the drawer because I reject it each morning in favour of others that are less drying. For the price it should be better.
Well said Jane, their attitude is nothing short of despicable. If the brand aren't savvy enough to educate themselves in the basics of social media and blogging, there is no reason for you too feature them. Also @ ReallyRee, that's such a depressing story...''I don't need a PR team making me feel like a second class citizen.''....Too bloody right!
Chanel's makeup collections over the last few years have been utter crap. The only thing that has been interesting at all is their nail polishes. There are so many better quality brands out there now; they had better sit up and take notice.
Well said. One of the reasons why I love reading your blog (aside from early news of latest collections) is you will state your opinion and stick with it.
I have wondered a bit about Chanel and blogging. It has been my observations that Chanel and Dior are intermingled. If one does something, the other won't be far behind.
But in this case, Dior gets blogging. Out of my blogroll, when the new Addict lipsticks launched, I was hardpressed to find a big time beauty blog without a press sample. Not only that, many international beauty bloggers were invited to a big event (I remember you being wowed by the display event in that Parisian hotel). The same could be said for many big name beauty brands that have reached out into the blogging world.
The thing about reaching out in the changing face of media is to keep up with new audiences. Sure they have a dedicated enough customer base now but not to be morbid, people do grow or drop poor and then what will that do for their little exclusive club?
I've had a bad feeling about Chanel since it decided it no longer needed Sephora.
So this is my first comment on your post. THANK YOU for highlighting their high handed attitude. As a consumer, I've had a pretty crappy experience with them as well. I live in India, (Mumbai) which has ONE single Chanel stand alone store. I have bought from them a number of times and the attitude is almost scary. On my last visit, I had left home in a hurry with virtually no make up on. Asked them for some eyeshadow and for some tips on the kind of colors to use. The frosty reply was "well since you dont have any foundation on, the colors wont really show"... really... u have tons of testers...use them. I politely told them that i regularly use Vitalumiere and gave them the shade. "Yawn yawn" we dont really care was the attitude that came across. I did pick up a shadow but swore that was the last time I enter their store. I'm taking my business to brands that care
Thank you for speaking to them --BBB has always been a strong voice for bloggers and I'm sorry that the reception wasn't favorable. It is interesting that today's The New York Times has an article titled "Hermès Bag Is Galloping to the Fore," where a a high demand market for Hermes Evelyne bags is reported to have been created due to a single blogger in Texas. Viva the power of the blog--blogs talk, and money follows.
Crazy that they would ignore you!! After all the years of your support, it's shocking. Although don't see why you would get invite to fashion sample sale as you are beauty blogger, can imagine that many fashion bloggers and other journalists want that invite and don't get it either and they would have better claim to it that you :)
Hmmm in all honesty, I think this post will have the opposite effect of what you perhaps hoped to achieve from it. If you love their products as much as you claim to - and anyone who's met you KNOWS you do, then you'll continue to buy from them anyway and not let a few negative experiences with their PR turn you off completely.
On the other hand, you may get an email from them apologising profusely for the way you've been treated, but given your past experiences with them, I wouldn't hold your breath...
Hell will freeze over before fashion bloggers start being gifted 2.55's or beauty bloggers a huge box of Chanel make up to 'show and tell' on their blogs - and that's fine by me. Chanel are not the be all and end all of make up. To date I've only ever bought their Inimitable mascara, although I'll get round to trying those Illusion Ombre thingies and a couple of lipstsicks soon. Some brands just don't 'need' bloggers as they're already established in their own right. Fact.
Hi Yinka: the post is really a sign-off.. I genuinely am at the point that I don't much care anymore - you are right there are so many brands to choose from both as a beauty writer and a consumer. Yes, I'll still keep buying the jewellery and if there is an amazing beauty product then maybe I'll buy that too, but I am fairly certain there will be no reaction from their end, so there was never any intent to use the post to goad them into taking notice of me if that is your implication. I think they put their toes in the water with bloggers, didn't really know what to do from there, so quickly got out of the water. But, the point is that it's not even so much being a blogger.. I do write for mainstream press so it means on that count I don't have information that maybe I should have in order to write about beauty with full knowledge. And, I am not the only beauty writer that has this issue.. it's a big, big bone of contention for beauty journalists!! You know exactly how I am about my Chanel products...love them.. but there is a taint because of this which is sad really.
I'm as perplexed as you, in trying to figure out what their issue is/was. The mind boggles.. Still I'm glad their behaviour won't thwart you from ever purchasing from the brand ever again!
Their loss that they'll miss being featured in any of the mainstream publications you write for. That audience reach isn't to be sniffed at.
I think they're a little too detached to get involved with bloggers..that would mean dealing with us paupers, when they'd rather be frolicing with A-list slebs in rented mansions!
I do think that some bloggers (sweeping generalisation here) feel / believe that all brands should have some kind of blogger outreach programme and that they become disheartened when they don't, or that they are ignored.
If Chanel choose not to embrace bloggers or the UK print media as a form of advertising, then that is up to them. It might be frustrating if you want to write about it ahead of time, but if they are not interested in engaging then so be it - take a horse to water and all that. Commercially speaking, a glamorous advert at Christmas featuring some Hollywood star is going to shift a lot more units than a blogger posting "well it was ok but I prefer my Estee Lauder one" or whatever.
If you like something, buy it. If you don't, don't. Brands built profiles long before bloggers came along and I'm a bit unsure of people saying that they'll regret not getting on the social media bandwagon - who knows what goes on in those marketing board meetings. I'm over paying £18 for a nail polish, but this isn't because I might have been given the cold shoulder by the brand that makes it, it is because it chips after a day and is a waste of money. Style over substance.
*NB, when I say "you" I mean people in general, not you specifically, BBB.
Hi Helen.. absolutely get your points.. they don't have to play nicely with anyone if they don't want to - nobody does. However, they are building a nice shiny new website I hear and even Karl's gone on Twitter. I suspect you are correct that they won't have regrets over something like social media.. or probably about anything, ever! Who knows what goes into strategies...but the point about traditional adverstising is interesting.. it isn't really one blogger's views that would add up to much but more en masse I think, when something goes viral it is a phenomenon. And mags struggle to maintain a readership at the moment so if it comes to a numbers game, eventually, the internet will win. Ultimately, I'm genuinely past caring if they engage or not.. it's not compulsory and it's no longer the stamp of approval I once thought it was. Attitude shift if you like.
Right. Here I go. I have decided to leave a comment and not be anonymous!
I have been a beauty journalist for twenty (I know, soooo old) years and have been: Beauty Editor New Woman Australia, Freelance Beauty Editor Vogue Australia, Launch Editor Cosmopolitan Hair magazine UK, Beauty Director Eve magazine UK, Associate Editor Now magazine UK, Launch Editor Celebrity Homes magazine, Group Editor Publicis Blueprint UK, Acting Deputy Editor Woman's Own UK.
I am currently Beauty Director of Saga magazine which has the highest circulation of any consumer monthly magazine in the UK (655,000) with a readership of 2 MILLION every month. I am also Style Editor of Private Banking magazine (this goes to the wealthiest customers of RBS bank) and in the last 12 months I have been the Editor of Expert Beauty magazine and launched a beauty magazine for Liberty the London department store. I feel exhausted just reading all that.
The Chanel press office only sent me products, press releases, invited me to events when I was Beauty Director of Eve magazine from 2000-2002. During that time I did receive a very beautiful Chanel handbag as a Christmas present in 2000 from them and a bracelet in 2001. I was also taken to their headquarters in Paris and shown new beauty samples etc When they LOVE you, they really love you! But sadly I have never been invited to the sample sale...
No contact from them before or since unless I have initiated it.
I did contact them in October last year to ask for a nail polish to shoot for my Saga beauty pages (2 million readers remember?) and they said they didn't have any stock of that polish. I tweeted this and a beauty BLOGGER sent me her own personal bottle for me to shoot, then I posted it back to her.
I also contacted them for a shot of a nail polish for Private Banking magazine and they did send me a hi-res image.
I do not receive any products, press releases or invites from them and yet in reality millions, and I do mean millions of women read what I have to say about beauty...
Well done Jane for airing this problem in a public forum. Utterly ridiculous. In the interests of full disclosure Jane who writes this blog is a friend but my views are all my own and I am not at all happy with Chanel and how they conduct themselves.
Plus, I cannot say whom but a very well-known journalist from a broadsheet newspaper has also had problems with Chanel and confronted them directly on email and by phone and now she does receive SOME attention.
Chanel were actually very supportive when I launched The-Beauty-Pages.com in 2008 - I met them for coffee, was always sent samples, and remained on their database for press releases until mid 2010. Then something happened and they stopped contacting me. They do still send me releases and images when I request them (and the occasional sample if I am writing for a national publication), but definitely aren't forthcoming.
It's a shame as I've given them some great coverage and exposure over the years and now I just feel totally out of the loop. I have no idea what is launching when - and like Lynette above, when I requested a bottle of their last big polish launch (last summer I think), I was told they were completely out of stock. Of course they weren't - and how are we supposed to honestly review the colour/coverage/and durability if we aren't even allowed a bottle to try? I ended up buying it myself at counter (and I have to say, I was so disappointed that it chipped in a few hours that I probably wont bother again).
On the press sale side of things, I come from a fashion background in the national press and got invited several times - the last time I went, I walked away with £1000 worth of bags, jackets, and jewellery. So from a personal point of view, I think it's much safer if we are left off those lists!
"There's more to life than handbags." Seriously?? Maybe that should be their new advertising slogan for the 2.55! there's just no excuse for such rude behaviour. and yes the polishes are rubbish! amina x
I'm going to stick my oar in again and just say this:
I don't think it's so much about the lack of samples or free gifts that grates; it's the whole attitude problem of "we are above you and don't need you" that rankles.
Nobody likes being told they're unnecessary or unworthy for any reason. When it comes down to it, Chanel relies upon 'the little people' to buy their merchandise, just like any other company and I think they'd do well to remember that at least some of the time.
I have just written a glowing review for a Chanel product on a makeup review site, as well as featuring other products in my top beauty buys of 2011 on my blog, but I can honestly say that reading all this does make me think twice. I know my blog is teeny-tiny, but all publicity is good publicity, right?
What is it with some French brands? Looks like Chanel have an attitude problem - notice that they NEVER EVER have make up sales in the dept stores oh no that won't do but they argue they don't need to - there is one way and one way alone they would sit up and take notice if every single Chanel make up buyer voted with their feet and walked to the next make up counter! Agree they need to pull something out of the bag as we've had the same old designs for years now - even Avon have copied the eye shadow quads LOL! Needs a shake up in both design and marketing - just look at Dior this Spring! Best wishes BBB and I'm with you 100%!
I say it again and again, companies absolutely underestimate and underappreciate bloggers.
Most of us do this on the side, as a hobby, often we get nothing for it or maybe a sample here and there and they get tons of publicity that is accessible worldwide saving them thousands of dollars on tv ads, etc. And clearly people seek out the blogger world for real information and reviews, not the kind that the companies pay for to have in glossy mags.
Bloody idiots they say and good for you that you are so over them!
33 comments:
Wow I can't believe them! I remember you mentioning how in love with Chanel you were so how ridiculous of them to not value your support.
I have to agree with regards to their more recent make-up; there was a big stirring about one of their fairly recent releases that I thought I'd head to the store to buy, but once I tried it on my hand I was surprised how mediocre it was and concluded that a similar brand did the exact same thing, yet for a smaller price AND with a bigger range of colours! Once I decide I'm buying something, very rarely do I not end up doing so but this was one of those occasions where I was left feeling completely uninspired by their offering.
I regularly witness the effect of brands being supported by the bigger blogs (like yours) and how it can create a buzz far greater than anything the mags can achieve, so for them to take such a fickle approach seems very short-sighted.
Well said! xx
Here's the thing that people at the Chanel press office don't get: magazines are local. I live in Houston, Texas, USA, and I'm a bit of an anglophile, so there are times when I'll splash out $10 for InStyle UK (which I much prefer to InStyle US because it features more beauty,) and I've found a few British brands (from Barry M to Cowshed) through methods like that..
..but the average person barely buys magazines from their own country anymore. Honestly, most of the magazine subscriptions I have, I was gifted. The only time I really buy magazines is if they're British, and I know I'm not alone with my general apathy toward glossies.
Yet, blogs are international. As I said, I'm reading your British beauty blog from my house in the fourth largest city of the United States. You have more of a pull without knowing it than top fashion glossies do. Furthermore, I'm pale, and things like swatches are my #1 reason for or against buying a product - and magazines won't give you that.
To be honest, as much as I love looking at Chanel on the runways, I'm not a fan of Chanel's beauty products. I have one Glossimer ("Eclipse") from a few seasons ago that I stocked up on, but I don't have a problem not buying from them again.
If Chanel wants to think that they're better off without bloggers, they can see how much better off they are without customers, too.
Huge fan of their handbags and some of their beauty products [inimitable mascara, vitalumiere & tan de soleil] but really not a fan of others. There lipsticks dry my lips out and I don't think their nail polishes have the staying power of many cheaper but still good brands.
It's so disappointing when you're a huge fan of a brand then somewhere along the line they let you down. Another example for me was the service in store in New York....embarrassingly bad yet in Bloomingdales in NYC and Selfridges in Manchester it was FANTASTIC!
Hopefully they'll turn this around and realise that the customer ALWAYS comes first x
This is incredibly disappointing to read.
I love buying Chanel whatever BUT I'm a very average person who has to save up before a splurge. This doesn't mean my money is worth less than someone who has far more than me - rather Chanel should feel honoured that my pennies are going to them as opposed the countless other companies that are out there and offer fantastic products.
The snobbery within Chanel seems to be promoted all the time. I can't tell you the number of times a Chanel sales assistant (cosmetics or clothing) has been utterly rude to me. For no reason whatsoever!
I'm glad you've spoken out BBB. My feelings are certainly changing towards Chanel and not for the better.
Nazia x
My friend is works high up for Chanel I will not say her role but it has clout and to be honest I have half wondered if the way she acts since joining them is pure BS or hype or delusion from sniffing too much perfume – “apparently as it’s a private company the Wertheimer are notoriously secretive and they have no need to talk to bloggers or press who don’t fit their criteria as they are so prestige” – well excuse me for thinking this is dumb but we have another four years of the recession at least before we even see a small chink of light and during the next four years social media will be in another place all together as it changes daily so by dismissing the changing face of media and how readers become consumers via the power of blogs me thinks you’re out of touch and will come rushing clumsily late to the party – after almost 35yrs in retailing can I say if you do adapt and change with customer perceptions you can soon lose that “hot/converted/ lusted after “brand title as there is always someone trying harder on your heels – plus after what she told me about Chanel and Bourjois it has now put me off the range and the fact they are hardly innovative on the product front so not attracting new consumers ……..
oh no...why? you have blogged about their april, june polishes if I remember well. it is a pity cause they could ''use'' your blog to show us another side to Chanel, an insider view, a behind the scenes, much like the one you did with Jo Loves.
I have a feeling this is a treatment glossies may get, for example I can imagine them saying to so and so glossy editor, don't feature our product next to Y brand, it doesn't reflect good on us. Probably they think your blog is a case of that or they are not professional enough. I mean if you look at US blogs, I see that Chanel USA keeps feeding all the blogs, so why for example Chanel UK is saying they dont get blogging? Unless they are doing a tom ford kind of new thing.
On another level, I am sorry but the Chanel PRs, how professional or knowledgeable about PR do they look to you? I don't want to trash them, I am sure there are some great ones in the office, but the majority of PRs in beauty or fashion are just pretty and nothing else. You ask them what is this product all about or what is the collection all about and their answer is, I am sorry I don't know.
Yet Did they really tell you they dont get blogging? cause that's like suicide....
Hilariously, I dared to ask for a Press Release some time ago now. I don't know what possessed me to be honest but there we are, I did. I had a reply asking for my stats as the people above the person I was talking to were incredibly fussy. I don't mind sharing my stats, not one little bit, so I did, but that said I knew there and then I wouldn't make the grade.
It's fine...but I was miffed to never hear from them again. You know, Thank you for providing your stats but at the current time you're not the kind of blog we want to work with would have done. Whatever Chanel.
Has the Chanel press office got in touch since this? x
What will they do when there are no glossies left? I can't think of a recent glossy magazine launch. Do they knoiw that Vogue is offering subscriptions with 60% off the cover price until 31.03.2012.
Rouge Coco Shine was a thundering disappointment of a lipstick. How can a glossy lipstick be so drying.
Right now British industry needs all the help it can get so can I recommend Lulu Guiness if you need a quilted bag. I would welcome suggestions for a British alternative to Glossimer?
at trimperley
i am the anon above. let;s not be spiteful here. Chanel maybe be stuffy but their rouge coco shines are not drying. in their time they have set some trends, look at rouge noir nail polish, the greige craze with particuliere...
Why SHOULD they care about you? Chanel is a high class brand with an already established customer base that isn't going anywhere soon.
trying to pull a "don't you know who I am!" at them is not going to get you free things.
Well this very much reminds me of my heart breaking Chanel moment.
We all know how much I love Chanel. LOVE Chanel. My aspirational, wonder brand that I dreamt about buying into for years.
I waited 9 years for my classic bag, and when I got it, it was a dream come true. I blogged about it with tears of joys and my readers (or at least some of the girlier, more sentimental ones) cried with me.
The sparkle of owning my own Chanel bag was very much tarnished at the hands of Chanel's young PR team.
I was invited to the press day and I attended with my beautiful new bag.
The season before I attended without it and had a lovely reception.
This time was very different. I was stalked around the showroom by a PR as I was likely to 'shop lift', they let me snap away with my camera, as were many others, and then cornered me and told me not to put the photos online as they had had problems with bloggers (?!).
I agreed not to use them but asked for a press release to be sent. The PR half-heartedly agreed.
I then went to look at the makeup and speak to the lovely Lisa Eldridge (the only nice welcome I had) but was quickly ushered away from her.
As I left (well practically ran out, ENTIRELY UNPROMPTED they told me they had no goody bags left as they pushed a stash of them through a doorway.
No one smiled as I said goodbye.
As I walked down the street I wanted to shove my bag in a bin! Of course I came to my senses.
I have no idea what happened between one press day to the next but all I know is that it was incredibly unpleasant and I never want to attend another Chanel press day again.
I don't need a PR team making me feel like a second class citizen.
I waited weeks but never received an email let alone a press release.
I rebelled, published every single photo and vowed they would be my last!
Don't worry though! I'm over it now!!
Ree
XXX
I don't get it. With their makeup confidential website in for a revamp (I really enjoyed the old version and am looking forward to the new one), I would have thought they would be more welcoming towards online content pointing traffic their way. I do sort of understand that they try to preserve a level of exclusivity, but this is not achieved by displaying bad manners. I think that, right now, triple Bs are more alluring than double Cs. ;o)
How disappointing of them. Thanks for sharing!!
Anonymous anon above, I'm not being spiteful. I find Rouge Coco shine drying on my lips. It's the lipstick that lingers at the back of the drawer because I reject it each morning in favour of others that are less drying. For the price it should be better.
Well said Jane, their attitude is nothing short of despicable. If the brand aren't savvy enough to educate themselves in the basics of social media and blogging, there is no reason for you too feature them. Also @ ReallyRee, that's such a depressing story...''I don't need a PR team making me feel like a second class citizen.''....Too bloody right!
Chanel's makeup collections over the last few years have been utter crap. The only thing that has been interesting at all is their nail polishes. There are so many better quality brands out there now; they had better sit up and take notice.
Well said. One of the reasons why I love reading your blog (aside from early news of latest collections) is you will state your opinion and stick with it.
I have wondered a bit about Chanel and blogging. It has been my observations that Chanel and Dior are intermingled. If one does something, the other won't be far behind.
But in this case, Dior gets blogging. Out of my blogroll, when the new Addict lipsticks launched, I was hardpressed to find a big time beauty blog without a press sample. Not only that, many international beauty bloggers were invited to a big event (I remember you being wowed by the display event in that Parisian hotel). The same could be said for many big name beauty brands that have reached out into the blogging world.
The thing about reaching out in the changing face of media is to keep up with new audiences. Sure they have a dedicated enough customer base now but not to be morbid, people do grow or drop poor and then what will that do for their little exclusive club?
I've had a bad feeling about Chanel since it decided it no longer needed Sephora.
So this is my first comment on your post. THANK YOU for highlighting their high handed attitude. As a consumer, I've had a pretty crappy experience with them as well.
I live in India, (Mumbai) which has ONE single Chanel stand alone store. I have bought from them a number of times and the attitude is almost scary. On my last visit, I had left home in a hurry with virtually no make up on. Asked them for some eyeshadow and for some tips on the kind of colors to use. The frosty reply was "well since you dont have any foundation on, the colors wont really show"... really... u have tons of testers...use them. I politely told them that i regularly use Vitalumiere and gave them the shade. "Yawn yawn" we dont really care was the attitude that came across. I did pick up a shadow but swore that was the last time I enter their store. I'm taking my business to brands that care
Thank you for speaking to them --BBB has always been a strong voice for bloggers and I'm sorry that the reception wasn't favorable. It is interesting that today's The New York Times has an article titled "Hermès Bag Is Galloping to the Fore," where a a high demand market for Hermes Evelyne bags is reported to have been created due to a single blogger in Texas. Viva the power of the blog--blogs talk, and money follows.
Crazy that they would ignore you!! After all the years of your support, it's shocking. Although don't see why you would get invite to fashion sample sale as you are beauty blogger, can imagine that many fashion bloggers and other journalists want that invite and don't get it either and they would have better claim to it that you :)
Hmmm in all honesty, I think this post will have the opposite effect of what you perhaps hoped to achieve from it. If you love their products as much as you claim to - and anyone who's met you KNOWS you do, then you'll continue to buy from them anyway and not let a few negative experiences with their PR turn you off completely.
On the other hand, you may get an email from them apologising profusely for the way you've been treated, but given your past experiences with them, I wouldn't hold your breath...
Hell will freeze over before fashion bloggers start being gifted 2.55's or beauty bloggers a huge box of Chanel make up to 'show and tell' on their blogs - and that's fine by me. Chanel are not the be all and end all of make up. To date I've only ever bought their Inimitable mascara, although I'll get round to trying those Illusion Ombre thingies and a couple of lipstsicks soon. Some brands just don't 'need' bloggers as they're already established in their own right. Fact.
Hi Yinka: the post is really a sign-off.. I genuinely am at the point that I don't much care anymore - you are right there are so many brands to choose from both as a beauty writer and a consumer. Yes, I'll still keep buying the jewellery and if there is an amazing beauty product then maybe I'll buy that too, but I am fairly certain there will be no reaction from their end, so there was never any intent to use the post to goad them into taking notice of me if that is your implication. I think they put their toes in the water with bloggers, didn't really know what to do from there, so quickly got out of the water. But, the point is that it's not even so much being a blogger.. I do write for mainstream press so it means on that count I don't have information that maybe I should have in order to write about beauty with full knowledge. And, I am not the only beauty writer that has this issue.. it's a big, big bone of contention for beauty journalists!! You know exactly how I am about my Chanel products...love them.. but there is a taint because of this which is sad really.
I'm as perplexed as you, in trying to figure out what their issue is/was. The mind boggles..
Still I'm glad their behaviour won't thwart you from ever purchasing from the brand ever again!
Their loss that they'll miss being featured in any of the mainstream publications you write for. That audience reach isn't to be sniffed at.
I think they're a little too detached to get involved with bloggers..that would mean dealing with us paupers, when they'd rather be frolicing with A-list slebs in rented mansions!
I do think that some bloggers (sweeping generalisation here) feel / believe that all brands should have some kind of blogger outreach programme and that they become disheartened when they don't, or that they are ignored.
If Chanel choose not to embrace bloggers or the UK print media as a form of advertising, then that is up to them. It might be frustrating if you want to write about it ahead of time, but if they are not interested in engaging then so be it - take a horse to water and all that. Commercially speaking, a glamorous advert at Christmas featuring some Hollywood star is going to shift a lot more units than a blogger posting "well it was ok but I prefer my Estee Lauder one" or whatever.
If you like something, buy it. If you don't, don't. Brands built profiles long before bloggers came along and I'm a bit unsure of people saying that they'll regret not getting on the social media bandwagon - who knows what goes on in those marketing board meetings.
I'm over paying £18 for a nail polish, but this isn't because I might have been given the cold shoulder by the brand that makes it, it is because it chips after a day and is a waste of money. Style over substance.
*NB, when I say "you" I mean people in general, not you specifically, BBB.
Hi Helen.. absolutely get your points.. they don't have to play nicely with anyone if they don't want to - nobody does. However, they are building a nice shiny new website I hear and even Karl's gone on Twitter. I suspect you are correct that they won't have regrets over something like social media.. or probably about anything, ever! Who knows what goes into strategies...but the point about traditional adverstising is interesting.. it isn't really one blogger's views that would add up to much but more en masse I think, when something goes viral it is a phenomenon. And mags struggle to maintain a readership at the moment so if it comes to a numbers game, eventually, the internet will win. Ultimately, I'm genuinely past caring if they engage or not.. it's not compulsory and it's no longer the stamp of approval I once thought it was. Attitude shift if you like.
Right. Here I go. I have decided to leave a comment and not be anonymous!
I have been a beauty journalist for twenty (I know, soooo old) years and have been: Beauty Editor New Woman Australia, Freelance Beauty Editor Vogue Australia, Launch Editor Cosmopolitan Hair magazine UK, Beauty Director Eve magazine UK, Associate Editor Now magazine UK, Launch Editor Celebrity Homes magazine, Group Editor Publicis Blueprint UK, Acting Deputy Editor Woman's Own UK.
I am currently Beauty Director of Saga magazine which has the highest circulation of any consumer monthly magazine in the UK (655,000) with a readership of 2 MILLION every month. I am also Style Editor of Private Banking magazine (this goes to the wealthiest customers of RBS bank) and in the last 12 months I have been the Editor of Expert Beauty magazine and launched a beauty magazine for Liberty the London department store. I feel exhausted just reading all that.
The Chanel press office only sent me products, press releases, invited me to events when I was Beauty Director of Eve magazine from 2000-2002. During that time I did receive a very beautiful Chanel handbag as a Christmas present in 2000 from them and a bracelet in 2001. I was also taken to their headquarters in Paris and shown new beauty samples etc When they LOVE you, they really love you! But sadly I have never been invited to the sample sale...
No contact from them before or since unless I have initiated it.
I did contact them in October last year to ask for a nail polish to shoot for my Saga beauty pages (2 million readers remember?) and they said they didn't have any stock of that polish. I tweeted this and a beauty BLOGGER sent me her own personal bottle for me to shoot, then I posted it back to her.
I also contacted them for a shot of a nail polish for Private Banking magazine and they did send me a hi-res image.
I do not receive any products, press releases or invites from them and yet in reality millions, and I do mean millions of women read what I have to say about beauty...
Well done Jane for airing this problem in a public forum. Utterly ridiculous. In the interests of full disclosure Jane who writes this blog is a friend but my views are all my own and I am not at all happy with Chanel and how they conduct themselves.
Plus, I cannot say whom but a very well-known journalist from a broadsheet newspaper has also had problems with Chanel and confronted them directly on email and by phone and now she does receive SOME attention.
Love Lynnette
www.lynnettepeck.com www.lovelysvintageemporium.com
Chanel were actually very supportive when I launched The-Beauty-Pages.com in 2008 - I met them for coffee, was always sent samples, and remained on their database for press releases until mid 2010. Then something happened and they stopped contacting me. They do still send me releases and images when I request them (and the occasional sample if I am writing for a national publication), but definitely aren't forthcoming.
It's a shame as I've given them some great coverage and exposure over the years and now I just feel totally out of the loop. I have no idea what is launching when - and like Lynette above, when I requested a bottle of their last big polish launch (last summer I think), I was told they were completely out of stock. Of course they weren't - and how are we supposed to honestly review the colour/coverage/and durability if we aren't even allowed a bottle to try? I ended up buying it myself at counter (and I have to say, I was so disappointed that it chipped in a few hours that I probably wont bother again).
On the press sale side of things, I come from a fashion background in the national press and got invited several times - the last time I went, I walked away with £1000 worth of bags, jackets, and jewellery. So from a personal point of view, I think it's much safer if we are left off those lists!
"There's more to life than handbags." Seriously?? Maybe that should be their new advertising slogan for the 2.55!
there's just no excuse for such rude behaviour.
and yes the polishes are rubbish!
amina x
I'm going to stick my oar in again and just say this:
I don't think it's so much about the lack of samples or free gifts that grates; it's the whole attitude problem of "we are above you and don't need you" that rankles.
Nobody likes being told they're unnecessary or unworthy for any reason. When it comes down to it, Chanel relies upon 'the little people' to buy their merchandise, just like any other company and I think they'd do well to remember that at least some of the time.
I have just written a glowing review for a Chanel product on a makeup review site, as well as featuring other products in my top beauty buys of 2011 on my blog, but I can honestly say that reading all this does make me think twice. I know my blog is teeny-tiny, but all publicity is good publicity, right?
All I can say is well said BBB!
What is it with some French brands? Looks like Chanel have an attitude problem - notice that they NEVER EVER have make up sales in the dept stores oh no that won't do but they argue they don't need to - there is one way and one way alone they would sit up and take notice if every single Chanel make up buyer voted with their feet and walked to the next make up counter! Agree they need to pull something out of the bag as we've had the same old designs for years now - even Avon have copied the eye shadow quads LOL! Needs a shake up in both design and marketing - just look at Dior this Spring!
Best wishes BBB and I'm with you 100%!
I say it again and again, companies absolutely underestimate and underappreciate bloggers.
Most of us do this on the side, as a hobby, often we get nothing for it or maybe a sample here and there and they get tons of publicity that is accessible worldwide saving them thousands of dollars on tv ads, etc. And clearly people seek out the blogger world for real information and reviews, not the kind that the companies pay for to have in glossy mags.
Bloody idiots they say and good for you that you are so over them!
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