No.5
A woman's perfume, with the scent of a woman.
Launch planRue Cambon, ParisSpring 1921
The brand idea
Most perfumes copy a flower. Ours copies nothing.
- Rose
- Violet
- Lilac
- Lily of the valley
No.5
Who it's for
For the woman who already wears our clothes.
Launch to the clients we have. Everyone else will follow them.
- Already wears
- Our jersey. No corset.
- Already shops
- Paris, Deauville, Biarritz
- Wants to smell
- Expensive. Modern. Hers.
- Refuses to smell
- Like her grandmother's garden
First in line
The product
Beaux brought a tray of samples. We chose number five.
Sample 5
It.
Jasmine, rose, orris and musk, lifted by an overdose of aldehydes.
Chosen
Series two 2021222324
What makes it different
The difference is a lab molecule, in a dose nobody used.
What the nose saysI can't name it. I want it.
JasmineRoseOrrisMuskTuberose No.5
Name and identity
Everyone sells a poem in crystal. We sell a number in a lab vial.
On the shelf in 1921L'Heure Bleue, 1912Quelques Fleurs, 1912Mitsouko, 1919
The launch moment
Fifth month, fifth day, sample five: 5 May 1921.
It opens with the collection. Same day, same room.
LMMJVSD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Jeudi 5 mai · Rue Cambon
Seeding
Nobody can buy it yet. The right people have smelled it.
They smelled it on someone. Now they ask where to buy it.
Distribution
One shop proves it. Partners with a factory take it everywhere.
- 1921One boutiqueRue Cambon only. Scarcity is the plan.
- NextOne department storeGaleries Lafayette, the first Paris retailer.
- 1924A perfume companyParfums Chanel: a factory, a sales force, export.
70%
20%
10%
70% Pierre and Paul WertheimerProduction and distribution20% Théophile BaderGaleries Lafayette10% Gabrielle ChanelThe name
How we'll know it's working
It's working when clients ask before we offer.
- Week oneClients in fittings ask what the room smells of.
- Month oneWomen who were never given a bottle ask to buy one.
- Year oneA department store asks to stock it.
The long-run signalLife, April 1952
Q. What do you wear to bed?
"Chanel No. 5."
Marilyn Monroe, thirty-one years after launch
Risks
Three things could sink it. One of them is the point.
RiskMitigationStatus
Nobody can name the smell. That's the product. Let them ask. Feature
A plain vial looks like a pharmacy. Fine glass, a typed label, nothing else. Plain is the point. Owned
One boutique cannot supply Paris. Partner for a factory and stores before demand outruns us. Planned
The launch
Spray it on everyone. Sell it on the fifth.
- 1formulaSample five. Unchanged.
- 1vialPlain glass, typed label
- 1dateThursday, 5 May 1921