Guess Jeans, Liz Claiborne Fragrances,

¶ … Guess Jeans, Liz Claiborne fragrances, and Obsession cologne, including favorite and least favorite ads in this group. Each of these ads uses a different formula to make their items more appealing and attractive. Each of these ads illustrates the different markets these products are attempting to attract, and what type of consumer they are looking for. These consumers are young, concerned about their appearance and their fashion statements, and they want the lifestyle these ads suggest.

My favorite ads in the group were the Calvin Kline ads, which were photographed and lighted brilliantly, and gave the entire impression of youth, health, and sexuality. All of the colognes, including Obsession, were shown in dramatic lighting, and even the shape of the bottles suggests sex and male/female relationships. The sometimes color and sometimes black-and-white ads are startling, especially because of that dramatic lighting, making the people seem larger than life, and of course, perfect in every say. The implication is that you too can be perfect if you only use Obsession, which is the point, but the dramatic way they view their products is very attractive and compelling at the same time.

In the middle were the Guess Jeans ads. They use the same premise, sex, as Calvin Kline, but they are much more overt with it. The shots of jeans are usually shot from the back, with the butt the prominent feature, (the only feature, really), and some of the other fashions are blatantly sexual, as well. These are clearly the fashions to "be" seen in, and the women's fashions, especially, are extremely trendy and part of what makes the "in-crowd" so hip and fashionista. It is interesting to note that none of these products relies on professional endorsements; rather, their main points are sex, sex, sex. It is clear you don't need a professional for that, you need attractive models who show off the clothing to its best advantage and appeal to the age group that they are marketing to - young people concerned about fashion and who have disposable income. The photography here is also important, but it is not the dramatic intensity of Klein's ads, rather it is less dramatic, sexier, and younger, somehow. It is clear Obsession is geared to a "mature" audience, while Guess is geared to a younger, "in-crowd" audience. They are still concerned about sex, very clearly, but in a different, less mature variety.

The least favorite of the three was Liz Claiborne; her ads seem to be more geared to an older, more conservative crowd, even though the models are young. Comparing the two styles (Guess and Claiborne) is almost like night and day. Guess is clearly geared to young, hip, consumers, while Claiborne is more sedate. Hemlines on dresses are much lower in Claiborne's ads, the clothing is more conservative, and the perfumes are certainly not as suggestive as Obsession, or even Guess' ads. In addition, Claiborne's names are far less suggestive than Obsession, or Klein's other colognes. She uses names like "Sport," and "Mambo Mix," which are far less suggestive and far less appealing, frankly. She is selling to a more mature, female audience, and it shows clearly in the ads and in the products.