16. Chanel
Neuilly-Sur-Seine, France
www.chanel.com
 

Beauty Sales: $2.5 billion (estimate)

Key Personnel: Alain and Gerald Werthheimer, co-owners; Maureen Chiquet, chief executive officer; Andrea d’Avack, president, Chanel Fragrance & Beauty; Christine Dagousset, executive vice president of fragrance and beauté, Chanel U.S.

Major Products: Fragrance, skin care and color cosmetics under brands including Chanel No 5, Allure, Allure Homme, Coco, Coco Mademoiselle, Chance, No 19, Bleu de Chanel, Sublimage, Ultra Correction Lift and Line Repair, Rouge Allure, Rouge Coco, Le Vernis, Les 4 Ombres, Illusions d’Ombre, Vitalumière.

New Products: Chanel Perfection Lumière, Chanel Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow, Chanel Hydra Beauty Serum, Chanel Coco Noir EDP Spray, Allure Homme Sport, Bleu de Chanel Deodorant Spray, Sublimage La Crème, Le Volume de Chanel Mascara.

After 90 years, Chanel No 5 goes for a male face with Brad Pitt.

Comments: Classics still reign when it comes to fragrance—and that fact, as well as an uptick in the prestige market in general, contributed to another prosperous year for Chanel, both in the U.S. and globally. The iconic brand continues to gain avid followers. Fragrance accounts for more than half of Chanel’s sales, followed by makeup and skin care, in which new entries keep rolling into premium outlets, and many prove to be winners with consumers.

According to The NPD Group/BeautyTrends, in Fragrance for annual 2011 (according to dollars sold), Chanel was ranked No. 1 in Total Prestige Fragrance and Total Women’s Prestige Fragrance. It was ranked at No. 3 for men’s Total Prestige Fragrance.

For year-to-date 2012 January through August, Chanel was ranked No. 1 again in Total Prestige Fragrance and Women’s. It was ranked at No. 2 for Men’s.

For prestige makeup in both time periods, The NPD Group reported that Chanel is ranked among the top five in makeup brands. For prestige skincare in both time periods, Chanel places among the top 10 in skincare brands.

In the Brand Keys 2012 survey, Chanel ranked No. 3 in both Luxury Cosmetics and Luxury Facial Moisturizer among 50 contenders overall.

Chanel Inc.’s Illusion d'Ombre Long-wear Luminous Eyeshadow won the 2012 CEW Beauty Award for Eye Product Prestige.

In May, Chanel gave a new edge to its 90+ year old iconic brand, signing Oscar nominee Brad Pitt as the new face of the classic scent Chanel No 5. Former famous Chanel No. 5 faces include Nicole Kidman and Audrey Tautou. Pitt’s ad campaign will no doubt rival that of his predecessors when it appears this month.

Earlier this year, Chanel won a Fragrance Foundation FiFi award in the Women’s Media Campaign for Coco Mademoiselle, which just happened to be the best-selling women’s scent in the U.S. last year, according The NPD Group. Coming in at No. 4 was Chanel No 5. On the men’s side, Chanel’s Bleu de Chanel was the No. 2 selling scent.

Other notable honors of this year’ ode to fragrance included the posthumous induction of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel into the FiFi Hall of Fame, with a tribute from the brand’s Christine Dagousset

Recently, Chanel cosmetics agreed to return to the Lotte Department Store in Seoul, after nearly a three-year absence. Apparently, Lotte had asked Chanel to downsize and relocate its cosmetics booth due to slow sales at the time. Subsequently the brand withdrew from all Lotte stores.