The Definition of Global Chic: An Analysis of the 2008 and 2009 Media Relations of LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton

By Jessica Posey

Founded in 1987, the French-based LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton ranks as one of the world’s leading luxury companies known for its excellence in fashion and leather goods, wine and spirits, perfumes, cosmetics, jewelry, watches, and retailing (Som 69). Since its relatively modest beginning as a small champagne producer and clothing manufacturer, the company has grown to become France’s largest luxury conglomerate, now possessing a portfolio of over 60 celebrated brands (“LVMH Group”). As a French company headquartered in Paris, one could argue that a large part of LVMH’s appeal is “its French (and therefore, chic) origins” (Martin 166). But then why is France’s largest luxury conglomerate releasing press releases in English? All of this communication is intentional, and it is intentionally in English. Would its communicating in English not then undermine these origins?

Students at the "Reconstruction" competition in which Louis Vuitton partnered with Parsons The New School for Design

To determine the answer to this question, I examine press releases from Dior, Cloudy Bay, and Louis Vuitton along with a press release addressed to shareholders regarding LVMH’s financial status after the 2008 global economic crisis. My paper also includes a discussion of the English-language communication at the Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, a free gallery open to the public located in Louis Vuitton’s flagship store on the Champs-Élysées.

Label of the Te Koko 2006, the thirteenth vintage from Cloudy Bay, a New Zealand winery owned by LVMH

It appears that a new definition of chic is emerging and that communication in English is an integral part of this definition. It is no longer enough for an enormous company such as LVMH to depend on its French origins alone to remain “timeless” and simultaneously “modern” (Som 70). It is through English that products are associated “with such positive concepts as elegance, sophistication, modernity,…international appeal” (Martin 178), and “the art of ‘chic’” (Martin 243). A company must combine these “French (and therefore, chic) origins” with the usage of English to communicate this sophistication to a global audience (Martin 166). France’s largest luxury company is in no way undermining its origins by communicating in English. Instead, LVMH is using English to reinforce its image of chic sophistication and luxury to a global audience, rendering it what I would like to refer to as globally chic.

Commercial for Miss Dior Chérie L'Eau directed by Sofia Coppola

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgNoD1Lemyw&playnext=1&list=PLAA38222B43E4C84A&index=25

Costes Global Media Strategies, Paris, France, November 2010

by Paulina Afshani

Frederique Obin, head of PR for Costes, was sure to make one thing clear in her November 2010 interview regarding the luxury hotel and restaurant empire: “We don’t advertise or communicate anything, at all. That’s our policy.” Not bad, to say the least, considering they currently own three hotels (Hotel Costes, Costes K, and Bourg Tibourg) and ten restaurants throughout Paris. However, though Costes does not explicitly advertise, its success seems to lie in its consistent presentation of the brand, highly established reputation, and some more indirect marketing strategies. These strategies include using celebrity designers, pricing based on location, pricing in general, maintaining close ties to media, appealing to the culture industry, and using their website, logo, music, and magazine. Essentially, the company makes use of these marketing tactics to consistently communicate its goal image, that is, that Costes is the ultimate level in French luxury and quality, and simultaneously convey the impression that they do not need to communicate anything at all, to achieve an exclusive, caché image. The image they accomplish helps them attract a large, international, luxury-seeking audience. Luckily, because the brand already has high positioning, anything labeled “Costes” tends to sell itself to tourists in search of luxury in Paris to an extent, though its popularity among locals is increasingly less evident. I seek to uncover exactly how Costes communicates its brand to the public, without use of any direct advertising, and the subsequent image it portrays on both a local and international level.

Hotel Costes CD, Volume 14

Oct/Nov 2010 Palace Costes

Jean Baudrillard: The Global and the Univeral by Krista Tietjen

In this reading Baudrillard begins by stating the key differences between globalization and universality. Globalization is the spread of technologies, markets, and goods across countires to reach a broader group of people. The universal refers to the shared values, human rights, freedoms, culture and democracy--essentially things that bring cultures together. He also states that while globalization seems to be an irreversible phenomenon, the universal seems to be disappearing. The universal is a sad fate for any culture according to Baudrillard. This is because any culture that universalizes itself loses its singularity and fades away. He then states that the globalization of trade puts an end to the universality of values, stating that unique thought trumps universal thought. He then equates globalization to pornography, which in the context of this reading is the free flow of all exchanges, products, signs and values.

Baudrillard then discusses how universal ideas also become globalized, and he gives the example of intangible ideas such as democracy and human rights being circulated like products.

He discusses a three-term arrangement, which includes the globalization of exchanges, the universality of values, and the singularity of forms. Once the universal disappears, all that is left is a global technostructure that stands against the singularities that used to be characteristic of the universal. He suggests that the universal has vanished, and in its place is globalization, which is the face of homogenization.

The goal of this reading is to say that the loss of the universal could be a good thing, however with its loss means the triumph of globalization. Baudrillard takes a critical view on globalization, stating that globalization will not necessarily triumph over all and that there are other "heterogeneous forces" that are different from globalization and that are equally if not more so "antagonistic and irreducible," (159).

Hallin & Mancini: The Forces and Limits of Homogenization by Krista Tietjen

This chapter focuses on the process of homogenization in European media systems. Hallin and Mancini begin by discussing the increasing success of the Liberal Model, which we have previously discussed this semester, in Europe. Party newspapers have declined in favor of commercial papers whose goal is to make a profit. Broadcasting has similarly shifted from informational forms that center around the political party system to the dramatized style that was pioneered in the United States. Politics have become more media centered as well, with television-centered campaigning directed at mass audiences.

The first term discussed in this chapter is differentiation, meaning simply that European media systems have become increasingly separated from political institutions. This does not mean that media loses all relationship with the political world, but instead that media operates on it’s own media logic that displaces the logic of party politics and bargaining.
Hallin and Mancini then introduce four processes that have affected European media systems and their relation to one another.

1.) Americanization, which means two things. First, it means that European media and communication processes have come to resemble American patterns in important ways. Second, it means that there is clear evidence of direct American influence where American forms of journalism are widely imitated. An example of this influence is the American owned French newspaper, Le Matin, which shows that the practice of interviewing was spread to Europe by American reporters.

Under Americanization, it is also important to point out that American models of journalistic education have played an important role in worldwide trends for formal training in journalism, creating a global journalistic culture.

2.) Modernization is connected to structural-functionalism, which argues that societies tend to evolve toward greater functional specialization among social institutions, and greater differentiation of those institutions from one another. Under modernization, professionalism is highly important.

3.) Secularization relates to the separation of citizens from attachments to religious and ideological beliefs. It also represents the decline of institutions based on these faiths that were once widely seen throughout Europe. Secularization means the decline of a political and social order based on these religious institutions, and its replacement by a more fragmented and individualized society. Individual leaders have also become more important to a political party’s appeal, replacing the importance of ideology and group loyalty.

4.) Commercialization is what Hallin & Mancini believe to be the most powerful force for homogenization of media systems. In relation to the print media, there was an increasing dominance of “omnibus” commercial newspapers instead of party press. In the realm of broadcasting, there was the transformation of European broadcasting from an almost purely public service system to a system in which commercial broadcasting is increasingly dominant. Finally, economic globalization combined with various broadcasting policies facilitated the transnationalization of media industries, where ownership is internationalized. Commericialization is also related to the process of political communication, as there is now a tendency to reach out to the common and ordinary citizen. Commercialization also clearly means that there is a drive to entertain in order to sell, which can be seen in the amount of political scandals that are being reported.

Finally, Hallin and Mancini discuss the importance of differentiation theory is relation to homogenization. This theory is relevant and consistent with secularization.

French Music & Fashion Media

Music & fashion media intersect with the subcultures that follow particular music. After the US, France produces the most hip hop and rap music in the world. The genre is associated with a street aesthetic celebrated by rappers like MC Solaar above. Below Dick Hebdige was a the first to recognize subbcultural style by studying the music and fashion scene in London.

Music media is a large category that includes musical instruments down to mp3s. Since 1976 France has been celebrating music every June summer solstice with the holiday "Fete de la Musique."

Below are examples of French radio and far right Radio Free Europe aimed at reaching less developed areas.

Eurovision is an annual song contest sponsored by the EBU. The global audience that follows the show equals the audience of Formula 1.

French music includes traditional forms, iconic figures like Serge Gainsbourg and more avant garde music like the electronic duo Daft Punk who perform in astronaut costumes.

Since the late 90's areas outside of France have seen the emergence of indie bands such as Air and Phoenix from Versailles, Curry & Coco from Lille and Pony Pony Run Run from Nantes.

The history of the fashion magazine goes back to the aristocratic court. While Vogue originally developed in the US, the Gazette du Bon Ton emerged in France as an early and significant luxury fashion magazine that used illustrations to create editorial like stories.

Today France has a variety of fashion media from classic magazines like L'Officiel to Fashion TV and bloggers like Garance Dore.

Below right Suzy Menkes has published over a million words on fashion, been knighted and received the Legion of Honor. Her career in printed fashion journalism is now usurped by bloggers who publish instant photos and ideas about fashion on their own.

Essential to fashion media are editorials such as the one below on paparazzi in Cannes by Patrick Demarchelier for Vogue Paris, November 2005.

Below an editorial from Vogue Paris about Sunday in the country speaks to the French lifestyle, by Mikael Jansson for November 2010.

Fashion ads can reinforce brands through consistency across seasons. Below the French brand Chloe has consistently used photographers Inez & Vinoodh.

In a recent Chloe ad the stylist accidentally placed a YSL belt on the model thus advertising a different brand within the picture.

In 2007 the UK fashion designer Alexander McQueen chose to reference Paris May 1968 in his ads, associating his lower priced brand with youth and rebellion.

The following spring he continued the teen spirit through ads featuring American cheerleaders.

Music and Fashion

By Andrew Leeds

“Subject: 12” As Medium” by Josephine Bosma

In this article by Josephine Bosma, the evolution of electronic music in Germany is examined and analyzed. She begins her article with the claim a large shift has taken place in electronic music in three main areas: the infrastructure (including the economic situation), the “role of the musical medium”, and the “culture ratio of author to composition” (400).

(http://en.sensemusic-shop.de/index.php?jump=order)

Bosma begins her analysis with looking at the changes that occurred in the infrastructure. She claims that although German newspapers had been writing about Techno music since its creation, many had simply regarded it as a fad. She claims that such music was hiding amongst information and mentions the term “Hiding in the Light” to describe this phenomenon (401). Although Techno was ignored by many for so long, it did not hider its development. In fact, it was a crucial part in its evolution, as it soon became a music “denied of any cultural or political relevance because it was only technology, not humanity that was expressing itself” (401).

The failure of others to commit to Techno and take it on as their own forced it to form its own base and infrastructure. While the evolution of record stores and the rising costs of resources to make a record seemed to hinder many musicians, Techno and the artists who created it seemed to benefit. Because the equipment needed to make Techno music was far cheaper than that of other musical genres, Techno artists began to profit while others struggled, and Techno music was finally recognized and given its independence.

The evolution of Techno music is still taking place today, and its numerous connections to other kinds of music and artists seems to benefit this evolution. However, “Techno still seems to be able to make its own way and uphold its own set of rules,” proving that it has finally become its own genre (401). Bosma claims that, although the 12” appeared to hinder the recognition of Techno before, it is now the secret to its success. The 12” has come to symbolize real music to many DJ’s, while the CD represents new technology, full of technical problems and reduced quality.

An example of a 12”

(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:12_Inch_Single_BBQ_Band.jpg)

In her conclusion, Bosma address a key factor in the success of Techno. In the past, music was viewed as self-expression, and the relationship between the author and the music was very important; however, Techno has helped shift the focal point to the music itself, which in turn has benefited the evolution of Techno as a musical genre.

“Mallarmé on Fashion” by P.N. Furbank and Alex Cain

Stéphane Mallarmé

(http://www.lescorriges.com/article-2847--mallarme__poesies__brise_marine.php)

Stéphane Mallarmé, a French poet and critic, was seen by many of his fellow writers as the ‘master’ of his day. In 1874, at the suggestion of a publisher named Charles Wendelen, the acclaimed poet emerged as the editor, designer, and author of a women’s fashion magazine called Le Derniére mode. However, in order to keep his anonymity, Mallarmé’s works were all written under a variety of pseudonyms, including “Marguerite de Ponty,” “Miss Satin,” and “Ix.” Under the name “Mme de Ponty,” Mallarmé promised “to supply dress patterns and [undertook] commissions at dress-shops and emporia on behalf of readers” (5). The magazine was beautifully designed, featured intellectual pieces as well as several attractive images, and appealed to an upper-class audience. Nevertheless, few chose to take the publication seriously, with “the editors of the old Pléiade edition [regarding] it as no more than a piece of hackwork” and Rémy de Gourmont writing “a rather flimsy essay about it… Nobody [seemed] really to have grasped the extreme interest and value of the work, until Jean-Pierre Lecercle,” who went on to establish that no magazine like Mallarmé’s had ever existed before (6).

(http://maisonsecrivains.canalblog.com/archives/mallarme_stephane_/index.html)

However, Mallarmé was not the only writer of his time to theorize about fashion, and many other intellectuals tried their hand at the subject. Baudelaire wrote essays criticizing modern artists of his day for “dressing up their subjects in medieval or Renaissance or oriental costumes on the pretext that modern costume [was] hopelessly ugly,” while the “proper aim of the artist [was] to extract the beauty of the modern” (8-9). Baudelaire ignored the fact that fashion consists, “not merely of dress-design but of gesture and facial expression and manners,” and in his most famous work, “Eulogy of Make-up,” he claims that “Nature is in fact an evil tyrant” and that, in order to fight Nature, women should employ the use of make-up. In contrast to Baudelaire, Mallarmé saw no difference between Nature and art. He claimed that “nature and the man-made are not to be distinguished” (9).

(http://livrenblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/la-mode-de-mallarm.html)

Although there were others who wrote on fashion, “what Mallarmé did was unique. He made himself, in all seriousness, a fashion designer, and at the same time a parody of a fashion journalist… this opened up to him possibilities not available to the mere critic or theorist, like… Baudelaire” (10). Mallarmé was able to explore fashion from the inside and use his publication to express his vision that extended far beyond clothes. However, Mallarmé did not escape criticism, with people such as Roger Dragonetti denying “Mallarmé could have ever been interested in fashion” (12). Dragonetti even went as far as to say that “La Derniére mode never actually existed in the full sense: it was a piece of private publication for the eyes of a group of friends” (12). However, evidence of the publication does exist, making Mallarmé the creator of the first fashion publication.

French Music & Fashion Media

“The Secret World of Serge Gainsbourg” by Lisa Robinson

Serge Gainsbourg was a “singer, songwriter, musician, painter,actor, director, smoker, alcoholic, romantic, ladies man, and a revered national figure.” His home on Rue de Verneuil has been left exactly as it was the day he died of a heart attack 16 years ago.This Vanity Fair article filled with a collection of fond memories belonging to those closest to him, his daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg and his lover of 13 years, Jane Birkin, as well as other’s whose lives Gainsbourg impacted.

Serge Gainsbourg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_d_mQ9WFT1es/STUryvWHjWI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/VQG5qSz1r6E/s1600-h/serge-gainsbourg-267.jpg

Charlotte gives a tour of the untouched house and explains how the items within its walls are symbols of her father’s fruitful life. The Gainsbourg house is “cluttered” with photographs of women who sang his songs, framed gold records, collections of everything from Cartier boxes to police badges, and two statues, one modeled after Jane Birkin and another, called Man with a Cabbage Head, which is the title of one of Gainsbourg’s most famous albums.

Gainsbourg & his famous Repettos Paris 1979

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_d_mQ9WFT1es/STUtYB2izaI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/-vMZCZ68wgQ/s1600-h/20070524_065941.jpg

The house, which was originally modeled after Salvador Dali’s home, now serves as a shine to the wonderful and decadent life Gainsbourg lead. A classically trained musician, Gainsbourg produced more that 550 songs, 30 albums, as well as numerous movie scores, TV commercials and short music films in his lifetime.

An Album Cover

http://seanmoore.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/serge_gainsbourg_histoire_de_melody_nelson.jpeg

According to his sister, Jacqueline Ginsburg, Serge Gainsbourg (birth name: Lucien Ginsburg) grew up in a family of modest means, but was “raised in a culture of beauty… Painting, music, [and] literature.” He survived Nazi-occupied Paris and at the age of 20 joined the army. He then went to art school for painting before deciding that he was not interested in living the “painters bohemian life.” After this declaration earned a living by playing piano in clubs and casinos, as his father had once done, before writing the song that won the 1965 Eurovision contest. At 40 his rise to fame was complete, with the release of “Je T’Aime.. Moi Non Plus.” The song, which he originally recorded with Bridgett Bardot (with whom he had a love affair), was later re-recorded 1969 with voice accompaniment of Jane Birkin. The song was so sexual that both the Vatican and the BBC banned it. The bans only created more publicity for the song and it soon became a worldwide sensation.

Jane Birkin describes her 13-year relationship with Serge Gainsbourg as “a grand, passionate amour.” According to her, he was a shy and discreet man with very keen tastes who enjoyed luxury. The couple lived on Rue de Verneuil (the house where Gainsbourg died) and had their daughter Charlotte together but never did marry.

Gainsbourg & Birkin

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitO_IRyXlY2DoQBzjMES66PANUqCfFg0qwyZNr1cQfZvtDqxBrEsfAFl0aV8_x4KGgvFTj-q5aZrmLAJO02mDBiHtqKzx9KyWa2o6ww4clWJvQwoaOW_ZcUijETq7HuWMbeePe2lOGVroQ/s1600-h/bnpnvach.jpg

Gainsbourg’s daughter describes him as an un-pretentious and generous man who showed genuine interest in getting to know everyone who surrounded him, be it taxi drivers or police men. Charlotte admits that her father suffered from alcoholism and smoked a great amount, but adamantly states that that he was not a drug addict. Famous French singer and songwriter, Francoise Hardy recalls that Gainsbourg was childlike and kind when sober, but when drunk, he could be disagreeable and inconsiderate. Still, she concedes, “He was the very best writer we had in France.” Actress Jeanne Moreau remembers that Gainsbourg was sophisticated, charming, loved by many and that created songs that “spoke to everybody... even if nobody understands the words."

Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunkle, current popular songwriters, state that just as the deaths of President Kennedy and John Lennon will always been remembered by the American collective, the French will always remember where they were when they found out that Serge Gainsbourg had died.

Today, the gates of Gainsbourg’s former home have been adorned with graffiti created by fans. Charlotte, who is now the owner of the home, hopes to turn the house into a museum, but is currently struggling to get past “bureaucratic red tape.”

5 Rue de Verneuil

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3140/2720719954_5f79c9d150.jpg

François Ravard, the producer of Gainsbourg’s last film, Stan the Flasher says, “Serge enjoyed every single second of stardom.” Following Gainsbourg’s death, Rue de Verneuil had to be closed down because massive amounts of people were in the streets, singing his songs. After Charlotte, Jane, and Bambou (his most recent girlfriend before his death) mourned beside Gainsbourg’s body for four days; it was finally decided to bury him in the cemetery Montparnasse. According to Ravard, his funeral was “sold out” and “he would have loved that.” In his eulogy, President Mitterand referred to Gainsbourg as “our Baudelaire.”

“Over to You”: Writing Readers in French Vogue by Agnès Rocamora

In this article, Agnès Rocamora analyzes the words contained in a popular fashion media, French Vogue. In Rocamora’s study, she focuses specifically on reader’s letters that were published in the magazine between March 1996 and December 2001. She chose to analyze previously published readers’ letters, not because she thought that they most accurately depict the magazines demographic, but because she desired to gain insight “into the way in which the readers voice is melded into that of the magazine and appropriated by the French title [French Vogue] to represent itself”.

Because letters are placed at the beginning of the magazine and are chosen by the publication to represent a certain reader, they are often indicative of the tone and voice of the magazine. Through letter selection, Vogue produces a “textualized” readership, or a following of readers who are “constructed” and “mediated” in the letter’s text and then brought to reality when the magazine is published. The readers’ letters page is overall used as a platform for Vogue to express both how it defines itself and how it would like to be perceived by the public.

A readers’ page performs many function in a consumer magazine:

Within French Vogue, the readers’ letters section is a sphere where the opinions of private people become public. Ideally, the voices in the readers letters, which are editorially chosen, would be an expression true of public opinion. Readers’ pages are supposed to play the role of a “democratic platform,” acting as a place where critical discussion and debate occurs. This intention is evident in the title French Vogue’s readers’ letter section, “La Parole est a Vous” (Over to You). However, in the magazine business it is not publicized that throughout the process of selecting and editing the readers’ letters, the fabrication of letters allegedly occurs. Today, the press is viewed no longer as “a mediator and intensifier of public discussion” but “the medium of a consumer culture.”

Rocamora acknowledges that problems can arise when making division between critical debate, public opinion, and consumption. She argues that these forms of communication are related to the distinction made between magazines and dailies, or between soft news and hard news. Women’s fashion magazines are generally considered low status, as are associated with frivolous entertainment, in contrast to the ‘serious’ hard news depicted in newspapers.

A letters page encourages readership reaction and participation with the magazine, while also asserting the magazine as place where not only discourse about material objects and appearances occur, but as a space where the public expresses opinion and critical debate take place. Vogue France expresses interest in readers’ opinions by not just publishing positive reader responses. The magazine also publishes criticisms in order to demonstrate a willingness and acceptance for free expression and critical debate.

The readers’ letters section does more good for the magazine’s image than harm, as mass amounts of non-condemning letters are published each month where readers express a loyal and intimate relationship with the magazine.

High fashion v.s. high art:

Traditionally, high cultural products are seen as theatre, painting and the opera while popular cultural forms of music and movies are considered low culture and are denied the status of art. Fashion, is claimed to be a “minor art” that occupies “an inferior rank in the hierarchy of artistic legitimacy”. Fashion magazines, are therefore, associated with low media status.

French Vogue endorses and aims to project fashion as high art. Through the inclusion of articles about high cultural topics such as the sciences, literature, or opera amidst aesthetically appealing editorial images and intriguing fashion writing, Vogue brings together the realms of high fashion and high culture. The blending of these realms is evident on the reader’s page, where letters on fashion are often placed adjacent to letters on high culture topics such as the ballet. This allows Vogue to position itself as a “serious” piece of media “devoted to high culture and the high art of fashion.”

"High Art" Editorial

http://www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9yFJnbSGad4/TLeLTdxfZ_I/AAAAAAAAHWI/

In readers’ letters it is evident that the magazine has raised fashion to the status of art. Readers’ letters also often reflect a male readership, which is present due to the magazine’s emphasis on high culture. The readers’ letters page also shows a correspondence of fashion, culture, and social class. It is evident, through the critical engagement with the material in the magazine, that Vogue readers are not only knowledgeable of high culture, but also have the monetary means to possess and experience it.

In France, the concept of high culture is greatly esteemed and is viewed as a source of prestige and as a symbol of wealth. This societal importance is reflected in the meaning of the word “culture” itself, a meaning that does not transcend translational boundaries into the English language. For the French, the word ‘culture’ embodies all Anglo-Saxton meanings while also referencing “the mind, wit, intelligence and the spirit.” Vogue often portrays this concept of culture.

A form of high culture that is especially valuable to the French is literature. Because of this, French Vogue highly values itself on being a magazine that is “well written” and has contributing, “reputed writers.” Rocamora compares the modern French magazine to the eighteenth century salons of the literary public sphere. Through this comparison, she historically connects the Parisian world of fashion to that of intellectuality. The intermingling of fashion and intellect can be summed up as “Frenchness,” a reoccurring theme in French Vogue.

Vogue's "Parisianism":

http://www.discountpresse.com/images/revues/M5590.jpg

Of geographical regions in France, Paris is the most coveted. Vogue means fashion, and fashion means Paris. Paris is the space in France where “high culture, high class, and the high social classes meet.” In readers’ letters, Paris is the most represented city of geographical location. “Vogue is not so much addressed to la francaise as it to the la parisienne.”

French Vogue is a serious and prestigious magazine that successfully makes efforts to associate high fashion with high culture. Overall, Rocamora attempts to show, through discussion of the readers’ page in French Vogue, how a countries fashion culture is reliant on its cultural values and norms.

Post by Brittan Badenhop

Rebecca Leffler, French Correspondent

Rebecca Leffler is the France Correspondent for The Hollywood Reporter. She covers all of the news in the film, TV and media sector in France for the USA-based publication. Rebecca graduated from Dartmouth College summa cum laude in 2004 and traveled to France that same year thanks to a post-graduate Reynold’s grant from Dartmouth to study contemporary French cinema.

Rebecca with Robert Redford for the Legion of Honor ceremony at the Elysée Palace in Paris.

Rebecca worked for Le Film Français magazine running their international publications for two years before starting at The Reporter. Rebecca is best known in France for her weekly segment on Canal+’s hit show “Le Grand Journal” where she reviews movies. She does freelance work in both print and TV and has had regular segments on France 24, Canal+ and UK channel Cinémoi, plus continues regular appearances on France’s terrestrial and cable networks.

Rebecca with Leonardo DiCaprio for the Inception premiere in Paris.

Rebecca with Johnny KNoxville for the Jackass 3D premiere in Paris

Rebecca writes a professional blog on Premiere.fr where she covers film and fashion-related events, movie premiere red carpets and interviews with talent and directors. She has started media consulting work in France, notably with IMAX. Rebecca also does translation and hosting work for major film premieres and press conferences with US talent in France. See more at her blog - http://lafleurdeparis.blogspot.com/

Rebecca reporting on Eva Herzigova

Watch Rebecca covering fashion at Cannes.

French & Euro Leisure Media

Above and below are ads for SouthWest France also know as Aquataine. The ads are in English targeting the widest possible tourism.

Sports & Tourism are often unified in place & destination promotions. Sports and travel also share a combined active/passive capacity and use of leisure time.

Below are the key media sporting events in France. Soccer throughout the year for the Euro and World Cup, the Tour de France in summer, Roland Garros in summer and skiing in winter.

French travel has a post-colonial affinity for Northern Africa. Morocco was an especially popular location for French and Europeans in the 1960's.

La Vallee (1972) is a film by Barbet Schroeder that explores the idea of French post-colonial travel.

Les Bronzes in 1978 & 79 offered a comedic take on French vacation culture.

Below the Club Med promotions created by Saatchi & Saatchi in 2002 referenced its sexy 1970's past.

C'est paris was a campaign aimed at Brits and Americans such as the one below.

Promoting a nation is not so simple, according to Wally Ollins and his "Nation Branding" media strategies.

The trend toward green culture has even influenced tourism promotion, seen in the ads for Ireland and Portugal below.

Transnational media is also relevant to tourism media. Below an ad by a German luggage company uses English for the widest audience and promotes Spain in the background.

The Eurostar is a transnational alliance that promoted by France & the UK in its ads.

Renault's recent campaign "Get There Faster," promotes European care travel by featuring landmark destinations.