Sweet smell of success: scents that sell

Estée Lauder’s Pleasures has all of these successful ingredients and as such has remained in a solid position on the charts for the last 10 years. But even if it has been a good performer in the past, a brand needs to stay current and on the radar in order to continue to succeed in the fast-paced perfume market. To celebrate Pleasures’ 10th anniversary, Estée Lauder relaunched the perfume with Gwyneth Paltrow as its ‘face’ and a new limited-edition bottle, designed by famed fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo. 

While Estée Lauder had to spend a considerable amount to lure Gwyneth, the company felt her polished, upper-crust image was perfect for the brand. “She is aspirational and stylish while being grounded, family orientated and approachable,” says Aerin Lauder, senior vice president of Estée Lauder’s global creative directions division. The campaign was shot by one of the world’s top fashion photographers, Mario Testino, and the resulting beautiful pictures beamed from magazine pages and television sets across the globe.  Tina Cooke, brand manager at Estée Lauder, says the company “noticed an immediate spike in sales as soon as the advertising and in store collateral was seen.”

Put the advertising together with the new Ruben Toledo packaging and you have created a new buzz around a familiar brand. And consumers are clearly responding - the Pleasures franchise rose by 34 per cent over the Christmas period alone.

Niche marketing
However launching a successful scent isn’t just about big budgets. Cosmax is a medium-sized brand developer with a handful of clients. The company prides itself on its close relationship with its brands, retailers and ultimately, with its customers. Cosmax cuts though the blur of big campaigns with small but memorable ideas. For example, Narciso Rodrigues for Her launched with advertisements in targeted magazines, but Cosmax also used an innovative sales tool – rather than handing out scent cards, scented ribbons were tied on the wrists of shoppers. This meant the fragrance remained with the shopper until she took it off.

Another clever in-store idea from Cosmax was to have male models parading around in kilts at key Myer and David Jones stores, for the launch of Gaultier 2. And on another attention-seeking mission, the company sent out a squad of scooter ads for Burberry Brit. The areas chosen were densely populated with the core demographic, 25 to 35 year olds, who looked up from their lattes to take in the show of heavy scooter traffic.

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