Sales of ‘celebrity scents’ are on
the rise worldwide as more and more
ordinary mortals wish to smell like
Paris Hilton, Sarah Jessica Parker,
Usher, and even romance novelist
Danielle Steel.
A report released by Euromonitor
International, a market research firm
based in Chicago, the United States,
says the worldwide sales of the top
seven celebrity scent lines totaled
$353.6 million in 2006.
The best-selling Sean John
Unforgivable – the signature scent of
Sean Combs, also known as Diddy –
fetched $74.9 million in sales for
parent company Estée Lauder. Diddy is
far more popular than more established
brands like Liz Claiborne’s Curve for
Men (which earned $31.3 million in
sales).
Diana Espino, general manager of Sean
John Fragrances, a division of Estée
Lauder, is of the opinion that Combs
is the driving force behind the line
that also includes Unforgivable Woman.
Combs, Diana Espino added, came up
with an initial concept, tested
different scents and eventually began
starring in print and online
advertisements.
Other celebrities – for instance,
Sarah Jessica Parker – made
appearances at retail outlets and
signed each bottle sold there within a
few hours of Lovely’s release.
The scents of Sean Combs and Sarah
Jessica Parker are on store shelves as
a result of licensing deals: Sean
Combs has signed up with Estée Lauder,
and Sarah Jessica Parker with Coty.
In most such deals, the licenser
produces the fragrance, then slaps the
star’s name on the bottle. The star
receives a cut of the sales.
For stars like Jennifer Lopez, who has
a fifth scent, Deseo, set for release
through Coty in February 2008, these
deals fetch a fortune, according to
the report by Euromonitor
International.
In 2006, the net worth of Jennifer
Lopez was about $110 million,
according to Forbes’ list of the 20
richest women in entertainment. Sales
of Jennifer Lopez’ fragrances,
including Glow and Live Luxe, totaled
$77 million in 2006.
Analysts say that, since consumers
already identify with celebrities,
there is little need for marketing
efforts when distributors slap a
recognisable name on a perfume bottle.
Henrik Vejlaard, sociologist and
author of Anatomy of a Trend, explains
this trend: “In the 1950s and 1960s,
when fashion designers like Christian
Dior and Givenchy became popular, it
was easier to market their perfumes,
because there wasn’t so much
competition. It takes a lot of money
to make a designer perfume well-known
these days. Perfumers benefit
financially from names that are very
famous already.”
Even when a celebrity goes through bad
times, his/her celebrity scent does
not seem to suffer. A good case in
point is pop star Britney Spears, who
has been having a very rough time,
both personally professionally, for a
couple of years now. However, her
scent is still in demand worldwide.
Amid her divorce with Kevin Federline,
the child-custody battle and a stint
in rehab, sales of Britney Spears’
Curious and Fantasy totalled $84
million in sales.
Elizabeth Arden, the parent company,
launched her third product, Believe,
in August 2007.
The idea of celebrity scents is not
new. Givenchy created a perfume for
Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn in
the 1950s. In the 1980s, Elizabeth
Taylor introduced Passion, which
remains one of the top-selling
fragrances to this day, according to
Rochelle Bloom, president of the
Fragrance Foundation, a trade
association.
But, celebrity fragrances soared in
popularity after 2002, when Jennifer
Lopez’s Glow grossed $40 million in
sales during the first four months of
its launch.
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