Words for What the Nose Knows
Perfumes aren’t sold by scent alone. Like beautiful packaging, beautiful words can make a little SD alcohol 39-C, fragrance, demineralized water, benzophenone-2 and yellow dye stir the soul--or at least call your name.
A tag or positioning line in the ads conveys “the feeling of the fragrance” sans smell, explains Adrienne Fontanella, vice president of marketing and advertising at Sanofi Beaute. And to every feeling, a demographic.
Here, the score card on the fresh ones:
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Fragrance: Vivid/Liz Claiborne.
In the Stores: Department stores, Sept. 1.
Smell: Floral.
Who It’s for: A woman who “knows her mind and speaks her heart. Nothing can rival her commitment to family and friends.”
Ad Image: Hunk painting woman’s toenails a la Bull Durham.
Positioning Line: “A celebration of femininity, accomplishment and life.”
Bottom Line: 1.7-ounce eau de toilette, $37.50.
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Fragrance: Tribu/Benetton.
In the Stores: Bullock’s this month. Benetton stores, September.
Smell: Fruity floral with amber and sandalwood.
Who It’s for: A “multicultural” woman of a certain spirit, not a specific age.
Ad Image: Real people, real rituals, real PC.
Positioning Line: “A celebration of cultural roots.”
Bottom Line: 1.7-ounce eau de toilette spray, $36.
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Fragrance: Realm Women/Erox Corp.
In the Stores: Not. Samples available through (800) 755-7271. Infomercial begins airing end of September.
Smell: Floral Oriental.
Who It’s for: Women in need of “an enhanced sense of ease, an openness to others and to their own sensuality.”
Ad Image: None.
Positioning Line: “An invitation to transcend the senses as you know them.” Bottom Line: Not determined.
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Fragrance: Elysium/Clarins.
In the Stores: Department stores, October.
Smell: Fruity floral.
Who It’s for: A woman who wants to be “enveloped in pleasure.”
Ad Image: A single-page product shot.
Positioning Line: “A celebration of the gifts of nature at their purest.”
Bottom Line: 1.7-ounce eau de toilette spray, $45.
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Fragrance: Nicole Miller/Riviera Concepts.
In the Stores: Neiman Marcus, mid-September. Other department stores and Nicole Miller boutiques, October.
Smell: Fruity floral.
Who It’s for: “I’m hoping that the men who buy my ties will buy the perfume for their women,” Miller told Women’s Wear Daily.
Ad Image: Just the bottle, which looks like a jewelry bag.
Positioning Line: “A classic scent with a modern twist.”
Bottom Line: 1.7-ounce eau de parfum spray, $38.
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Fragrance: 360 Perry Ellis/Sanofi Beaute.
In the Stores: Aug. 20.
Smell: Fresh florals and musk.
Who It’s for: A woman who “sees life with a fresh eye.”
Ad Image: Model walking on the beach, playing football, holding a baby.
Positioning Line: “Life is how you change it.”
Bottom Line: 1.7-ounce eau de toilette spray, $37.
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Fragrance: La Prairie.
In the Stores: Department stores, beginning this month.
Smell: Fruity floral.
Who It’s for: The La Prairie skin-care customer.
Ad Image: Bottle with a nighttime background.
Positioning Line: “The fragrance for 1 woman in 1 thousand.”
Bottom Line: 1.7-ounce eau de parfum spray, $95.
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Fragrance: Realm Women/Erox Corp.
In the Stores: Not. Samples available through (800) 755-7271. Infomerical begins airing end of September.
Smell: Floral Oriental.
Who It’s for: Women in need of “an enhanced sense of ease, an openness to others and to their own sensuality.”.
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