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Monday, September 1, 2014
Guerlain Unveils Shalimar Souffle de Parfum Commercial
Somehow I'm not entirely convinced: why keep producing fragrances that bear no resemblance to the classic Shalimar perfume and keep naming them Shalimar this or that? The lovely Shalimar Parfum Initial edition is a loss in market terms (and a loss to us perfume lovers of great juice), for this very reason.
On the other hand, I recognize the need to ride on the coat-tails of an established brand and to keep reviving this brand by introducing junior customers to it, even by name.
This is the case with CK One, L'Eau d'Issey (Miyake), Dior J'Adore (preparing another commercial for fall 2014 themselves), Davidoff Cool water and their million "flankers". This is the raison d'être of flankers, come to think of it. It just looks a tad weird from such a historic house as Guerlain, but it isn't really.
Shelf space being what it is, I guess Guerlain must keep the name alive. Here in the US, there are typically only a couple of Guerlain perfumes in most places, Shalimar and, these days, the black thing - plus any flanker of the moment. At least, they're keeping the original alive and in good shape. (unlike, say, Dior, which ended up substituting an original with a debased version of a flanker).
ReplyDeleteAs for the ad, is that still long-time Shalimar face Natalia Vodianova? Now girlfriend of a member of the property (Arnault's son).
cacio
M,
ReplyDeleteI think this is the case with many countries.
Luckily we get more than that but none of the "old classics" (older than Samsara that is) on the department store counter except for Shalimar indeed. (The airport boutiques though do carry more and there is a huge dep.store that stocks even the boutique exclusives, so everything is relative; when there's a will...)
I think Guerlain do a more or less good job in keeping a certain standard. The work of the last few years is good, brilliant in places (yup, the just discontinued Parfum Initial, also some others such as Insolence, some of the boutique frags, the historical re-issues, the retexturing of some of the oldies) and there was definitely no reason to bash poor Wasser (prevalent in the early days under LT's influence).
I hope they keep up the good work, cut some slack with the crazy prices here & there, tone down the glitz (not everyone is a Russian plutocrat with vulgar tastes) and just focus on the brand!
The commercial is merely a cut-paste-rehash. What else is new? :-D
So NV is now girlfriend of BA's son? Urgh.
I happen to like Shalimar Parfum Initial, just sayin :o)
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