Monday, June 27, 2016

Has the Cash Cow Run Out?

" [...] since peaking around 2011, the business has "seen its heyday and now is not very much in vogue with the consumer or with the trade," according to Bart Becht, chairman/CEO of Coty, the company that churns out fragrances for Lopez, BeyoncĂ© and Katy Perry (who released Mad Love on June 21, a follow-up to 2015’s Mad Potion). Though year-over-year sales for individual fragrances are not released to the public, Coty’s net fragrance sales declined by 9 percent on a reported basis in the most recent holiday quarter, driven by slowing sales of its celeb scents. At Elizabeth Arden, the dip amounted to 9.6 percent."


This is but a small excerpt from a longer article appearing in The Hollywood Reporter about the (apparent) waning of celebrity fragrances' appeal in the market. Since I have been erroneous once before concerning a similar discussion on their impending ebb, I will withhold judgment till I actually see this with my very own eyes.

 Still I found two comments from professionals in the industry to be most relative to the discussion: '"When the market is saturated, people’s attention span is limited," says Marian Bendeth, founder of fragrance consultancy Sixth Sense. "If that name is regurgitated in the media, it sets up demand. If they take a break, God help you." It also doesn’t help if the star lacks a style following. "The biggest driving force in what makes a consumer purchase a celebrity item is whether the star is a fashion influencer," says Marc Beckman, CEO of advertising and representation agency DMA United.'

11 comments:

  1. Yes, they are waning, thankfully most of it was dreck not all, but most of it, but that could be said of most releases these days that make it to a mass market beauty counter.

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  2. ...but has the industry as a whole gone into a downturn? One, of course, hopes that the niche frags, with their mad new product tempo, will have picked up some of the slack. Coty almost seems to have become dependent on the Celebrity market but are all the houses losing ground? Any thoughts?

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  3. Our research has shown that consumers are interested in creating their own custom fragrance, not purchasing "celebrity" perfumes, hence the popularity of Tijon Fragrance Lab in La Jolla, California and St. Martin as well as other niche custom perfume houses. Everyone can now be a "celebrity", as bespoke fragrances are no longer for only the famous and wealthy! It's an affordable experience, something that we pride ourselves on, catering to perfume lovers around the world.

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  4. Anonymous11:21

    as steady-eddy walmart and mcdonalds plummet, perfume limps behind. I cherish what I have.

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  5. Thankfully, the celebrity perfume creating has stopped. Quite a bit of it either didn't smell good to me and most of them smelled the same to my nose.

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  6. Ha! What and Who is a "celebrity ??? Everyone and their cat can be a "Celebrity" these days and finally people are growing a brain (and a "nose" ) .

    *sales are down here too for perfume ..... I heard Relvon bought Elizabeth Arden - Ooooo ---- I imagine those two graves are spinning out of control Helg! LOL

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    Replies
    1. Great argument. Definition is important!
      Funny in a rather creepy way about the take over of companies... :/

      Delete
  7. Miss Heliotrope02:25

    Also, there are too many celebrities - there used to be just a few & even your parents could identify most of them, now there are so many, and their share of the market is correspondingly smaller.

    Could there also be an aspect of the anti-scent movement? More people being into the so-called wellness lifestyle are also ignorantly silly about perfume & "chemicals." & dont start me on the paeleo rubbish -

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    Replies
    1. <>

      I just about died laughing at that. I must have reached that stage's beyond. Most are unknown to me, especially US-centric ones. I mean, geez, what have you done to be famous? Of course most are famous for being famous (a certain family, for sure).

      Your arguments about wellness (directing people away from perfume in general) and paleo lifestyle are well received. There's a point there. It's been a while, but worth mentioning again, by hearing the word "chemicals" in a negative light I know I'm talking with someone who didn't do well with chemistry at high school. ;)

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    2. <> was the line about the parents, it got chewed off.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous22:47

    I'm just curious, but on the above comment, are the people who are so busily searching for things without perfume aware of the perfume that is used to make things smell unscented? I think it might be called "molecule 1" or I might be thinking of something else (I am no expert), but that strikes me as kind of funny. After half an hour of reading labels, they end up with something full of chemicals and don't know it, including the dreaded H20.

    Isabella of the North

    ReplyDelete

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