forevermore79
08.10.04, 09:57
Artykul WWD o rynkowym sukcesie wszelkich ostatnich premier, szczegolnie tych
z agresywna kampania reklamowa, z udzialem wielkich gwiazd.
"The first wave of this season’s new celebrity fragrances and multimillion-
dollar star-powered ad campaigns are hitting the market now, as are several
long-awaited designer offerings. And if early indications are any barometer,
the news is hopeful, say top North American beauty retailers.
As a whole, the fragrance category in U.S. department stores rose 1 percent
in dollar sales for the first half of the year, reaching a total volume of
$1.05 billion, according to NPD Beauty, a division of The NPD Group, a market
information company. That’s compared with a 4 percent slide in the first half
of 2003.
But while things may be improving in single-unit sales, sets aren’t
necessarily the blockbusters they once were. In the first half of 2004, sales
volume of purchase-with-purchase sets decreased 3 percent to $25 million, the
firm added.
Still, many retailers are optimistic — despite hurricanes, earthquakes and
even pending volcanic eruptions. Thia Breen, executive vice president of
cosmetics for the Federated Merchandising Division, is bullish on the current
market trends, noting that they bode well for the fourth quarter of this
year. Although the hurricanes in Florida — all of which took place over
weekends, Breen wryly observed — didn’t help Florida business, sales were
strong elsewhere in the U.S.
“With all of the launch activity, we’ve seen an increase in business and in
the velocity of the business,” Breen said. “Britney [Curious Britney Spears,
the singer’s first scent] is just unbelievable — the business has been
outstanding. Certainly her name has a tremendous pull, but it is on an
adorable bottle with a great juice. It’s drawing consumers on a lot of
levels. True Star [Beyoncé Knowles’ effort with Tommy Hilfiger Toiletries]
has been a good fragrance for us; there is still a lot of marketing to come
on that, too.”
Eternity Moment — the new Unilever Calvin Klein scent for which Scarlett
Johansson is the face — is currently in Macy’s West and expanding elsewhere
in the Federated chain, and is showing strong sales where it is, said Breen.
While the new Chanel/Nicole Kidman and Dior/Charlize Theron visuals are not
yet throughout the Federated chain, Breen said she’s looking forward to
further rollouts in her stores for both. “Nicole Kidman’s visuals and TV ads
are unbelievable — she’s the perfect person to be the face of this classic
scent. And the Charlize Theron campaign for Dior is stunning,” she said,
adding that it will be “a great addition” to the Dior brand’s marketing.
Breen is especially looking forward to launching the Donald Trump fragrance
in mid-November. Federated has an exclusive on the fragrance through early
next year “He’s hot, the scent is great, the bottle looks like a Trump
building and the Mario Testino ad of Donald and his fiancée is gorgeous,”
said Breen. “We think it will do outstanding business, and are glad to be the
first to have it.”
Other standouts in the men’s arena include Kenneth Cole Reaction; John
Varvatos, which Federated has in limited distribution; Davidoff Cool Water
Deep, and Beyond Paradise for Men from Estée Lauder. Hummer, the Riviera
men’s entry, is rolling out now, with early reports noting that it is doing
very well. On the women’s side, Lauren Style and Liz Claiborne Realities are
both showing “outstanding” sales, and Breen is seeing good early results from
Be Delicious from Donna Karan Cosmetics, which is rolling out now in the
Federated chain.
For spring, Breen is looking forward to rolling out Armani Black Code —
“Acqua di Gio has been so good for us that we’re always happy to have a new
Armani scent,” she said — as well as women’s entries from Prada, Michael
Kors, Jennifer Lopez and Max Mara.
“So many factors have influenced our cosmetics business over the past five or
six weeks,” said Howard Kreitzman, vice president and divisional merchandise
manager for beauty at Bloomingdale’s. “The shift of Labor Day on the calendar
to a later date was not friendly to our business. Also, business has been
disrupted significantly in Florida, due to the hurricanes; we’ve been open
and not open quite a bit.
“Burberry Brit for Men has met and exceeded our expectations, and we have
been very pleased with the performance of Marc Jacobs Blush. John Varvatos
for Men is doing very well, as is Mugler’s B Men,” he added. Bloomingdale’s
is readying a launch of the new Prada fragrance, which Kreitzman noted that
the retailer has “very high hopes” for, and he is also bullish on Be
Delicious, the new women’s scent from Donna Karan Cosmetics.
While star power is one of the fall’s most talked-about strategies,
Bloomingdale’s took a stand more than a year ago not to get heavily into
celebrity fragrances, said Kreitzman. “While we’ve seen some very interesting
initiatives in that arena this year,” he said, “we haven’t gone down that
road at all. We’re sticking more to the upscale, more limited-edition
scents.”
Kreitzman is especially enthusiastic about Chanel’s beauty business,
especially given the retailer’s recently installed Chanel boutique. “The
business has been very good,” he said, adding that Bloomingdale’s was the
first retailer to unveil an image at counter of Nicole Kidman. As reported,
Chanel has also produced a video on the making of the Kidman-Baz Luhrmann
commercial, which is being played at counter.
Kreitzman calls the pairing “gigantic,” adding, “my biggest issue with it is,
how will they top it?”
“Nicole gives a brand like No.5 a credibility with a younger consumer,” said
Kreitzman, adding that “every single thing is right with this campaign.”
Speaking of celebrity ad campaigns, Kreitzman calls Dior’s pairing with
Charlize Theron “one piece of a very exciting strategy that Dior is embarking
on.”
“In Asia and overseas, Chanel and Dior are often the two top brands,” said
Kreitzman. “While Dior’s accessory and apparel businesses are strong in the
U.S., their cosmetics business is relatively small. That being said, our
business with Dior’s cosmetics is great, but they’ve got a plan in place that
I think will make it a much bigger player in the U.S.”
“This fall, we have launched YSL Cinema and Prada,” said Kate Oldham, vice
president and divisional merchandise manager for fragrances and cosmetic
accessories at Saks Fifth Avenue. “These are powerful names. Based on the
initial response, we have great expectations. The relaunch of Panther from
Cartier has also been terrific, and we expect it to be a great Christmas
item.”
Oldham added that Saks is launching Burberry Brit Red on an exclusive basis
at the end of October. “It is a wonderful new fragrance,” she noted, “and we
anticipate it will be a great success.”
Oldham recounted the “continued strength” of the retailer’s “lifestyle
fragrances,” including Bond No. 9, Creed, Penhaligon’s and Jo Malone. “These
brands offer fragrances for all aspects of our customers’ lives,” Oldham
noted. “That business is very dynamic and exciting.”
In men’s, “our
