Case Study: Niche Marketing for Celebrity Fragrance

Client: 5 person boutique, PR firm in NY & LA with annual company revenues of $200,000

Field: Luxury goods

Sector: Celebrity fragrance line that positions the multinational corporate client as a leader in the luxury fragrance category internationally.

Challenge: Given the glut of celebrity fragrances and failures, how to launch a new line?

Outcome: Highest grossing celebrity fragrance line in history, setting revenue sales, PR and marketing precedents. Positioned both the corporate client company, Unilever, and the celebrity client, Elizabeth Taylor, as category leaders that still exist today. This led to 3 more launches of Taylor’s luxury products, reviving the celebrity’s image and enabling the corporate client to sell its division to the top 3 luxury fragrance multinationals in the world, Elizabeth Arden.

 Key Success Factors:

1. Engaging and challenging US and international media leaders (beauty and business editors, publishers, reporters) through personal events with the celebrity namesake.
2. Using an “Phil Donahue/Oprah” Q&A approach that personally connected consumers and the celebrity at retail store launch events to excite and connect consumers with the lifestyle and positive image with Miss Taylor. 
3. Target all age groups and backgrounds in order to create  aspiration to the fragrance’s and celebrity’s lifestyle and image of passion, celebrity and glamour. 
4. Connecting the namesake celebrity, personally and directly, to the passion of the product, consumer and the retail sales teams, we “touched” and connected everyone in a circle of success: the consumer to the celebrity; the celebrity to the public and product; the product to the company’s sales teams representing the new luxury category brand. Win, win, win for all!

Bottom line: As a tiny boutique PR company competing against the world’s largest advertising and PR conglomerates for the contract, we took a niche position: we launched this new luxury product line more innovatively, cost effectively and boldly than our potential competitors.

Differentiators: We added the personal touch to every level of marketing, sales and management. How?

1. We were in touch daily with our client, our partners and our consumers;
2. The celebrity literally touched every executive, front line sales person and media rep; representative through a range of intimate, VIP gala or rock concert style events.
3. We created new face-to-face thematic events, personal communications and highly focused media relations that set historical precedents in the celebrity and luxury fragrance categories.
4. Everyone felt connected with a stake in an aspirational lifestyle image and product.