Tuesday, January 26, 2010

What the Dormouse Said

Lame

The theme is “one mighty drop” but the image is an atomizer. (You know, like Grandma used.)
One drop changes everything. Rediscover the transformative power of perfume. In one drop, feel six feet taller, 60 watts brighter, 600 times sexier. Eau, just imagine.
Add that to the Peter Maxish psychedelic color scheme and we’re tripping balls.

Who is this aimed at? “Rediscover perfume” implies the target audience is women who used to wear scent. Do these ladies really need “Do’s and Don’ts” advice for simpletons? Do “Try before you buy” but Don’t “Try more than three scents at one time . . .

Sheesh. 

Rochelle Bloom believes this “will make the consumer look at fragrance in a new way and engage with new enthusiasm.” Rilly? What say you?

13 comments:

Olfacta said...

I like the slugline "One drop changes everything." Too bad they have to get so hamfisted with the rest of it.

I guess they must think we're all stoopid> or somethin'.

BitterGrace said...

I can't quite get past the hideous "Create Your Own" bottle designs. You could fill one of those things with a perfect vintage Caron, and I'm still not sure I'd buy it. Ugh.

The campaign is about as insulting as most ads directed at women. It's funny, though, that they've mostly abandoned the sex angle in favor of women's magazine-style "tips." I suspect that's the influence of perfume blogs, fora, etc. Consumer savvy trumps romance these days.

Avery Gilbert said...

Olfacta:

Agree. "One drop changes everything" could work as a campaign theme; it leaves lots of room for imagery and specific calls to action. However the follow-on text is literal-minded and clunky. Hard to see it generating “new enthusiasm.”

Avery Gilbert said...

BitterGrace:

"Consumer savvy trumps romance." Yes—at least when it comes to selection and purchase. Feeling beautiful, sexy and romantic is fine when you’re wearing, not so helpful when you’re shopping.

If the industry took the lesson of the fragrance blogosphere to heart it would offer consumers substantial online content—maybe an version of the Certified Fragrance Sales Specialist training (one of the few useful things they do when not giving each other FiFi Awards.)

HaraldHVogt said...

I didn't get it when it first was announced. But it's certainly just me... as Rochelle would agree.
I guess desperate times require desperate measures. That's what I would call it. Wondering if the 70's imagery will bring back the 70's business.

Avery Gilbert said...

Harald:

Heh. Guess you just answered my question: Why go all That '70s Show?.

They could have played up the grand tradition with an historical montage of movie actresses and their perfume bottles.

Or they could have harnessed the power of the blogosphere: an online contest to illustrate "One drop changes everyting" with real women.

Just sayin'.

+ Q Perfume Blog said...

One drop changes everything....yeap, it does. If we are talking about poison...it sure does!

Avery Gilbert said...

+ Q Perfume Blog:

Hmmm . . . and here I was thinking blotter acid.

Dior has done Poison to death, but your idea still has legs: how about Belladonna by Lucrezia Borgia?

Unknown said...

Avery,

I was interested in your mention of the CFSS program. I did a quick Google and it just looked like another, "pay us money and you can call yourself an expert." Do you have any information on the content of their program or how much change it makes in Sales Associates? There's a fairly funny thread of SA experiences on BaseNotes
http://www.basenotes.net/threads/241191-One-thing-not-to-do-if-you-re-SA-or-owner-of-a-perfume-store?p=1733100

queen_cupcake said...

Lame, YES! Reminds me of My Weekly Reader. Okay, I'm old...-ish. Who are these people? And why do I look...?

Avery Gilbert said...

Ed C:

It's been years since I looked at the CFSS curriculum. I remember it as a lot of basic book-knowledge about perfume; can't recall if it involved actual smelling or not.

Point is, if it's worth anything, why not share it with the consumer?

Avery Gilbert said...

queen_cupcake:

"Reminds me of My Weekly Reader."

Indeed. A lot of newspaper and magazine "service" articles on perfume are pitched at the MWR level. If you've read one, you've read 'em all.

And don't worry--I also remember My Weekly Reader. But then I got my first TV exposure on Romper Room on Channel 7 in Buffalo.

Miss Mary was hot . . .

queen_cupcake said...

WKBW-TV! Yes, I watched Romper Room. That's funny--I might have even seen your television debut (although I don't remember, sorry). I grew up near Buffalo; Hamburg, actually.