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WHAT-TO-DO - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - JULY 2005
Who are you wearing?
Celebrity scents for the rest of us
When asked what she wore to bed, Marilyn Monroe once said "Chanel No 5," sparking a public obsession with the scents celebrities wear. Fragrance manufacturers have always used celebrities to sell their products but today's trend goes a step further. Stars now put their own names on scents, taking the guesswork out of what they wear. Elizabeth Taylor was one of the first, and many years after its launch, her Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds remains a bestseller.
"Celebrity marketing is one of the leading fashion industry trends for 2005 and beyond," writes Marshal Cohen, a chief industry analyst for the NPD group. "Today, consumers get most of their product direction from celebrities, musicians, athletes and entertainment artists. Whether by associating their names and images with particular products, standing behind products as owners or designers or simply promoting their own awareness of a brand, celebrities seem to welcome the opportunity to show they are multi-dimensional and more than 'just' a performer or athlete."
The Hollywood set
Many of the top selling fragrances today bear the names of entertainers. Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Celine Dion are just a few of the stars cashing in on the perfume market in a big way.
Jennifer Lopez's first fragrance, Glow by JLO, was launched in 2002. According to cosmeticsdesign.com, a US news website for the cosmetics industry, sales of Glow amounted to $18 million in its first month and Celine Dion Parfums sold $11.7 million in 2003, making it the ninth-best-selling women's fragrance of that year.
Nekoda Clarke, perfume sales associate at Solomon's Mines, says that celebrity fragrances are popular because people like to support their favourite artists. But, she says, it's not just the name that sells the fragrance. "People come in and ask for a fragrance because of the celebrity, but then they smell it and decide whether they like it. So it's really the scent that sells it in the end."
Clarke says that Miami Glow by JLO is the bestselling celebrity perfume at Solomon's Mines.
At John Bull, celebrity fragrances are big business, says perfume sales clerk, Darlene McKenzie. She lists Beyonce's True Star, Britney Spears' Curious and Jessica Simpson's new edible fragrances as bestsellers, with the new Miami Glow by JLO also making a big splash.
"It's the celebrity image that sells them," says McKenzie. "People know about them from the ads."
More and more stars are getting in the game. Recent and upcoming launches include scents from Sarah Jessica Parker, Shania Twain, Liv Tyler and Drew Barrymore.
While women are the biggest buyers of perfume, men are also targets for celebrity marketing. Paris Hilton's new signature collection, entitled Paris Hilton, began with a women's fragrance, but now includes one for men, Paris for Men.
Donald Trump is the inspiration behind Donald Trump: The Fragrance, which is described as a clean, peppery cologne for men.
The athletic image
It's not only the Hollywood set who are endorsing fragrances. Athletes, too, are getting in on the trend.
Hawaiian surfer Bethany Hamilton, who became famous after losing an arm in a shark attack, is releasing Stoked for girls and Wired for boys in bottles shaped like surfboards.
On her website, Hamilton says, "My first perfume line by Revelations, "Stoked" for girls and "Wired" for guys, was released on March 31, 2005! It smells really good, so you have to get your own bottle."
And tennis star Maria Sharapova is set to release a "light, flowery scent" in September 2005.
In March 2005, Coty Inc, developer of Glow and Celine Dion, announced the signing of a global licensing agreement with David and Victoria Beckham. The first fragrance line under David Beckham's name will be launched in fall 2005 in selected European markets before it reaches Asia, the UK and the US.
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