With the Holiday season upon us, celebrity fragrances are expected to fly off the shelves thanks to their low price point and star attraction.
Market researcher NPD suggests that this is driving fragrance sales, particularly in the UK where perfumes by male and female stars are outperforming significantly more expensive prestige brands.
Digital information firm L2 ThinkTank adds that it may also be the handling of the online world which is also seeing a boost in the celebrity fragrance game.
Star power
Its latest beauty report suggests that although the majority of licensee’s maintain fragrance-dedicated social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, increasingly brands are leveraging the celebrities to amplify messaging.
In fact, figures show that half of licensee sites are linking to the celebrities’ social pages rather than their own.
“On average the celebrity’s Facebook page is almost 260 times larger than the licensee-controlled, fragrance-dedicated page,” says L2.
On Facebook, the majority of both licensees and celebrities continue to post at least 30 days after the fragrance launch, but average just 0.6 posts per month. Celebrities are also utilizing Twitter less.
Interactivity
Looking at some of the popular celebrities and their fragrances, it seems the interactive nature of social media is what is appealing to fans.
Through interactive quizzes, the Beyoncé Parfums and Taylor Swift Facebook Pages aid consumers in selecting a scent. On her page, Taylor Swift promoted her fragrance using an interactive video.
Signing into the #HiFromTaylor microsite with Facebook generated a short movie of a fan’s Facebook pictures and the singer’s commentary, with the option of sharing this on Facebook or Twitter, or purchasing the fragrance online.
Within three weeks of launching, the video was viewed more than 150,000 times and an associated Facebook post received 183,000 likes.
Other star lines, such as the Perfumes by Rihanna and Katy Perry Fragrances also allow followers to request a sample of the latest perfumes on their respective Facebook pages.
From their personal Facebook pages Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber, and Rihanna host fragrance-specific contests.