Coty Beauty anticipates
strong sales of Lady Gaga Fame after the global pop star pulled off a
show-stopping global fragrance launch that caused a media frenzy, in New York. Charlotte Smith reports.
On a mild September night, launch party guests - including
Lindsay Lohan, Marc Jacobs, Paris Hilton and Yoko Ono - paraded the black
carpet bathed in the light from a hundred flashbulbs, outside the Guggenheim
museum, whilst Lady Gaga readied herself behind the scenes for a truly
unforgettable show.
But it seemed that all the anticipation and excitement
leading up the event may have worn the poor girl out, as she spent a large
portion of the evening stretched out on a plush sofa, in a larger-than-life
replica of the Lady Gaga Fame fragrance flacon, supposedly ‘asleep’.
Gaga’s performance art piece appropriately titled ‘Sleeping
with Gaga’, took place after an introduction by close friend and ad campaign
director, Steven Klein. Klein spoke of his close partnership with Gaga before
playing a short film they made together especially for the fragrance launch.
During her ‘nap’, attendees - in masquerade attire as
stipulated by the strict dress code - were given the chance to actually make
contact with the motionless star, hold her hand and even stroke her hair
through a circular flap in the flacon’s casing.
Later on, the singer finally stirred and began to prepare
herself – sitting in front of a mirror, opening a bottle of champagne, swigging
from a bottle of Patrón, and taking a tablet of some description – for her exit
from ‘the egg’ and a short tour of the balcony above the main floor.
After about 15 minutes, she returned to the art
installation to have the back of her neck tattooed whilst half-dressed. In case
the audience could not see directly inside the flacon, Gaga was considerate
enough to stream every moment live on to a giant projector screen hung from the
wall. It was an unusual way to spend an evening…
For those who aren’t glued to the celebrity gossip
columns or music television, Lady Gaga Fame is the singer’s debut fragrance
launched through Haus Laboratories – Gaga’s own perfume label in Paris - in
collaboration with Coty Beauty.
But this is no ordinary celebrity fragrance launch for
the global fragrance powerhouse that is Coty.
“Early on, Lady Gaga asked us to create a ‘black
opaque fragrance, which becomes clear when sprayed’,” says Steve Mormoris, SVP of
Global Marketing, Coty Beauty.
“We didn’t think it was possible, since it had never
been done before, but Coty’s R&D team became obsessed with the idea.
“Most fine perfumes are clear. It made sense that this
artist, who challenges our perception of beauty, would have a perfume on the
opposite end of the spectrum. After months and months of research our R&D
team finally found the formula to create a black juice.”
[Left: Paris Hilton]
The patent pending fluid technology exclusive to
Gaga’s black-to-clear fragrance is a first for the industry.
But it’s not just the colour, which Coty deems
‘unique’. As previously reported the juice has a rare olfactory structure. “Traditionally,
perfumes have a pyramidal structure - a hierarchy of sorts with top, middle and
base notes,” says Coty Beauty.
“This fragrance, on the other hand, has a unique
structure called the ‘push-pull technology’, where the ingredients interact
together to highlight different olfactive aspects of each note at the same
time, without any hierarchy.”
The scent is built around three main accords: dark,
sensual and light. The dark accord was inspired by Belladonna, the deadly
nightshade possessed by haunted beauties since the 18th century.
“From this darkness, the fragrance evolves to a
sensual accord of opulence, a fusion of dripping honey, saffron and apricot
nectar,” says Coty Beauty. “The light accord whispers magnificence.”
The romantic liturgy continues: “The rich floral layer
of crushed Tiger Orchid & Jasmine Sambac embodies timeless beauty. The
accords work together to create a fragrance of floral and fruity elements, with
the star ingredient inspired by Belladonna leveling out the whole fragrance and
giving Lady Gaga Fame its signature as a scent."
But the process of creating Fame, was not the least
bit straightforward. Gaga had her own set of ideas for the scent that were
rather unpalatable to her business partner, Coty. In what could be judged as a ploy
to harness the media spotlight, it was revealed that Lady Gaga wanted her new
fragrance to smell like the combination of blood and semen.
But, Haus Laboratories and Coty Beauty thankfully
managed to steer the star in a more sensible direction. Coty later clarified
that the scent would not smell like blood or semen, but that elements in the
fragrance shared a similar molecular structure.
“So when the project started a year ago, as you all
heard she wanted it to smell like sperm and blood…it was something very out
there and when we started working on this project it was quite difficult,” said
Fame perfumer, Honorine Blanc.
But then the trio of perfumers, Richard Herpin, Nathalie
Lorson and Honorine Blanc (who were responsible for the final result), stumbled
upon a new idea. “We wanted to capture the odour of this berry called Belladonna,
which is a very poisonous berry that also was used for beauty in small
quantities. We realised that it really captured the essence of Lady Gaga and
she loved the idea.”
Once the juice was perfected, an official press
release was sent out to the travel retail press and stated that Gaga’s first
fragrance, is the “latest breakthrough expression of her creativity”.
The multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning artist
Lady Gaga is famous for her desire to engender creativity in her impressive
band of followers, which she endearingly refers to as her ‘little monsters’.
Since the singer exploded on to the music scene in
2008 she continues to shock and amaze both her fans and critics; the rebellious
fashion muse with a quasi-religious philosophy reminds us of another legendary
pop queen famous for her anti-establishment views; Gaga’s arch rival [and secret
role model – Ed], Madonna.
The two powerhouses have both launched fragrances with
Coty this year; The Business asked Markus Stauss, how the two ladies felt, belonging
to the ‘same team.’
“They have completely different concepts; one likes
black, one likes white [Madonna chose a white bottle for her Truth or Dare
fragrance launched with Coty earlier this year – Ed], and they have completely
different consumers.”
Justine Kennedy WDFG Category Buyer for Fragrance also
attended the launch in New York and gave The Business a prediction on the new
scent’s success in travel retail. “I think Lady Gaga Fame is going to receive a
lot of attention in travel retail…[however] there is always an air of caution
concerning celebrity fragrances because our strategy is around premiumistation
and we pride ourselves on our premium brands, showcasing them as much as we can
so the celebrity section is small, in comparison.”
Although Gaga has a loyal global fanbase – over 53
million fans on Facebook - the controversial figure has her own fair share of
critics. It is no surprise, then, that Kennedy believes that taking the
fragrance on is "a bit of a gamble"; and one that she believes will
pay off after witnessing just a small fraction of the hype surrounding the
fragrance in New York.
She welcomes the attention that the fragrance will
undoubtedly receive in travel retail, if not only for passengers' sheer curiosity.
Markus Stauss Managing Director for Travel Retail and
Export Worldwide feels that the black colour of the juice will intrigue
travellers and encourage shoppers to spray the perfume if only to witness the
"magic" of the new technology.
[Left: Yoko Uno]
“By releasing a patented black-to-clear
fragrance people are already wanting to spray it, to see how it works. That’s
brilliant because it puts the fragrance in their hands straight away.”
Kennedy expects that the initial surge in sales, will
drop off in the following months, “as is the case with most celebrity
fragrances.
“It’s a very fast moving sector and you have to be
right on the pulse,” says Kennedy. “If you’re going to launch a celebrity
fragrance you do it right on the day, right when the media’s hitting and
there’s a hype about it.”
Stauss assures The Business that the Fame fragrance is
going to be "pretty much" in every travel retail location where Coty
is already present.
“It’s already doing well in Japan where people are queuing
up to buy the fragrance,” he says. “We always knew the fragrance would attract
a lot of attention from Asia and we’re very excited to have Lady Gaga in our
portfolio.”
Coty pre-launched Lady Gaga Fame in all worldwide
prestige doors and e-commerce in August. “Distribution expansion to Tier 2 will
begin in February/March 2013 in most global markets,” says Renato Semerari,
President, Coty Beauty.
“The US will cascade in July 2013. In addition to the
US distribution, it will be in about 2,000 department and specialty store
doors, including Macy's - Lady Gaga Fame will be available in Canada and Latin
America.”
Global distribution will include Europe, the Middle East,
the Far East and Australia. Lady Gaga Fame will be supported by the visual
campaign created by Steven Klein.
The print and TV creative will appear in magazines and
displays in-store all over the world this Fall. Lady Gaga will make numerous
in-store personal appearances during the global roll-out of Fame; including Macy's
New York and Sephora Paris in September.
It was ten years ago when Coty took steps to reinvent
the celebrity fragrance business. With 17 fragrances generating over $1 billion
US dollars, Coty continues to top the charts with new celebrity fragrance lines
such as Lady Gaga and Madonna.
[Right: Lady Gaga Fame fragrance flacon]
“Lady Gaga joins a legendary cast of talent for whom
Coty has created scents, including Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez and Halle Berry, all
of whom have flourished under the company's extraordinary entrepreneurial commitment
to culture, branding and execution,” says Bernd Beetz, Chief Executive Office,
Coty Inc.
“Lady Gaga is one of the most influential celebrities
and powerful musicians today,” says Semerari for Coty Beauty. “Known for her
larger than life persona, Lady Gaga's fragrance will be a seamless extension of
her combined talent for music, video, fashion and art.”
I think Semerari is spot on, when he says, “Lady
Gaga's is a subject of fascination. A force like no other.”
In what can only be described as exalting praise
Semerari explains why Coty Beauty was so eager to ink the deal with the singer:
“Lady Gaga is explosive, provocative and sexy, three traits, which pave the way
for an extraordinary fragrance experience for our consumers. On top of being an
accomplished and true artist, she is the voice of her generation.”
Pricelist
The RRP for Lady Gaga Fame in 30 ml is $42; $55 for
the 50 ml. Ancillary products include: 100 ml Ultimate Masterpiece: $79; Black
Shower Gel 200ml: (on counter in the US November 2012) $25; Black Body Lotion
200 ml: $TK (on counter in the US November 2012) $30; Black Soap 142 g: $TK (on
counter in US August Limited distribution) $15; Roller ball 10 ml: $19
Yesterday I was invited to Paris to meet Tom Pecheux Creative Makeup Director for Estée Lauder, to discuss his unique relationship with the beauty company and witness the unveiling of four new Color collections including his first full range of nail lacquers.
The select group was then shown the motion editorial for the Pure Color nail collection, which features Tom and French-born EL spokesmodel, Constance Jablonski, galavanting around Paris on a cold December night. The conceptual piece offered the audience an explanation for the nail colour assortment.
One of the new exciting products in the Violet Underground collection is what Pecheux endearingly refers to as ‘my Sharpie’. Pecheux believes that this is one of the many new products that will appeal to consumers that don’t usually shop with Estée Lauder.
