Of the 205 new fragrances launched last year, 23 of them belonged to celebrities. And Fortune magazine reports that highprofile scents attributed to the overall economy of the industry in the billions.
Britney Spears and Paris Hilton have their names on a number of perfumes on the market. bearing their names. They may not have to step foot into another studio again, thanks to a few million people and a bottle of perfume for that. These pop divas are only two of a few dozen celebrities who have ventured from music, the big screen or sports into the world of colgones, parfums and eau de tolilettes.
“It’s another way of branding their celebrity personas,” says Mary Ellen Lapsanky, executive director of the Fragrance Foundation. “It is an extension of their lifestyle that all of their fans can buy in to.”
In addition to scents by Celine Dion, Hilary Duff and Sarah Jessica Parker, male celebrities aren’t too far behind. There’s “Unforgivable,” by Sean “Diddy” Combs, “KISS for him,” “Carlos Santana for him,” and Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter’s “Driven” cologne, among others.
An interesting fact emerged in a market research conducted by the Fragrance Foundation conducted — even if consumers may be drawn to the counter by a celebrity scent/endorsement, they have to like the fragrance enough to purchase it.
Though others came before, Elizabeth Taylor remains one of the only silver screen icons who continues to successfully brand a signature fragrance. “White Diamonds” hit the fragrance scene in 1991 and continues to be a firm favorite.
The other? You guessed it, the newly single, ever-in-the-news Britney Spears.
Following the success of “Curious”, launched two years ago, Spears launched the much sweeter “Fantasy” perfume, which lists fruits, sweet cupcake accord, flowers, creamy musk, orris root, and sensual woods as the blended notes. Her newest scent, “Midnight Fantasy,” launched this year is a more rich elixir with darker fruits like black cherry, raspberry and plum.
“Due to the intense media coverage, people almost feel that they “know” major celebrities,” says Karen Marin, a fragrance merchant for Sephora. “The fan wants to get closer to the celebrity and identifies with what he/she wears, uses, endorses. Being able to own and wear a celebrity-created fragrance brings the fan that much closer to her or him.”
Not many come close to the mystique that Jennifer Lopez built around her multi-million dollar empire which includes music, television, a clothing line and a collection of fragrances.
Almost four years ago, she introduced “Glow by J.Lo” which tallied $80 million in sales followed by, “Still”, “Live by Jennifer Lopez,” and “Live Luxe” released in 2006. Her latest fragrance, “Glow After Dark” is also said to doing very well.
“When you admire someone you are more apt to be interested in what they like,” Marin says. “It’s a way for the client to bond with the celebrity and feel a bit of the glamour of the celebrity mystique.”
“Celebrities are very smart; they know what to do,” she quipped. “People want what has a celebrity’s name on it.”
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