Four of the top five women’s fragrances have remained entrenched for half a decade despite constant efforts to unseat them. Last year alone, fragrance makers launched more than 100 new brands and label extensions, backed by hefty marketing budgets. An estimated $800 million is spent on fragrance marketing each year, according to the firm, from television commercials to billboards to in-store samples and magazine ads.
The problem is that much of that marketing is wasted.
— Read more at Perfume Makers Spend $800 Million on Ads That Apparently Stink at Bloomberg.
Well, as John Wanamaker is said to have said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
I always assumed that the surest way to sell a fragrance was to give out a sample of it, which 1) makes the consumer feel beholden, in however small a way, and 2) lets the customer try it and fall in love with it. But that might not be true any more. It’s really hard to get commercial samples in the stores (I assume they’re being hoarded and sold on eBay by sales reps?) and if all customers want is more of the same, which sounds about right, then samples are a waste of time and money.
Ha, excellent quote!
I am a bit puzzled by the top 5 list. I do think No. 5 especially, I always suspect that a huge percentage of bottles are sold as gifts, and then never worn. I simply do not smell it on the street in anything like the amount you’d expect from the sales. Same with the others really — almost everything I smell in public now smells like La Vie Est Belle.
Exactly, in the article they talk about to giving out samples as a major marketing strategy for perfumes, but I wonder if all that money is being wasted, as the customer rarely sees them anymore. I used to ask for samples in stores all the time, and the response was always “We don’t have any”. The exceptions were always Nordstrom and Sephora. Also, I remember a time when the sales reps gave me quite a few samples whenever I purchased a perfume, but I am lucky if I get ONE sample these days.
That’s actually making me want to try or re-try the top 5 to see what others smell in them. And I have to admit the Mademoiselle commercial with “She’s Not There” tempted me to buy, but I managed to resist the temptation.
Interesting! Offhand I don’t think the commercials make me want to try or buy anything, but maybe that’s because I watch so many of them.
.”In stores, the majority of shoppers don’t even notice, or aren’t influenced by, in-house advertising.”
Because there’s waaaay to much of it.