According to Guerlain, Vanille Planifolia has now been the No. 1 best-selling product on its website for five months straight. The fragrance sold out on Guerlain’s e-commerce site and generated over 1,500 back-in-stock signups. In the past year, sales of the scent have tripled, notable for a nearly $700 perfume.
— Read more in A viral $660 perfume and the dupe conversation inspired Guerlain’s first paid influencer campaign at Glossy.
Great insight into social media’s mechanisms and the brand’s rationale.
What fascinates me is the discrepancy of the awareness, that one is actively being influenced by a paid actor and the success this strategy has nonetheless.
I don’t really see this as any weirder than any sort of celebrity influencing…why did anyone think Elizabeth Taylor’s name on a perfume meant it would be good? Why was Johnny Depp able to “sell” Sauvage? This to me is just another kind of celebrity.
Hm, good point. Why is marketing successful anyway? Still, I think there is a shift: From lending faces, who let their glow shine on some product to elevate it to people who actually talk about something and pretend to know. That plus the weird combination of private and reach/influence.