What does the data say?
While the celebrity perfume market is still huge, the market growth has slowed down since the 2008 global financial crisis. According to NPD (National Purchase Diary) data released in the UK, celebrity fragrance sales dropped by 22% in 2016, yet the fragrance market as a whole had shown a slight growth. Within the UK, designer branded fragrances such as Dior, Chanel and Prada grew by 6%, showing that consumers were still buying fragrances, but buying less of celebrity perfumes. The number of new celebrity perfumes launched has also declined in recent years.
Celebrity marketing has been on a decline since 2004. According to data from AdWeek, nearly 20% of all advertising featured a celebrity in 2004. However, 8 years later, this had dropped to 9%. Their analysis revealed that consumers have a growing interest in authentic advertising. As marketer Craig Bierley said, “I’m not sure anyone really believed that Tiger Woods drove a Buick” following the golfer’s sponsorship deal with General Motors, featuring the carmaker’s SUV brand.
This demand for authentic advertising has given rise to a new trend in marketing, called ‘influencer marketing’ – whereby relatively unknown individuals who actually use the products they market, become more powerful influencers of consumer purchase decisions due to a stronger / deeper bond with their audiences.
Conclusion
It is clear that we are living in exponential times, where fashion trends can rise very quickly, and fall very quickly too. Because of this, it is more profitable and sustainable for a brand to be established on an unchanging foundation. Celebrity fragrances were a hit from the late 20th to the early 21st century, but designer perfumes, crafted by experienced perfumers, have not experienced the boom and bust that celebrity perfumes have undergone. Al Haramain, for example, is a perfumery that has been on the market since 1970, with humble beginnings, and yet now commanding a significant share of the market for oriental perfumes, and venturing into occidental perfumes, spreading its tentacles into new markets all over the world, being built on a reputation that is solid, and that will not change with the rise and fall of celebrities.
