PERFUME CAMPAIGN INITIAL IDEAS

The first thing I did when trying to work out how to start work on my perfume campaign was to create a brainstorm of ideas that I had, including themes, colours and bottle shape. I put in lots of very different themes to give myself a chance to compare and choose the one I liked the best. I knew already who I wanted my target market to be: teenage-young adult females. I chose this target market as I felt I could relate to them best.

My first brainstorm

 

While I was brainstorming, I came up with an idea I liked. This was the 'adventurous' theme you can see in the picture. I liked this idea as I felt it was different - not quite the like the other, more common ideas like 'girly and very feminine' or 'classy and sophisticated'. I also felt that the sophisticated, timeless theme fitted with an older target audience than the one I was aiming for.

I also thought I could have fun with the theme - there are lots of different ways it could be done for an advertisement - it is quite open and adaptable. The general idea behind the theme is that the perfume sells confidence - it inspires the wearer to be bold and outgoing, as well as suiting a person who already possess those qualities.

I decided to take this theme further and brainstorm more ideas as to how this would work. I looked at the themes of 'confidence' and 'adventurous spirit' in more detail here:

I decided to look at other perfumes similar to my idea, to see what other people had done and how well it had sold.

1.  

This is 'Boss Nuit pour femme' by Hugo Boss. It has a lot of the same qualities as my idea - it promotes confidence and a bold personality. The difference is the target market - this fragrance is certainly supposed to appeal to a more mature audience, and shows itself as a sophisticated, classic fragrance. The classical nature is reinforced by the fact that the model (Gwyneth Paltrow) is wearing a little black dress, a classic piece of dress that is considered timeless.The city in the background makes the ad more modern, with sky scrapers and modern constructions. I found a quote about the messages and values of the ad, saying: "To me, the Boss woman is driven, ambitious and goes after what she wants, but she balances being strong and very feminine at the same time"

I like these values and a lot of it fits with my own ideas and themes. Reviews described it as 'elegant' and 'fresh', although some people did not find it strong or unique enough, especially for a night fragrance. I would aim to make my perfume scent very distinctive and original, if I went with a theme like this


2.  
This is Adventurous by Estee Lauder. It is like my theme because it is specifically targeted at people seeking adventure - who are outgoing. In fact, it was sold as a 'travel exclusive' - you could only buy it at travel retailers, like when you're going on holiday at the airport. This limits the target audience and amont of people who can buy it to those going abroad or travelling somewhere, however it does give it a unique edge and certainly means that the perfume really does reach its intended demographic. I like the interesting, very different way of marketing this perfume and it could be something I'd consider to make my fragrance more original. 

Another thing I like about this perfume is that the target audience is similar to mine - it is for young women who are travelling, and therefore hopefully adventuruous and out going. The advert is also quite subtle - the only clue to the fact that it is for women who are travelling and going on an adventure as it were, is the tropical flower in her hair and her exotic gold hooped earrings and tanned olive skin. This clearly gets the messages and values of the product across but in a subtle way, which I like a lot, and would take into account when designing my own fragrance.

In conclusion, evaluating these two perfumes has given me a better idea of what other similar products are out there and shows me the positives and negaties of each, so I can learn from their mistakes and not make the same ones, but also I can use their good points as well.