Non-traditional promotion sparks unique venture

Drug Store News, August 18, 2003

NEW YORK -- Aladdin Fragrances, the North American licensee of Pierre Cardin Fragrances, is attempting to tie two worlds together with one print advertisement: a fashion magazine that caters to prestige retailers and luxury brands and a chain drug retailer that serves the masses.

The ad, which features a $5-off promotion on any Pierre Cardin Fragrance purchased at Walgreens, will appear in a special 60-page onsert poly-bagged with the September issue of Vogue magazine. Walgreens will support the ad and temporary-price reduction, which runs Aug. 29 through Sept. 25, at the store level with shelf talkers and in-store signage.

The onsert, containing products for men, features British soccer star David Beckham and his wife on the cover and was designed as a shopping guide for women. It will go to Vogue's subscription base of 776,002 readers, or just over 60 percent of the magazine's total circulation of 1.2 million.

Pierre Cardin's ad campaign with Vogue also includes 30-second commercial spots on jumbo LED screens in five cities during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which runs Sept. 12 to 19.

"We're offering a nationwide incentive for the mass category," said Robert Crames, president and chief executive officer of Northern Group, Aladdin Fragrances' parent company.

Whether persuaded by tough economic times, the need to pick up a prescription or frustration over the lack of service at many department stores, upper-middle class consumers are finding their way into drug stores with increased frequency.

"Department store shoppers are looking for bargains. If that prestige consumer is going into the drug store class of trade, why not advertise directly to them?" said industry consultant David Homer of Homer Enterprises, who works with Aladdin Fragrances on the Pierre Cardin brand.

He added that as promotional as department stores have become in recent years, offering deep discounts on luxury brands to generate lost foot traffic, the channel still refuses to discount items in the cosmetics and fragrances category. Despite their tight control over the category, department stores continue to watch prestige fragrance brands spill into the mass channel.

In addition to its own portfolio of fragrance brands, which include Realm and Santa Fe, 60 percent of the Northern Group's business is distributing other vendors' prestige fragrances to the mass channel, said Crames. He added the company is actively looking to buy licenses and trademarks to increase its portfolio of owned brands.

The goal for this $110 million business is for its own brands to account for 60 percent to 70 percent of the business. That way, it can focus on developing more initiatives, such as the Vogue ad, to get its brands in front of consumers.

With fashion designers introducting retro looks, "The time is right to support this brand," said Crames. "You can't get more retro than Pierre Cardin."