From the rising influence of social media and cult of celebrity, the perfume and fragrances market in Latin America is extending its reach into digital realms, through key branded content partnerships, authentic influencer tie-ups and multi-touchpoint experiences.
A recent Global Fragrances and Perfumes Market 2019 report by Market Reports World valued the global market at $52.7bn in 2018 and predicts that it will be worth $72.3bn by 2024, with a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period (2019-2024). In Latin America, this growth follows a similar trend thanks to new product innovation, R&D and collaboration amongst key industry players.
For the perfume and fragrances market, the influence of social media and celebrity endorsement have been key pillars for advertisers in engaging with consumers authentically. At the same time, there has been a significant increase in investment into digital platforms by creating multi-touchpoint consumer experiences.
These were some of the key trends to emerge from perfume entries to feature on the Festival of Media LatAm Awards 2019 shortlist. The entries point to a much stronger understanding from marketers of their specific target audience and the importance of creating communications that are localised, diversity-rich and authentic.
Central to the campaigns were branded content partnerships with key broadcast players in the region to create mini docu-series’ that tell real stories. Not only that but leveraging their content production and distribution assets across multiple channels to amplify the message and experience for consumers across social media and YouTube.
Influencer tie-ups played a central role in campaigns to boost authenticity, which has become of increasing importance to young LatAm luxury consumers. Daring, disruptive and ground-breaking content was created to reinforce the brand values.
Creating localised content assets that were specific and relevant to the LatAm market was important to complement and inspire consumers to engage with the content and boost the effectiveness of campaigns, with custom made microsites inspiring a deeper level of consumer engagement with these unique stories.
In some cases, the communications activity spanned TV, digital, social media and even in-store events to ensure a multi-touchpoint experience and Virtual Reality (VR) was experimented with to maximise audience and influencer participation.
The sweet aroma of success for fragrance advertisers in the LatAm region is to ensure that content is authentic and locally relevant. By tapping into key influencers and ensuring that the content experience is accessible across multiple touchpoints, both online and offline, brands have an opportunity to create real, honest engagements with consumers.
We put the spotlight on two Festival of Media LatAm Awards 2019 shortlisted entries, which highlight this trend:
The Suit Challenge | BOSS Bottled Infinite (Coty Inc. and HUGO BOSS AG.) | Zenith | FOX Network | LatAm (mainly Mexico and Argentina)
Shortlisted for: Best Influencer Campaign, Best Use of Content, Best Communications Strategy
Summary:
Hugo Boss’s launch success would require disrupting its target’s expected associations of the category, but without losing the core equities of elegance associated with the Hugo Boss brand. It would also have to tackle the evolving definition of masculinity in Latin America, especially among the middle and upper-middle classes. These Latin American men are becoming less tied to traditional gender roles. They have more complex, multi-faceted roles that place fewer constraints on the definition of success – beyond material possessions. The Hugo Boss brand would need to reflect new definitions of Latino male success, inclusive of career, family, friends and self-fulfillment.
Hugo Boss had a new metric: proof that localised content is more relevant. Zenith’s strategy was to support Hugo Boss’s Boss Infinite fragrance launch within the context of the brand assets of Suit Challenge & Man of Today – global assets with room for localised interpretation – and create a multi-touchpoint consumer experience that meets the unique consumer challenges of the LATAM market. The agency designed a brand experience that prioritises the most effective touchpoints in the category: screens, point-of-sale and social media influencers.
It began by identifying three Latin American influencers who embodied #themanoftoday and who were on board to tell their stories of style, sport, and lifestyle. Fox Network was chosen as the right partner for this campaign and it passionately took on the branded content brief and followed the influencers on a trip where they discovered the key components to a perfect balance between a man’s work/family/friends/ lifestyle and his vital needs. Influencers maximised their participation by also hosting the #SuitChallenge content on Fox, amplifying the #SuitChallenge on their social media platforms, and appearing at store events where local fans could meet them and enjoy more #SuitChallenge virtual reality content while they completed their Father’s Day purchases.
Le Carnaval de Jean Paul Gaultier | Jean Paul Gaultier (Puig) (Antonio Puig S.A.) | Starcom | NBC/Universal | LatAm
Shortlisted for: Best Branded Content, Best Influencer Campaign
Summary:
Latin America is one of the most important markets for Puig and its association with the Jean Paul Gaultier brand. Going into 2019, and prior to peak sales season for the fragrance category, Puig had an opportunity to reinforce JPG’s equities with young Latin-American luxury consumers who were increasingly holding brands to the highest levels of authenticity. To JPG fans, the brand has always been authentically daring and ground-breaking. It represents the love for diversity and the celebration of being different. JPG has a history of disruptive fashion moments such as body-fitted corsets worn by Madonna.
JPG himself presented Puig with a spectacular opportunity in March: a JPG collaboration with Portella School of Samba – the first ever fashion and Carnaval collaboration. Starcom’s strategy was to create a pan-regional solution to reinforce JPG’s brand values through a disruptive influencer campaign anchored on the platform of Carnaval. It would take JPGs fashion collaboration in Rio to luxury consumers in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru and the rest of Brazil. Achieve multi-market relevance and scale by collaborating with an entertainment entity that has the attention of its consumer – fans of celebrities and fashion – and can leverage its content production and distribution assets to amplify the influencers’ JPG experiences beyond their own social media pages.
Through a partnership with NBC/Universal, the agency created a 12-episode docu-reality miniseries capturing JPG’s friends who were pre-identified influencers with strong personal passion for the brand. These stories were shared with consumers via NBC/Universal’s pan-regional channels – taking over each commercial break. It extended the campaign into their preferred digital platforms including YouTube and social media. All content was hubbed at a custom JPGLoveCarnaval.com microsite, created for deeper consumer engagements with each influencer’s story.
