The 5th Sense in the News: The New Perfume Consumers & The Celebrity Trend: Simon Cowell, David Yurman, Jean-Claude Ellena (no, he just makes them), and Kiss

There is an article by Rob Walker in the New York Times of October 22 2006 on the new consumerist trends in the perfume markets, including, of course, the celebrity perfume trend.

The Smell Test 

Simon Cowell thinks it's a good trend and says he is considering giving it a go "There's this cologne I really like and it's not very well known, so I'm thinking of partnering up with them and giving it my name," he said. And what will Cowell's scent reek of? "It's very citrus-y, it smells of limes," the 47-year-old said of the fruity fragrance" in Inside Entertainement...

The jeweller David Yurman also recently signed a contract with Clarins to create a fragrance extension of his brand.

Jean Claude Ellena has few good things to say about the celebrity fragrance trend. Especiallly so since he recently had to pitch in to create one, a non-marketed scent called George V. He offers his insight on what might motivate people and, in particular women, to buy celebrity perfumes in the mass-market "The marketer [...] sells an image - the actress Nicole Kidman for Chanel No. 5, for example. While the consumer knows she will never look like Kidman, she buys the perfume to pretend for a while. "And as it's just a little deception, she is ready to move on to the next one, from Kidman to Jennifer Lopez to X," he said. "But she is not satisfied, so she goes from product to product without any one product lasting." What an astute remark, of course, since "it's just a little deception" everything will be forgiven and the chase will go on.

In The Precise Smell of Success, an article by Caroline Brothers for The International Herald Tribune of October 20 2006. 

But what ever happened to Kiss and their first fragrance launch? Kiss rocker Gene Simmons went on the road, this time to sell his wares and made a stop at an army base in North Carolina to offer some Christmas shopping ideas to the military. He even managed to coin a memorable sentence while peddling his goods, "If people decide that a Kiss fragrance line makes sense," Simmons said, "who's to argue with America?" Well said.