DIOR’S NEW TACK: HOT PRODUCTS, SPECIAL EVENTS
Byline: Alev Aktar
NEW YORK — Christian Dior Perfumes has planned a fall season short on gift-with-purchase promotions and long on trendy products and special events.
This strategy was put in place by Robert Brady, who was named president and chief executive officer of the company in October 1997.
To restore the brand’s cachet in the key U.S. market, Brady has set in motion a number of initiatives, including trimming the gwp program, cracking down on gray market distribution and shrinking the distribution.
“We are in the entertainment business,” noted Brady. “We will use in-store sampling and special events to grab attention. If you put the product in the hands of the consumer, they will come back and buy.”
These activities and the introduction this fall of a new sheer foundation, a long-lasting lip gloss and Capture Essentiel for the eye area should increase the business “dramatically,” according to Brady.
“We are projecting high single-digit or double-digit increases,” he noted. While he declined to talk numbers, sources say that could mean total Dior skin care and makeup sales of as much as $110 million at retail.
The most fashion-forward introduction this fall will be Diorific Plastic Shine Intense Color Long-Lasting Lip Gloss. Applied with a sponge-tip applicator, the gloss gives an ultra-shiny “vinyl” effect and can be worn alone or over lipstick. Like Diorific lipstick, the formula is color-true and long-lasting.
“It’s not a traditional gloss because the color isn’t transparent,” said Caroline Geerlings, senior vice president of marketing. “It has the intensity, color and richness of a lipstick and the super shine of a gloss.”
The SPF 8 formula is available in 12 shades and is priced at $20. It will be on counters in November.
Although Geerlings declined to comment on a sales projection, industry sources say that Plastic Shine could generate close to $4 million at wholesale in the first 12 months.
Another new product is Teint Diorlight Sheer Luminous Foundation, a sheer but long-lasting oil-free base with SPF 10.
It is formulated with specially treated pigments, soft-focus pigments and herb de rosee, a patented retexturing plant extract. It will be introduced in September in nine shades priced at $38.50 apiece.
“It gives a flawless look but has a barely-there feeling,” said Geerlings, who noted that Dior was missing a sheer foundation in its lineup. “It’s makeup without a made-up look.”
Sources say that the new foundation could generate $5 million at wholesale in the first twelve months.
Dior is also extending its Capture range with Capture Essentiel Time-Fighting Serum For Eyes.
The lotion is said to smooth and firm skin in the eye area, impart a radiant glow, and diminish puffiness and under-eye circles. It contains pure micro-proteins that are delivered to skin by targeted liposomes, a plant-based lightening agent to even out the eye area, and soft-focus, light-reflecting micro-spheres to smooth the appearance of fine lines.
It will kick off in October and will be priced at $45 for a 0.5-oz. pump bottle. The eye cream could reportedly generate $5 million at wholesale in the first year.
Dior is also introducing Nourishing Body Creme, priced at $34 for a 5.2-oz. tube, and Nourishing Cream For Hands SPF 8, which will retail for $24 for a 2.5-oz. container. Both will be on counters in October.
Plastic Shine, Diorlight Foundation and Capture Essentiel Yeux will be promoted via print ads and in-store sampling. In the case of Diorlight, beauty advisers will make up dram vials of the shade appropriate to the shopper; 500,000 vials will be distributed in the fall, according to Geerlings.
As for special events, Dior’s big happening this fall is called Day-Into-Night. During the three-day event, a team of beauty advisers will teach shoppers how to transform their day makeup into a glamorous nighttime look by intensifying shades and adding highlights. They will also make suggestions about skin care.
Capture Essentiel Yeux will be sampled during the Day-Into-Night promotion.