ZIRH ENTERS MEN’S FRAGRANCE
Byline: Matthew W. Evans
NEW YORK — Zirh is coming into its own as a well-rounded men’s prestige player, thanks to its first foray into the fragrance arena. Zirh, as the new scent is called, comes just three months after a sun care collection was added to Zirh’s existing skin care, shave and hair care businesses. The eponymous fragrance will launch in the brand’s full-distribution network of 450 department- and specialty-store doors next month.
Brian Robinson, executive vice president of Zirh, credits much of the brand’s proliferation to a financial infusion by Shiseido last year. That was when, as reported, the Tokyo-based cosmetics giant acquired a 58 percent stake in the company. “Our association with Shiseido has increased our credibility with retailers,” said Robinson. “A lot of buyers are more comfortable with the brand.”
When Robinson came aboard in 1998, three years after the line was originally launched, Zirh’s multimillion dollar national advertising budget was retrenched and a focus was put on building the brand store by store — “micromanaging it,” said Robinson. The strategy also called for increasing the number of stockkeeping units. It proved to be a winning formula, as sales have increased fivefold since then.
Compared to selling fragrances to consumers, which involves “just spraying and going,” Robinson contends, selling treatment products is more difficult because men need explanations for things such as alpha-hydroxy acids. “A lot of men,” he said, “make decisions at the store level.” As a result, Zirh’s biggest cost today is its team of demonstrators.
Still, a multifaceted push that’s behind the new fragrance represents an advertising and promotional campaign not seen by the brand since its infancy, an initiative that industry sources estimate could reach the $2 million mark. This includes national print advertising in men’s magazines such as Details, FHM and Interview as well as 7.5 million scented retailer catalog blow-ins, both of which will appear in September. Also, a New York-based phone kiosk program and distribution of 1.5 million vial-on-card samples will begin next month. In-store support includes counter visuals and tester units.
Zirh, which was developed by Givaudan’s Delphine Lebeau, will come in two bottle sizes, a 4.2-oz. for $57.50 and a 2.5-oz. for $42.50. “We wanted a signature scent that’s wearable, saleable and nonthreatening,” said Robinson, who describes Zirh’s 25- to 35-year-old target customer in ways that range from “loyal, more affluent and educated” to “fashionable, trend-conscious and hip.”
The scent features topnotes of lime and green mandarin, middle notes of white cardamom and coriander and a dry-down of cedarwood and oak moss.
Two ancillaries, a 6.3-oz. fragranced body bar and a 2.5-oz. deodorant, both priced at $14.50, will launch along with the fragrance, which could ring up as much as $15 million in its first year on counter, sources said.