On Tuesday evening in New York City, Coty Prestige unveiled its second feminine fragrance from the house of Cavalli, one year after the reveal of its debut, signature Roberto Cavalli edp.
Just Cavalli, named after the designer’s youth-oriented fashion line, will be launched globally from February 2013, in both domestic and travel retail markets. The fragrance face is model Georgia May Jagger.
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The Just Cavalli feminine fragrance will be launched globally from February 2013 | |
Jagger was present at the NYC launch, in addition to Roberto and Eva Cavalli, Coty CEO Michele Scannavini, Coty Prestige President Jean Mortier, and the newly-promoted Coty Prestige Senior Vice President, Commercial Peggy Elsrode. Cavalli has been earmarked as another global pillar for the group, and will be supported accordingly.
The new fragrance is described as sexy, provocative, young, vibrant, sensual and fun – a “faithful reflection” of the Just Cavalli universe.
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Savouring the scent of Love at First Bite |
| Usually the week before Cannes is all about detoxing: I stock up on vitamins, hit the gym, eschew all alcohol and get plenty of early nights. This year, however, I flew to the US for a fragrance launch, partied till the small hours, and was talked into a tattoo by Coty Prestige President Jean Mortier. Reader, guess what? Option B is WAY more fun. |
The juice was composed by Firmenich’s Nathalie Lorson and Fabrice Pellegrin. A creamy sexy floral, it opens with a top note of neroli, atop a heart of Tahitian Tiaré flower. The base features a pallisander wood accord.
“The brief for this fragrance was very open,” Lorson told The Moodie Report. “But it had to be younger than the original Roberto Cavalli [scent], modern, feminine, very sexy and a little bit provocative. We also wanted a perfume with a signature; a lot of sillage. Cavalli is a daring brand, which always gets noticed, so the fragrance had to be memorable too.”
The starting point, Lorson confirmed, was the Tiaré flower. “It gives freshness, but it’s also a bit green and watery. Yet in the heart of the flower you can feel something deep and dense, which is a little animalic and very sexy.”
Lorson offset this voluptuous floralcy with neroli, an essential oil produced from blossoms of the bitter orange tree. “This give us a freshness that was very Italian,” she explained. “And Cavalli is an Italian brand, so it was good to acknowledge that with [this ingredient].” To give complexity and sensuality, Lorson chose pallisander wood for the dry-down.
“We chose a very direct structure, with just a few elements,” Lorson continued. “It’s very pared down and simple, which is much more difficult to do. A big formula with many ingredients can hide things that are not well balanced. But when it’s simple, you have to have the right quality and proportion of ingredients.”
The other key challenge was to create a fragrance that was memorable, yet young, easy to wear – and different. “It has to be commercial,” Lorson acknowledged, “but not the same as everything else. This is the balancing act. You have to create something that people will want to buy again. People might buy once, because it’s new and they want to try it. But you have to create a fragrance that will make them want to come back.”
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The innovative launch event featured swimmers in evening dress and a breathtaking pas de deux | |
The fragrance flacon combines gold-coloured metal and pink glass. A pink, python-skin collar adorns the stopper of the bottle, the top of which is branded with the Just Cavalli logo. The outer carton mirrors the gold/pink python-skin colour-scheme.
The advertising features Jagger in a campaign that celebrates the brand’s sensuousness and playfulness, according to Coty. The print visual was shot by Mario Sorrenti, and depicts Jagger reclining on her front, clad only in a pair of tight, pink python-skin trousers. The TV campaign was directed by Jonas Akerlund, and features a seduction/thrill of the chase concept. It shows Jagger and male model Marlon Teixeira playfully pursuing each other in varying states of undress.
Coty Prestige Marketing Director Roberto Cavalli David Iop confirmed that the Just Cavalli launch would benefit from strong digital support, including Facebook and QR codes. A special “˜Bite Me’ application will reference the Love at First Bite “˜logo love bites’ that feature in the ad campaign. In addition, temporary tattoos will be distributed at the POS.
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After dinner, guests were invited to discover the scent in a boudoir-like fragrance room | |
“Just Cavalli is young, sexy and provocative,” Iop explained. “And recently the fashion line has been totally revamped. A new flagship was opened in Milan at the end of September, and there are also plans to open a new flagship store in downtown New York. To attract a younger generation the stores’ architecture has been updated with new codes such as concrete and loft-style spaces”¦The new Just Cavalli fragrance from Coty encapsulates this new brand DNA.”
In line with its younger target market (aged 20+) the Just Cavalli line will retail at around €10 less than the signature Roberto Cavalli edp (the 50ml Just Cavalli edt will be priced domestically at around €55, at the entry level of the selective market). A complementary masculine Just Cavalli scent will be introduced next September, to form a new youth-oriented masterbrand.
“We have a very aggressive innovation plan, in line with our goal to build this house into a powerful global brand.“ |
Peggy Elsrode Senior Vice President, Commercial Coty Prestige |
“Just Cavalli brings Italian glamour and flair to our portfolio,” noted the newly-promoted Elsrode. “We have a very aggressive innovation plan, in line with our goal to build this house into a powerful global brand.”
Coty’s debut Cavalli fragrance, the signature Roberto Cavalli edp, was unveiled last autumn, ahead of its launch in February this year. At the official reveal, Mortier told The Moodie Report Coty’s objective was to make it a top 20 brand. Elsrode confirms the fragrance has got off to a good start.
“We have seen a very strong performance in Europe and the Americas,” she noted, “although we’ve only just begun the South America roll-out. In the Middle East, Roberto Cavalli has been one of the top performing brands. I think that this new Just Cavalli scent will help us to grow the business in Asia Pacific.”
But despite Coty’s big ambitions – and also the Cavalli brand’s arguably innate potential for a fashion-oriented capsule make-up collection – the focus will remain on fragrance. “As far as colour goes, we are concentrating our efforts in that arena on OPI and ck one color,” Elsrode underlined.
In-store theatre and innovative digital initiatives are part of the fragrance strategy. “We will for example use iPads at the POS, to showcase the ad campaign, which we feel is very impactful,” Elsrode explained.
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The face of the fragrance is model Georgia May Jagger |
“Digital is definitely a strategy for us now in terms of most of the brands that we launch, and for Just Cavalli it will constitute a big part of what we’re doing – and a big portion of our spend. The target group is aged 20-30 so obviously there will be a lot of activity online.”
She continued: “Looking ahead, we would love to do more digital things with airports. I can’t reveal the details at this stage, but we’re working with a few people to try some new things, and to tie in what we’re doing in domestic markets closer to what we’re doing in travel retail.”
– A more detailed interview with Peggy Elsrode will be published soon on The Moodie Report.com
