The Integrity Of Authenticity
My recent experience with fake concert tickets started me thinking about the threat of counterfeit fragrances and the damage it can do to both manufacturers and retailers.
From a consumer standpoint, I never put too much thought behind whether a scent bought outside of a prestige environment could be bogus. Now I understand the concept of “if the deal is too good to be true — it might be.”
My realization came last night when I discovered that $600 worth of Taylor Swift tickets for a show at Madison Square were duplicates of three other parties’. The victims were innocent 15-year-olds who had saved babysitting money for the show.
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Many fragrances that are sold in mass channels are done so to eliminate excess inventories. However, there have been cases of fake fragrances infiltrating the market. This poses a big challenge to the retailers selling them. A few counterfeits could ruin the image and negate all of the great efforts chains have been making to improve the fragrance environment outside of department stores.
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While I am all for channel blurring, the fake tickets made me realize when a marketer creates a scent or even a makeup product, they have a vision of the environment and venue where it belongs. In the wrong place, all the creative juices are weakened.
And that sums up why so many mass market retailers are pumping huge dollars, even in a soft economy, into sprucing up their beauty departments. They want to provide an environment where manufacturers will be proud to sell and consumers will trust what they purchase. Consumers have clearly said they want to find beauty items in shopping spots they like to frequent. And that explains why chains such as Sears, CVS, Walgreens, Duane Reade and others are working feverishly to make an environment conducive to selling more upscale items. Duane Reade will shortly unveil a Demeter fragrance boutique within a store that sources said will rival what Sephora can do.
We are at a critical juncture in beauty and fashion. Consumers are speaking with clarity — they want to shop where they want to shop. They don’t always care if it is QVC, CVS or eBay. But, they deserve to know they are getting real products sold in a dignified manner. On the other hand, suppliers have to decide whether it is time to become wholly involved in the mass market in a meaningful and visible way, which could eliminate the dangers of counterfeits.
Should prestige beauty, which is struggling with department stores, increase its visibility in a Beauty 360? Is it time for Ulta to get a few key missing brands? There will certainly be more beauty executives touring the latest beauty department outside of department stores to see if the image is conducive to premium products.
Fakes, on the other hand, need to be halted. Phony fragrances, knockoff designer logos and other items now appear to me as painful as the look on three 15-year-old faces when they found their tickets weren’t real.
In the end, the girls got into the show, thanks to assistance from Madison Square Garden supervisor Bill Tingling. But I think all of them will now stop and think before buying designer jeans at the local flea market or hitting Canal Street for a counterfeit handbag. And I’ll respect that some beauty marketers insist retailers do their homework and give products the environment and service they deserve.
People, Place and Things
A few words with Andrea Goldner, divisional merchandise manager, Sears Beauty. Goldner is overseeing Sears’ return to its softer side with a new beauty program. The Sears Beauty department rolls out in 13 stores over the next two weekends.
WWDBeautyNews: Why now?
Goldner: Customers are telling us they want beauty at Sears. Seventy percent of our customers are purchasing beauty in food, drug or mass channels. There is a strong willingness to better quality in a more customer focused environment.
WWDBeautyNews: What are growth plans?
Goldner: We are opening the 13 and then we hope to have 150 in place in 2010 and 400 by 2012. We are also launching beauty on Sears.com where customers can have many more beauty choices including 3,000 fragrances.
WWDBeauty: Talk about training of advisers.
Goldner: We have vendor-trained beauty advisors who will work on commissions. They are excited and we feel the education they provide will help us stand out.
What’s In Store
Women Don’t Change: L’Oréal research, which polled 4,000 respondents in the U.S. and four European countries, found women are adapting in response to the recession, but not giving up some favorites. Nearly half of U.S. women believe wearing makeup gives them an advantage at work. Most said makeup makes them feel more confident and nine out of 10 report no change in use of beauty during the recession.
Men on the other hand: The men’s market is not taking off as fast as anticipated. The economy has stopped some men from upping usage. Research from Bernstein Research suggests that overall sales of men’s grooming products in the U.S. mass market fell by 20 percent in the four weeks up to mid-June.