Guerlain Issues a Sweeter Petite Robe Noire Targeting the North American Market
04/28/15 05:04:53
by: Elena Vosnaki
Guerlain has a challenge to increase brand awareness in North America, says William Lescure, president of Guerlain Canada. An ambitious plain aiming for a 1.5 to 2% share in the mid term and sales rising up to $21 million in 2015 has been carefully designed to that end and one of their best-selling perfumes is a pivotal element in that as transpires from the latest reportage.
In Montreal, Guerlain closed its Greene Ave. institute at the end of 2014, after eight years, retaining a Bloor St. beauty emporium, redeploying staff to Toronto and Vancouver. The MontrealBOUTIQUE
never broke even, Lescure explains. The client list on the other hand was transferred to Ogilvy's (which acquired a new counter and treatment cabin for its Guerlain customers).
never broke even, Lescure explains. The client list on the other hand was transferred to Ogilvy's (which acquired a new counter and treatment cabin for its Guerlain customers). 
Guerlain is therefore pushing ahead with a marketing plan to build brand awareness. "We are a cosmetic company, a marketing company. My number one strategy is to raise brand awareness." To this end fragrance director Sylvaine Delacourte presided over a Shalimar presentation at The Marvels and Mirages of Orientalism at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts last week, as well as a workshop on the bases of theGuerlinade, the "common thread" between Guerlain historical fragrances.
The plan includes a new version of La Petite Robe Noire for the North American market, to be launched next year. La PetiteROBE Noire is already an international hit, purposefully lacking a muse for the scent with only the silhouette of a little black dress as the protagonist in commercial ads and bottle illustrations. "We wanted to break the code of the perfume industry and we succeeded," says Lescure. However, he adds, the scent is not sweet enough for North American tastes. And this is probably this detail which makes it so very interesting for perfume lovers with a vested interest in Guerlain, thanks to its prestige and historical gravitas.
Noire is already an international hit, purposefully lacking a muse for the scent with only the silhouette of a little black dress as the protagonist in commercial ads and bottle illustrations. "We wanted to break the code of the perfume industry and we succeeded," says Lescure. However, he adds, the scent is not sweet enough for North American tastes. And this is probably this detail which makes it so very interesting for perfume lovers with a vested interest in Guerlain, thanks to its prestige and historical gravitas.
It's therefore with some trepidation that we announce that Guerlain is going ahead with a whole new rendition of the ultra-popular scentTARGETED at this specific market "who wants something more refined and subtle than the mass market perfumes". The question does arise on whether there is a point in fixing something that is not broken (La Petite Robe Noire was first and foremost a huge American hit) in order to attain a goal for whom the one lonely scent is but one pillar of the building. There is also the question whether there will be two editions, the American market one ultimately engulfing the international one or the two co-existing at the supreme confusion of travelers and duty-free buyers.
at this specific market "who wants something more refined and subtle than the mass market perfumes". The question does arise on whether there is a point in fixing something that is not broken (La Petite Robe Noire was first and foremost a huge American hit) in order to attain a goal for whom the one lonely scent is but one pillar of the building. There is also the question whether there will be two editions, the American market one ultimately engulfing the international one or the two co-existing at the supreme confusion of travelers and duty-free buyers. 
An article at the Montral Gazette specifies that although Guerlain is a small cog in the mighty gilded wheel of luxury giant LVMH, William Lescure is happy that each brand works independently to ensure brand identity and that Guerlain plays its part from an ordinary warehouse at La Salle; "I know it's not very sexy. But it's very flexible".
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