In the back room of a large department store, a handful of sales associates sat around a chipped melamine table. Towers of holiday-themed fragrance boxes were stacked along the walls. Deb, the store's fragrance department manager, poured a cup of coffee and sat down with the group.
"Is everyone here? Good. Joe, would you hand out these tester cards? Thanks." Deb held up a rectangular bottle filled with purple liquid. "I want to introduce a new fragrance we'll be carrying, Beckham Signature for Her. We're also carrying Beckham Signature for Him, but today I want to focus on Signature for Her."
Jackie, who was still catching her breath from dashing into the meeting at the last minute, brought the tester card up to her nose. "It smells like grape juice," she said.
"Please don't interrupt. Now, the key words we'll be using to describe this fragrance are 'iconic' and 'elegant'. The tops notes are anise flower and candy apple accord."
Jackie snorted. "I'll give you a hundred bucks if Victoria Beckham has ever been in the same room with a candy apple, let alone eaten one. I bet she lives off of diet Coke and strips of raw beef."
"According to Women's Wear Daily*, she was intimately involved with Signature for Her. Here, let me read a quote: 'With the fragrances, I designed the bottles, I got to the factory, I worked on the fragrances. I'm really the creator behind the project.' See?" Deb looked up triumphantly.
"And she thinks candy apples smell like grape juice," Jackie said. "Besides, she's a JAR girl if I've ever seen one."
"The fragrance's middle notes are orchid, heliotrope, and vanilla. Victoria said" — here Deb picked up her copy of Women's Wear Daily again — "'I love white orchids, and I wanted something light. I can't bear it when you can smell someone before you see them.'"
"What do white orchids smell like? The orchids I've picked up at Trader Joe's don't smell like anything." Joe asked.
"Apparently they smell like grape juice with a pinch of laundry detergent," Jackie said. "Really loud grape juice. The kind you can definitely smell before you see."
"Some orchids are extremely fragrant," says Miriam, a fastidious blond with mathematically-placed highlights. "They can smell like all sorts of things."
"Like grape juice, for instance." Jackie said. "You're starting to get irritating," Deb said, looking at Jackie. "Any more out of you and I'll ask the manager to transfer you to luggage." She turned to the rest of the SAs. "Now, as I was saying, the base notes for Signature for Her are patchouli, amber, and musk."
Joe said, "I definitely get a little of the amber and vanilla, but not the patch or musk. Instead, I mostly smell..." His eyes drifted toward Jackie.
"Signature for Her is positioned as a luxury fragrance. Let me read you one more quote from the article, from the Senior Vice President for Marketing for Coty Global Beauty," Deb looked around the table to make sure everyone was suitably impressed. "He said, 'We decided to launch Beckham Signature for Him and Her in the prestige market due to the high style and aspirational nature of David and Victoria.'"
"I'm sure he meant that as a compliment," Jackie said.
Ignoring Jackie, Deb stood up, signaling that the meeting was over. "This holiday season could be a tough one for retail. Take your info sheets about Signature for Her and sell sell sell! And remember, if they want samples, make 'em beg."
Beckham Signature for Her comes in Eau de Toilette: 50 ml for $52 and 75 ml for $62. It also comes in body lotion and shower cream.
* quotes via wwd, 6/20/08.
Ooooh!!!! That was a tasty little read, thanks. It sounds hideous. I am pretty sure I sniffed this (it's out, right?) in some store, remembering that LucaTania had raved over one of the Beckham scents. And I thought — wow, it must not have been this one.
This is the brand new one (the “prestige” release), and I really can't imagine much raving happening over it. It's one of those few fragrances that smells just like it looks–sickly purple.
baby spice's scent is better
Eau de Dimetapp, perhaps? And heehee! to the “aspirational nature” remark. 😀
Isn't it strange about the “aspirational nature”? I don't think the guy who said it had any idea what was coming out his mouth.
Which one was baby spice? (I'm so out of it!) There was that one who was on Dancing with the Stars (sporty spice?) but that's all I know.
what's hers called?
I thought Scary Spice was the chachacha-ing one? Or not… I could've told you if only you'd asked ten years ago (when I would have relished smelling like Manischewitz Spice).
The only Spice Girl I ever liked even a little was Ginger and she left the “band”…what's that tell you? Haha…great article, though. I shudder to think of what would happen if my 11 year old sister came upon this. She would probably drench herself in it, much to everyone's dismay….because, well, grape. But a luxury fragrance? Really? The poor man must've been hallucinating from the perfume fumes.
That's hilarious about Manischewitz spice! I can't tell you a thing about the Spice Girls. I'm sure I would get them confused with the Seven Dwarfs–you know, Sleepy Spice, Sneezy Spice, etc.
I want to know, too!
I know what you mean. They should have packaged it in heart-shaped bottles or something and marketed to the tween audience.
Did a quick Google; all I came up with is that she wears L'Eau d'Issey, which, yes, is much better than grape-ade.
perhaps the mrs. beckham was never exposed to the down-home smell of grape juice and thusly finds it exotic? I always did look forward to a little grape juice on sunday (instead of wine in the Baptist church) 😉
Is L'Eau d'Issey Scary Spice's perfume, or Baby Spice's? Or Victoria's perfume? I can see V wearing it since it is so ozonic and matches up with what she says about white orchids.
Yes, either that or she can't smell worth beans.
(Grape juice is better than than nasty port from Priests-R-Us that so many Catholic churches use!)
whenever I go to Sephora and try out half of their women's fragrance selection, I walk out smelling like a fruit cocktail that comes in a can.
This could sell well!!
No kidding. And hey, real fruit cocktail can be had for less than a buck a can.
Well, for the purposes of research (and because I'm a masochist) I spritzed this on my hand on Saturday. It smells like tacky grape juice. It's very purple. And the bottle is a plain rectangular lump of glass.
Still, it's nice that Victoria's being kept busy with all this creativity and personal involvement.
I used to dab on Poison in middle school because I thought it smelled like yummy grape juice, so maybe there are worse things. Then again, maybe not.
That Jackie sounds like someone I'd like to get to know. And if someone like her were an SA at a local store, I'd be there all the time.
Is $52/50ml really something that's positioned as “prestige” or “luxury”? If so, I'm afraid that I've lost all sense sense of proportion when it comes to what's a “reasonable” price to pay for fragrance. And just last week we were all commenting about how $65 is the new free.
And just to say one nice thing: when I came across the ad somewhere my first thought was that they both look really good in it. It would definitely make a consumer “aspire” to be so attractive (and often I don't think she looks so great).
No kidding. A lot of work goes into being the “creator” of this kind of perfume, including dropping by the factory.
I think Poison is grape-y, too–but with a whole lot more going on. Poison can kick Signature for Her's hind end.
Good point! I picked up my sample at Macy's, which is certainly a far piece from Walmart, but not exactly Bergdorf's. Still, $52 is robbery for this scent, prestige or not.
Chandler Burr laments press release BS in “The Perfect Scent,” but this really pushes the envelope. Victoria says, “I designed the bottles, I got to the factory, I worked on the fragrances. I'm really the creator behind the project.” Does anyone, anywhere, actually believe a word of this?
Btw, for those of you keeping score, upon the issuance of that press release, Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain attained a speed of approximately 4500 rpm.
The consumer might “aspire”–if she or he has an “aspirational nature”. On the other hand, the Beckhams' “aspirational natures” have led them to create prestige perfumes (and brag about how presige-y they are).
Semantics aside, I think V looks good, too. D looks to me like he's puzzling over a tough math problem.
Sadly, I think she believes it.
I wonder who the real nose behind the scent is?
Interesting question. Was the real nose ordered to remain anonymous so that VB can claim full credit (!) for the fragrance? Or did the nose choose to do so b/c s/he doesn't want to be associated with it? And can we expect the same sort of nonsense from Beckham Signature for Him?
It's Sylvie Fischer.
I see that Robin came up with the name of the perfumer (thank you!).
I think it would be hard to be a perfumer sometimes. If you're really lucky, you get a name for yourself and have firms like Frederic Malle give you free reign to create something wonderful, or you're working for a company (Hermes, e.g.) that is willing to do something extraordinary. But a lot of the time the perfumer is probably trying to play to a marketing brief based on a focus group, and the focus group probably says, “Fruity floral, please”.
Thank you! And with apt assistance from Mrs. B., I'm sure.
I understand why companies use focus groups, but they are extremely problematic. It reminds me of the apocryphal story about Henry Ford saying that if he had asked people what they wanted, they would've said “a faster horse.”
Given that, it's really kind of amazing that things like Angel or Bulgari Black ever make it to the market, and small wonder that BSfH smells like grape juice.
Mrs. B should have a chat with Danielle Steel. At least she's honest about her involvement in the creation of her namesake perfume. (https://freebox.it.com/blog/_archives/2006/10/18/2425713.html%3C/a%3E%29%3C/p%3E
Come to think of it, I wonder if Mrs. B or anyone in marketing realized that someone snarky–say, me–might refer to these scents as “BS for Him” and “BS for Her”?
So true about Angel and Bulgari Black. I'm glad they made it, though.
I heard about that! Funny–and admirable, in a way.
I didn't even think of that! (Now I'll never forget it, either.)
I think the Sr. V.P. meant to say “inspirational”.
From a marketing standpoint, they've done a pretty poor job of differentiating this one from Intimately Beckham. Both have ostentatiously sensual names, cheesy pics of the two of them striking sexy poses in muted colors, and they probably don't smell all that different either (fruity notes in both, I'm guessing?). I'm skeptical about the result of this marketing ploy.
Boo, Beckham PR team.
What's really sad is that the perfumers working on product to fulfill a marketing brief based on a fruity-floral focus group is STILL several rungs above the poor sods who will be stuck creating scents for the newest bargain shampoo, Jergens lotion, or baby wipes. I suppose every career has relative levels of “glamour vs mind-numbing drudgery.”
So true. It would be really interesting, though, to talk to someone who created, say, a fragrance for cat litter. For instance, did they get the job by design, by chance? What are the hallmarks of a really nice smelling cat litter? How could you break the mold scenting cat litter?
All told, though, I'd think that perfume would definitely be more glamourous.
Yes! That's the word.
I bet they get paid royally, though. Maybe you and I should start our own perfume marketing business.
It is an interesting idea, especially since I would imagine the vast majority of people working in the fragrance industry never get to create a perfume at all. I wonder if the pressure and stress are as high for those slogging in the trenches as they are for the Ellenas and Polges of the world?
Probably just as stressful, in its own way…. Ellena & Polge are *artistes*, but the cat-litter-scent guy or gal is just a wage slave.
Angela, I'm laughing really hard at the idea of “breaking the mold” for cat litter. Thanks.
“the baby cologne”…lol….she doesn't have 1 yet….
hahahah…hallucinating is fantastic….for a scent that's “BLENDED LIKE BECKHAM”….
OOOPS be careful ms A…i supply the booze to the sacerdotes!…haha
sylvie fischer:takasago…and of course posh
New Scent Tryst
it's afree name ….bloggers, heads up
He's just read the ad copy and he's puzzling over the meaning of the word 'aspirational.' Big words aren't in DB's line.
I wouldn't be surprised if she does soon, though….
Well then, a lot of priests will thank you to work on the quality!
Good thing that boy is handy with the soccer ball–and so darn good lookin'.
Good question.
Don't you think sandalwood cat litter would be kind of nice?
Hmm, not a bad idea!
Absolutely. Not only that, the poor sods making the bargain-shampoo scents don't even get to create– they all seem to be reusing the same rotten-mango fruity-floral accords that showed up in perfume ten years ago. PIck up a bargain shampoo bottle–any scent–and they all smell the same. Strawberry? Fruity floral. Ocean Breeze? Fruity floral. Lavender? Fruity floral. Herbal? Fruity floral. Laundry detergent? Fruity floral. Dish soap? Fruity floral. Makes you want to mail-order your laundry detergent from Europe just to get something different. Maybe the “mind-numbing drudgery” finally got to them.
It's funny you say that, because I bought some lavender-scented window spray the other day that was definitely fruity and particularly like lavender at all!
I like Mrs. Meyer's rose-geranium spray, though.
Baby Spice!
Maybe Love's Baby Soft would have been better…
Done. I was having second thoughts about finance anyway since, you know, the whole implosion of Wall Street and all.
Yes, this is much more financially stable (I wish!).