The Fragrance Foundation has announced the semi-finalists for the 2010 Fifi Awards, known as the “Oscars of the fragrance industry”. Note that some categories show more than 10 fragrances because of tied votes and some have fewer than 10 because not enough fragrances were nominated.
Each category will be whittled down to 5 fragrances at the Fifi Finalists Breakfast on April 23th; the final awards will be presented on June 10. The award statue is shown above.
And the finalists are…
According to market researcher NPD, sales of so-called prestige fragrances — typically the high-end, designer scents sold by department stores — fell 10 percent in 2009 from the prior year. This was a sharp acceleration of the 6 percent decline from 2007 to 2008, and a 1 percent decline from 2006 to 2007.
With a bad situation turning worse, the fragrance manufacturers — who are often secretive, and most certainly fiercely competitive — are banding together to do a national campaign to encourage men and women who use perfumes and other scented products, to do so more often.
— From Can One Ad Change Everything for the Fragrance Industry? at CNBC. The article discusses the Fragrance Foundation's new One Drop campaign; if you haven't yet seen the website, check out One Mighty Drop.
The Fragrance Foundation is planning a unified, multi-media ad campaign to encourage women who already use perfume occasionally to use it more often. The new effort to reverse years of faltering perfume sales will start in January…
The Fragrance Foundation of the United States has announced the winners for the 2009 Fifi Awards. The award ceremony was held this evening at the Downtown Armory in New York City. This year’s Hall of Fame Awards went to Marc Jacobs, Davidoff Cool Water and Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds. Paris Hilton, if you remember, was named Celebrity of the Year. And the winners are:
Women’s Luxe (sold in over 250 doors) ~ Gwen Stefani Harajuku Lovers
Men’s Luxe ~ Sean John I Am King…
Thanks to a friend with ample airline miles and a niece with an apartment in New York City, I went to the FiFi Finalists award breakfast on Friday. So, instead of the usual Monday perfume review, I’ll give you an inside peek at all the important aspects of the breakfast: what it is about, who was there, and what was in the goody bag.
The Fragrance Foundation bills the FiFis as the fragrance industry’s Oscars. At the finalists breakfast, the top five entries for each of the awards categories are announced along with the winners of the awards for editorial excellence and for technological breakthrough. Although both the Oscars and the FiFis incorporate celebrities and prizes for excellence, the FiFis are less about art and more about sales. After all, the Oscars don’t offer prizes for Best Packaging and Best National Media Campaign. As an executive for Cosmpolitan magazine said in her opening remarks at the breakfast, “The creative marketing talent in this room can create the sweetest smell of all: the smell of success.”
That said, for the perfume industry to survive, it needs to be strong. Plus, the FiFis do include prizes for best fragrances in several categories and for editorial excellence. I submitted work to be considered for an award, and that’s how I ended up receiving an invitation to attend the breakfast…