THE CHALLENGE
Legendary fashion designer Halston created the classic American designer fragrance, Halston Z-14, in 1976. The fragrance immediately captured the fascination of men and women everywhere and has held rank as a “Top 10” selling men’s designer fragrance ever since. Fast forward three decades. Although the fragrance had consistently maintained its top-selling status in the market, Elizabeth Arden was eager to broaden the appeal of Halston Z-14 in order to introduce younger customers to the fragrance and stimulate sales for the classic brand. Thus, in keeping with the hottest trend of pairing celebrities with designer fragrances, Elizabeth Arden signed NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon to be the new face of Halston Z-14. Elizabeth Arden wanted a smoldering, creative marketing and PR re-launch for Halston Z-14 that would re-energize the brand and drive existing customers. The company also wanted a whole new generation of consumers to race out and experience Halston Z-14. To achieve these goals, the national fragrance brand tapped Miami Beach-based TMA as its marketing and public relations agency.
PUBLIC RELATIONS and MARKETING STRATEGIES
- Leverage widespread celebrity appeal of Jeff Gordon to reach a whole new generation of potential customers for Halston Z-14.
- Position the public relations campaign elements with an aspirational, “lifestyle” point-of-view in order to showcase Jeff Gordon as a modern icon outside the familiar racetrack environment.
- Engage in multi-faceted PR initiatives in order to achieve optimum reach and frequency for key marketing messages.
- Focus on initiatives that have the potential to reach hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of potential customers.
- Design campaign initiatives that maintain an on-going level of awareness beyond the launch and throughout the NASCAR calendar year.
TACTICS
- TMA developed and executed a year-long media relations campaign of proactive press releases, fact sheets, photos and product samples targeted to media at consumer- and business-oriented print, broadcast and Internet outlets.
- To capitalize on the mass reach of radio and its ability to target niche audiences according to format types, the Agency designed a creative, yet strategically targeted, radio promotion campaign aimed at key men’s fragrance selling markets across the country. Listeners who called into stations during the week-long contests won Halston Z-14 / Jeff Gordon prize packs of product samples and NASCAR memorabilia.
- In order to leverage Jeff Gordon’s celebrity status, TMA conducted a nationwide satellite media tour, coinciding with the start of the 2005 NASCAR season. The satellite media tour pre-booked 16, one-on-one, satellite-linked interviews between Jeff Gordon and top lifestyle and sports reporters at local, regional and national television outlets. The satellite media tour originated from Henrick Motorsports – Jeff Gordon’s headquarters in Charlotte – and was conducted over a two-hour time period.
- To add appeal to the satellite media tour for television producers, TMA worked with Arden to develop a comprehensive b-roll package, including factory footage of the Halston Z-14 production line at Evergreen in Maine, “behind-the-scenes” imagery from the advertising photo shoot, and Jeff Gordon racing footage supplied through NASCAR images. The b-roll was coupled with one final, pre-packaged video highlights reel of the satellite media tour and satellite fed to 700 television stations throughout the country.
- To reach consumers where they live, TMA wrote a controlled editorial matte article that highlighted the “Season of Speed” Sweepstakes and was distributed to more than 10,000 community newspapers across the country.
THE RESULTS
- TMA’s marketing campaign, coupled with the in-store and on-track promotional efforts spearheaded by Arden, combined to increase sales nationwide by 214%.
- The public relations campaign reached more than nine million consumers nationwide through print and broadcast stories.
- TMA successfully secured 24, week-long radio promotions – without an advertising buy - reaching a total audience of seven-and-a-half million consumers. The value of the “free” airtime garnered through the radio promotions equaled more than $200,000, which represents a 6-to-1 return-on-investment for Elizabeth Arden.
- The satellite media tour garnered 224 total broadcast hits, reaching an audience of nearly 6 million viewers nationwide. Coverage included national television broadcasts such as MSNBC, CNN and UPN Network news, as well as local affiliate coverage in Arden’s top fragrance markets.