Like others, I have been frustrated by the limitations of "designer fragrance" vs. "niche fragrance" dichotomy. I'm also a bit of a compulsive classifier. So I came up with a seven-class system, presented below for your discussion.
A couple of caveats: the marketing issues are based on the U.S. market and things may be somewhat different in other parts of the world; I am a man so my experience is mostly with masculine fragrances.
Seven Perfume Categories:
Class 1. Mass-Market Heritage
Profile: Formerly popular or fashionable fragrances now marketed through low-cost outlets, often to older customers who used them when young. Contemporary products are often cheaper, re-formulated versions of the classics.
Channels: Drug stores, discount chains, overstock stores, on-line, some direct sales.
Price points: Low
Examples: Dana Classic Fragrances, some Coty brands, Old Spice, Brut, Avon.
Class 2. Celebrity Mass-Market
Profile: Fragrances produced to capitalize on a famous celebrity name, which is used to market the product line in similar fashion to designer names though the celebrity in question may have little to do with the fragrance besides promoting it. These fragrances clearly aim to be popular but they often wind up on the same shelf as the Mass-Market Heritage.
Channels: Drug stores, discount chains, on-line, overstock stores, mass-market department stores.
Price points: Low to Moderate
Examples: Elizabeth Taylor, Brittany Spears, Tim McGraw, Paris Hilton, Beckham, Ussher.
Class 3. Designer Mass-Market
Profile: Fragrances marketed under the name of a famous fashion house or high-profile retail brand but produced for a broad-based, mass-market audience by a division of a large conglomerate. The designer in the brand name may have long since ceased to have anything to do with the company or the name may actually be licensed. These products are aimed at middle-of-the-road taste and their companies have the resources to promote their brands. Designer Mass-Market firms thus typically produce a high proportion of the fragrances in top 50 best-seller lists, though some of their products can also be appreciated as classics of their type.
Channels: Drug stores, some discount chains, on-line, overstock stores, specialty retail stores, department stores, specialty boutiques.
Price points: Moderate
Examples: Calvin Klein, Geoffrey Beene, Abercrombie and Fitch, Joop, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren, Givenchy, Tommy, Davidoff
Class 4. The Jewelers Brands
Profile: Fragrances marketed as a product line of a well-established, famous luxury jeweler, high-end accessories or fashion house, appealing to a more sophisticated and discriminating audience, in the sense of a bijoux house. This category is similar to Designer Mass-Market but the manufactures take more risks, are more original in approach, control quality and distribution more closely, and take pains to assure their brand image is consistent with the high-end, exclusive image of their main lines. Exclusivity is especially emphasized although the firm itself may be large or part of a larger company. Much of the Jewelers Brands output is inevitably aimed at broad consumer audiences and their products can land in the upper reaches of the best-seller lists. Market channels are usually well controlled and these companies are less often found in drug stores or discount chains, a significant difference form the Designer Mass-Market brands, which are often marketed through lower-cost channels. Many of these Jeweler Brand fragrances are much appreciated by fragrance connoisseurs.
Channels: More up-scale and high-end department stores, specialty boutiques, gray-market on-line.
Price points: Moderate to Expensive
Examples: Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Tiffany, Dior, Gucci, Tom Ford, Hermes, Versace, Armani, Prada, YSL.
Class 5. Les Grandes Maisons
Profile: Fragrances created by houses whose high reputations were established before World War II and have been consistently maintained to the present. These houses are traditionally family-run or independent (though they may no longer actually have that status). Some are more than a century old and most emphasize a long and distinguished history as part of their brand image. They are either specialists in fragrance or fragrances have long been a central part of their business and image. Their product lines are usually mixtures of long-established, traditional favorites and new entries, which can be quite trend-sensitive. Some also market specialty line fragrances (see below). Fragrances from these houses are often called classics and can sometimes be described as old-fashioned but in fact appeal to a wide range of ages and seem to find new fans in each generation. Most are based in Paris. Market channels and brand images are often very closely controlled.
Channels: Up-scale and high-end department stores, specialty boutiques, company-owned boutiques, company websites, specialty websites, some gray-market on-line.
Price points: Moderate to Very Expensive.
Examples: Guerlain, Creed, Chanel, Caron, Knize, Acqua di Parma.
Class 6. Specialty Lines
Profile: Fragrances created by houses established since World War II who specialize in highly distinctive, innovative, and worldly fragrances created for a discriminating and sophisticated audience, often aspiring to artistic and innovative status. These houses tend to be fragrance-specialized, are often controlled by their creators or their immediate successors, and take pains to promote an exclusive image appealing to tastes sophisticated about fragrances. The category also applies to the specialty lines of some larger houses. Some of these products are described as modern classics. For various distribution reasons, these fragrances can be hard to find in ordinary retail stores and that can even be a deliberate part of their market image.
Channels: High-end department stores, specialty boutiques, specialty websites.
Price points: Expensive to Very Expensive.
Examples: Annika Goutal, Andy Tauer, Montale, Amouage, Frederic Malle, and the specialty lines of other houses such as Tom Ford and Chanel.
Class 7. Avant-Garde
Profile: Fragrances from companies that aim to create radically original, unexpected, even offensive or shocking fragrances aimed at highly sophisticated, mostly urban audiences interested in contemporary fashion; sometimes associated with fashion lines appealing to similar tastes. Promoted as modern and anti-establishment brands.
Channels: A few high-end department stores and specialty boutiques, specialty websites.
Price points: Expensive to Very Expensive.
Examples: Comme des Garcons, The Different Company, Etat Libre dOrange.
A couple of caveats: the marketing issues are based on the U.S. market and things may be somewhat different in other parts of the world; I am a man so my experience is mostly with masculine fragrances.
Seven Perfume Categories:
Class 1. Mass-Market Heritage
Profile: Formerly popular or fashionable fragrances now marketed through low-cost outlets, often to older customers who used them when young. Contemporary products are often cheaper, re-formulated versions of the classics.
Channels: Drug stores, discount chains, overstock stores, on-line, some direct sales.
Price points: Low
Examples: Dana Classic Fragrances, some Coty brands, Old Spice, Brut, Avon.
Class 2. Celebrity Mass-Market
Profile: Fragrances produced to capitalize on a famous celebrity name, which is used to market the product line in similar fashion to designer names though the celebrity in question may have little to do with the fragrance besides promoting it. These fragrances clearly aim to be popular but they often wind up on the same shelf as the Mass-Market Heritage.
Channels: Drug stores, discount chains, on-line, overstock stores, mass-market department stores.
Price points: Low to Moderate
Examples: Elizabeth Taylor, Brittany Spears, Tim McGraw, Paris Hilton, Beckham, Ussher.
Class 3. Designer Mass-Market
Profile: Fragrances marketed under the name of a famous fashion house or high-profile retail brand but produced for a broad-based, mass-market audience by a division of a large conglomerate. The designer in the brand name may have long since ceased to have anything to do with the company or the name may actually be licensed. These products are aimed at middle-of-the-road taste and their companies have the resources to promote their brands. Designer Mass-Market firms thus typically produce a high proportion of the fragrances in top 50 best-seller lists, though some of their products can also be appreciated as classics of their type.
Channels: Drug stores, some discount chains, on-line, overstock stores, specialty retail stores, department stores, specialty boutiques.
Price points: Moderate
Examples: Calvin Klein, Geoffrey Beene, Abercrombie and Fitch, Joop, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren, Givenchy, Tommy, Davidoff
Class 4. The Jewelers Brands
Profile: Fragrances marketed as a product line of a well-established, famous luxury jeweler, high-end accessories or fashion house, appealing to a more sophisticated and discriminating audience, in the sense of a bijoux house. This category is similar to Designer Mass-Market but the manufactures take more risks, are more original in approach, control quality and distribution more closely, and take pains to assure their brand image is consistent with the high-end, exclusive image of their main lines. Exclusivity is especially emphasized although the firm itself may be large or part of a larger company. Much of the Jewelers Brands output is inevitably aimed at broad consumer audiences and their products can land in the upper reaches of the best-seller lists. Market channels are usually well controlled and these companies are less often found in drug stores or discount chains, a significant difference form the Designer Mass-Market brands, which are often marketed through lower-cost channels. Many of these Jeweler Brand fragrances are much appreciated by fragrance connoisseurs.
Channels: More up-scale and high-end department stores, specialty boutiques, gray-market on-line.
Price points: Moderate to Expensive
Examples: Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Tiffany, Dior, Gucci, Tom Ford, Hermes, Versace, Armani, Prada, YSL.
Class 5. Les Grandes Maisons
Profile: Fragrances created by houses whose high reputations were established before World War II and have been consistently maintained to the present. These houses are traditionally family-run or independent (though they may no longer actually have that status). Some are more than a century old and most emphasize a long and distinguished history as part of their brand image. They are either specialists in fragrance or fragrances have long been a central part of their business and image. Their product lines are usually mixtures of long-established, traditional favorites and new entries, which can be quite trend-sensitive. Some also market specialty line fragrances (see below). Fragrances from these houses are often called classics and can sometimes be described as old-fashioned but in fact appeal to a wide range of ages and seem to find new fans in each generation. Most are based in Paris. Market channels and brand images are often very closely controlled.
Channels: Up-scale and high-end department stores, specialty boutiques, company-owned boutiques, company websites, specialty websites, some gray-market on-line.
Price points: Moderate to Very Expensive.
Examples: Guerlain, Creed, Chanel, Caron, Knize, Acqua di Parma.
Class 6. Specialty Lines
Profile: Fragrances created by houses established since World War II who specialize in highly distinctive, innovative, and worldly fragrances created for a discriminating and sophisticated audience, often aspiring to artistic and innovative status. These houses tend to be fragrance-specialized, are often controlled by their creators or their immediate successors, and take pains to promote an exclusive image appealing to tastes sophisticated about fragrances. The category also applies to the specialty lines of some larger houses. Some of these products are described as modern classics. For various distribution reasons, these fragrances can be hard to find in ordinary retail stores and that can even be a deliberate part of their market image.
Channels: High-end department stores, specialty boutiques, specialty websites.
Price points: Expensive to Very Expensive.
Examples: Annika Goutal, Andy Tauer, Montale, Amouage, Frederic Malle, and the specialty lines of other houses such as Tom Ford and Chanel.
Class 7. Avant-Garde
Profile: Fragrances from companies that aim to create radically original, unexpected, even offensive or shocking fragrances aimed at highly sophisticated, mostly urban audiences interested in contemporary fashion; sometimes associated with fashion lines appealing to similar tastes. Promoted as modern and anti-establishment brands.
Channels: A few high-end department stores and specialty boutiques, specialty websites.
Price points: Expensive to Very Expensive.
Examples: Comme des Garcons, The Different Company, Etat Libre dOrange.
(May take a while - be patient. But I think people hunger for more specificity than "niche" and "designer".)
