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Some niche houses make me think

post #1 of 25
5/5/12 at 9:14pm
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post #2 of 25
5/5/12 at 9:33pm
Only niche houses?

This vibe is emitted from clothes to cars brands, to people and even restaurants.

There is a market, they need to cater.
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post #3 of 25
5/5/12 at 9:37pm
Dont let it get you down man! Its just a bottle of stuff that smells good!
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post #4 of 25
5/5/12 at 9:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hedonist222 View Post

Only niche houses?

This vibe is emitted from clothes to cars brands, to people and even restaurants.

There is a market, they need to cater.

Ha, definitely, I guess it's smart on their part though because people are willing to pay more for whatever it is.
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post #5 of 25
5/5/12 at 11:21pm
Pretty condescending thread. Any industry that deals in "luxury items" is going to come off as pretentious to some. Designer houses are not immune either. And not all niche fans are willing to pay more for just anything. On the contrary, from my perspective niche buyers are far more picky because the investment is much higher. I only wish niche bottles came at designer prices. I research my buys like you wouldn't believe.
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post #6 of 25
5/6/12 at 4:46am
Further proof that it is (modern) art! :-p Just trust your nose.
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post #7 of 25
5/6/12 at 5:59am
The self-aggrandizement of today have left humility and unassumingness by the wayside, and no doubt, neither niche nor designer fragrances have been lax in their pursuit of same.
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post #8 of 25
5/6/12 at 6:13am
I don't know, Caron is quite good in this respect. Their lack of ridiculous self-aggrandisement - despite it being legitimate for them to do so - is some of the reason I respect this house
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post #9 of 25
5/6/12 at 6:17am
Now look, this is an open market. The goods are there for the ones who can afford them. And nice goods they are. For instance, I love the Ebel watches. Can I afford one ? No. That does not make the watch any less beautiful.

Same with niche fragrances. Some among those are exquisite. So, can I afford those ? At this point, no. Luckily, there is the source of decants at The Perfumed Court. So, in small doses, I CAN AFFORD THOSE.

Fine. The point I am trying to make is that there is often jealousy and envy among the masses who cannot afford expensive and exquisite goods. When there is a political event, and uproar and pandemonium, there are always the disadvantaged who then decide to break store windows and loot and help themselves to the goods they could never afford. Such is the rage of the disadvantaged. Poverty sucks.

Here, in a perfume session and discussion this attitude is mildly played out in saying, "niche" HAH !! It is not all that it is cracked up to be !! True, many of the scents are not of quality like the names like CREED like to suggest to the impressionable crowd.

So, then it still remains with the consumer - shopper - recipient of all those goods offered with great hooplah - to be discerning and shop what is practical.
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post #10 of 25
5/6/12 at 6:49am
I like some pretentious stuff: at least they amaze us. 2011 was a mess on men's designer and mainstream perfume market.
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post #11 of 25
5/6/12 at 7:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ursula View Post

Fine. The point I am trying to make is that there is often jealousy and envy among the masses who cannot afford expensive and exquisite goods. When there is a political event, and uproar and pandemonium, there are always the disadvantaged who then decide to break store windows and loot and help themselves to the goods they could never afford. Such is the rage of the disadvantaged. Poverty sucks.

Don't agree. I think you will find that many of these rioters/robbers are far from disadvantaged, they are simply the little consumers raised in a certain culture and who value consumer goods/money more than say another person's property, nose, life, etc.
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post #12 of 25
5/6/12 at 7:42am
How shall I put it. Perfume is an extension of a person. For a job interview, a suit will be wisely chosen. This is a situation where there is something to obtained.

So, to just feed into a form of "House Aggrandizement" ... examples are CLIVE CHRISTIAN, CREED, and the now tarnished MONTALE (those three creating for "royalty" and not for the masses) is silly. Why should I spend money just for a name ??

Unless, of course, one or two or three of their scents are outstanding and worthy for me to "aggrandize myself" with. That is probably what the OP meant ... think. Think first, before you spend.

As far as envy ... Envy is very real. The wise man/woman/parent/boss/politician diplomatically steps around that. Envy is a force to be reckoned with. And, it is used, with marketing strategy to entice us to buy the coveted objects, in this case perfumes.

What I am trying to do is look beyond all that bullshit.
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post #13 of 25
5/6/12 at 7:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ursula View Post

The point I am trying to make is that there is often jealousy and envy among the masses who cannot afford expensive and exquisite goods. When there is a political event, and uproar and pandemonium, there are always the disadvantaged who then decide to break store windows and loot and help themselves to the goods they could never afford. Such is the rage of the disadvantaged. Poverty sucks.

I also disagree with this. One doesn't have to be poor or disadvantaged to think many of these brands are simply overpriced because there's a greater market for the perception of luxury than there is for actual luxury. Just because someone can afford something doesn't mean they must, or even want to, buy it. And people with discerning taste don't always categorically eschew everything more affordable in favor of ridiculously overpriced goods just because they're within their financial reach, especially when you're often only paying more for the perceived cachet of the brand. Wealth doesn't automatically make you gullible and foolish any more than being poor automatically makes you envious and covetous.
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post #14 of 25
5/6/12 at 7:53am
That is true, Evangeline. I cannot make broad and sweeping statements and generalize the field. There is more grey than black and white.
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post #15 of 25
5/6/12 at 8:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hedonist222 View Post

Only niche houses?

This vibe is emitted from clothes to cars brands, to people and even restaurants.

There is a market, they need to cater.

So true and it doesn't bother me in the least. It is what it is.
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post #16 of 25
5/6/12 at 8:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ursula View Post

That is true, Evangeline. I cannot make broad and sweeping statements and generalize the field. There is more grey than black and white.



You're right about envy and marketing however, it's the whole basis for marketing. The ad-man's goal is to create the desire where there is no necessity, and we've all been willing victims of their clever tactics. But the savvy consumer - rich or poor - knows the difference between quality marketing and quality products.
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post #17 of 25
5/6/12 at 8:10am
OFF TOPIC -

A plug for CARON - this house continues in quality products, even when reformulated. Montaigne is sold at steep discounts on line, for the savvy shopper a great deal.
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post #18 of 25
5/6/12 at 8:10am
I definitely agree with everyone who says that all things "luxury" are pretentious. So yes, okay, everything's pretentious (haha). Some niche houses, however, take this to a completely ridiculous level, and not just about price, but history, exclusivity of products, etc. Yes, that's pretentious, but if it works for them, then it just means they're doing very good marketing.
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post #19 of 25
5/6/12 at 8:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by icanzapyou View Post

I definitely agree with everyone who says that all things "luxury" are pretentious. So yes, okay, everything's pretentious (haha). Some niche houses, however, take this to a completely ridiculous level, and not just about price, but history, exclusivity of products, etc. Yes, that's pretentious, but if it works for them, then it just means they're doing very good marketing.

Is CLIVE CHRISTIAN doing very good marketing by not even giving out carded samples, and instead wafting the perfume sprays through the air, at their last introduction ? This has turned me OFF !! I can still go and find their scents at the nearest department store in New York City, but they turned me OFF.

Is NASOMATTO doing very good marketing by putting out a statue of a dog doing his business at the Esxence Trade Show and saying, "we will be back". That, too, has turned me OFF. While all the other exhibitors made the effort to reach out to the potential consumers and gave out samples, these NASOMATTO people did not even bother to show up. So, the customer should chase them, for where they are, for what they are hiding from everyone. Oh no, that attitude has turned me OFF. They can have whatever scents they have, I will not chase after those.

If a company wants to reach a consumer, on a sublimal level it has to respect that consumer, and not think that the consumer is altogether gullible = stupid.
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post #20 of 25
5/6/12 at 9:00am
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post #21 of 25
5/6/12 at 12:02pm
Yeah

Chanel and Dior sure symbolize blue collar folk.
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post #22 of 25
5/6/12 at 12:32pm
Thread Starter 
I don't think there's anything wrong with selling prestige, but if they ever wanted to expand their customer base, simply changing some of their products' names might be worthwhile.
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post #23 of 25
5/6/12 at 10:35pm
It's pretty universal across the fragrance industry IMO. Can we really say that Burberry, Chanel, Dior, YSL , Guerlain etc are any less pretentious? In fact, when thinking about brand positioning I find many niche offerings less pretentious than designers. Exclusivity can be as much about the smaller quantities produced as anything else.
None of this is universal of course and, to be honest, I don't care I just go for the fragrances I enjoy regardless.
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post #24 of 25
5/7/12 at 12:47am
I sometimes wonder what would happen if a niche house would sell perfume at mass market or drugstore prices. Would those perfumes be perceived as 'less quality'?
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post #25 of 25
5/7/12 at 4:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ursula View Post

Fine. The point I am trying to make is that there is often jealousy and envy among the masses who cannot afford expensive and exquisite goods. When there is a political event, and uproar and pandemonium, there are always the disadvantaged who then decide to break store windows and loot and help themselves to the goods they could never afford. Such is the rage of the disadvantaged. Poverty sucks.

Right. And some people set up Ponzi schemes to fleece investors of billions of dollars. Some people sell subprime mortgages. Some people engage in securities fraud and insider trading. Such is the rage of the very very privileged.

But back to the OP's point. Yes, some perfume houses are totally pretentious. I don't completely agree with hedonist's point that there's a market and they have to cater. The fact or myth of exclusivity creates its own market. Fair enough. I don't have a real problem with pretentious. It does bug me a little when a house seems to put more effort into its image and its exclusivity than it does into its perfume...but even then I'm not required to buy it, so I get over it pretty quickly.
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