The four Harajuku girls Gwen Stefani employed for her 2004 solo tour weren't around to promote the new Harajuku Lovers fragrances in Canada—but they were emulated by models dressed in short skirts and pigtails as part of manufacturer Coty Prestige's traveling Harajuku Lovers Fragrance Lounge, which visited several locations in Toronto and Montreal from Thursday to Saturday. They also inspired Stefani's new fragrances, with each of the four girls, plus Gwen, representing one of the five scents.
"The fragrances are really fun, and we wanted to get the girls involved in the event," said Kim Husted, director of marketing at Coty Canada. The lounge—held in the Jam Van, a 24-foot vehicle designed for experiential marketing events—promoted the new scents in high schools, malls, movie theatres, and nightclubs in Toronto and Montreal over the three-day period. The mini tour started October 2 with a media preview.
Leslie Oglesby, Coty Prestige's global marketing director of Gwen Stefani fragrances, flew in from New York for the Canadian promotion, and said the Harajuku Lovers brand targets a younger demographic than Stefani's other clothing line and fragrance, L.A.M.B. "Harajuku girls are underground, so there's an underground, viral vibe to this event," she said.
Inside the Jam Van was a wall displaying the five Harajuku Lovers scents, packaged in collectible, doll-topped bottles, and a blown-up ad featuring Norwegian model Siri Tollerod. (The outside of the truck also featured the ads.) To tie in the fragrance's exclusive distribution deal with Shopper's Drug Mart stores in Canada—which the Financial Post called a "coup in the beauty sector"—lounge visitors received certificates for 1,500 Shopper's Optimum points with fragrance purchase. Media guests took away packed lunches that included tea sandwiches, pink popcorn, and dark chocolate cookies.
While Oglesby said the "viral effort" for the fragrance promotion made sense in Canada, a much bigger spectacle will be made in New York on November 27, when a Harajuku Lovers float is scheduled to appear in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
