Blog Post 2: Ryan Klare

Target Audience

We all know that men and women want very different things. Companies are no different. To appeal to a different audience, you approach them in different ways. With something as gender and demographically specific as fragrances, the differences are even more clear.

Men

Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb 

Macy's website credits this fragrance for "infusing the masculine perfumery with dynamite" and claims it is "an explosion of sexty and spicy notes balanced by a blaze of extremely sensual and addictive tobacco notes, creating a fiery masculinity."

This type of description gives the buyer, a man, the feeling that this will make him more manly, or how a man is supposed to smell. The tobacco is a very masculine smell and one that most associate with a rugged persona. It appeals to Maslow's need of self-actualization in the sense that a man needs to re-affirm his manliness. The color scheme is a very dark slate and clean. It's a refined and simple look, with the shape of a grenade (extremely manly) giving broad appeal to most men. I see this marketed to younger men rather than older.

Women

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb 

Macy's claims this to be a fragrance that "is a floral explosion, a profusion of flowers that has the power to make everything seem more positive...giving the impression of living your life in your own secret garden away from reality."

I found this to be an interesting tactic. It seems like Viktor & Rolf assume that women are inherently unhappy and need pretty smells to make it through life. There seems to be an appeal to Maslow's need of Self-Esteem. They seem to make it out to be a key to happiness to buy this perfume. The marketing is extremely feminine, with pink playing a large part of the color scheme. I would assume this marketing strategy would be most effective on younger women.