Clarins Bets On Crowdsourcing For Inspiration And Ideas

Clarins' Thierry Mugler perfume is betting there is an “invisible bond between women.” Womanity.com, the brand's website which launches today, invites consumers to generate ideas that will emerge as new products and populate store shelves.

The global campaign and online media platform center on a mosaic of tiles that will host community content – photos, videos, poems, and editorial articles. According to Ferdinando Verderi, creative director at WPP shop Johannes Leonardo, "The ambitions are very large. The brand is ready to become whatever the users want." And that could be anything from a new scent to jewelry, accessories, or clothing line.

The aim is creative input from a worldwide cohort of women – allowing visitors to the site to choose colors and use a “mood bar” that alters the Womanity logo according to community consensus. The aspiration is to enroll 2 million Womanity members in nine months.

Microsoft's MSN, a key online media partner, is responsible for editorial strategy and will drive traffic and contribute content. The launch will be in five languages besides English – including Italian, Portuguese, German, Spanish, and of course, French.

Mugler, originator of celestially successful “Angel” scent, is open to what crowdsourcing can bring to a media platform like this. A marketing flavor du jour – several large advertisers have asked audiences to spawn new marketing ideas and products: Unilever and Axe, Frito Lay and Doritos spots for Super Bowl. But in the luxury fragrance category, which relies heavily on DOOH, sexy models, and substantial print buys, it’s a rarer and riskier strategy.

The French beauty marketer is actively seeking new markets outside of Europe and the USA, and recently purchased Kibio – an organic skincare brand to push sales in Asian markets such Vietnam and Thailand. Clarins is also betting on community and female ingenuity to inform future product lines.

Joel Palix, president of Clarins in Paris, sums it up thus: "Luxury isn't just putting products in the hands of consumers anymore." Womanity will be an interesting experiment in raising the bar on consumer participation – albeit, a “mood bar.”