LP Stragegic

Proposal
Megan Airey
N0504495

Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Introduction
Awareness
Launch Event
Celebrity/PR
Launch Event Leverage
After The Launch
Selfridges Case Study
Selfridges Pop-up
Conclusion

Introduction
LP as a brand aim

to offer a bespoke personal experience,

bringing music and fragrance together to create a stronger
sensory experience for the consumer. Our concept is based
on scientific research, known as Crossmodal Perception
that changes the way we think about smell, According to
psychiatric researcher, Daniel Wesson. He and [Donald]
Wilson repeatedly sent a mix of both odours and tones into
tubercle cells and saw that responses become 29 percent more
enhanced.1 Our concept involves 4 different pieces of music
being played to the consumer, the consumer then chooses his
favourite piece and in return receives the corresponding
scent suited to that music.

Whilst in London and Nottingham we took street style

photographs of our target consumer, as well as in
our home towns of Leeds and Manchester. We asked
each person we photographed their favourite artist
and decade for music to aid the progression of our
idea, we also did this at a gig we went to as we
found survey monkey wouldnt target our consumer
specifically. Out of the 60 people we asked, the
overriding majority said that 90s music was their
preferred decade, therefore we chose to theme our
advertising and promotion around 90s music culture.
Our concept fits with the current 90s zeitgeist, Ben
Perdue from WGSN states The ongoing 90s styling trend
has been fuelled by a revival of the UKs influential
Madchester music scene that first emerged in the late
80s in Manchester.2

Awareness

To raise brand awareness, as a new brand, we needed to do

something that would catch the publics attention. We would
begin small and create momentum. In the cities that feature
a Selfridges, we will place posters around the city centre
in places where gig posters would be found I.e. poster drums
and poster walls also around music event venues in order to
reach our target market. Next we will place pop-up vintage
style photo booths in the indie shopping districts of each of
the cities: The Northern Quarter - Manchester, Gibb Street
- Birmingham, and Camden and Shoreditch - London. These will
be where the public can try the LP experience and find their
scent. We will also do a pop-up band in the style of flash
mobs in each city. Where a band will form from within the
busy shopping crowd and play a well-known 90s song. These
stunts will draw attention from social media. They will
also be filmed for a promotional YouTube video which will
hopefully be shared.

Figure 1: Brixton 02 Academy

Launch Event

For our launch event we decided to hold a nostalgic 90s

gig that would be held in Londons Brixton 02 academy,
A venue associated with live music events, winning NMEs
best venue award multiple times. To stay true to our
concept, we decided to display 90s bands but also to
appeal to the younger generation, we will also feature new
upcoming bands.

To promote the fragrance we would have the promotional images

placed where they usually post gig and upcoming event posters
inside the venue. We would also place photo booths inside
around the building. Here the guests will be able to go
inside, listen to the pieces of music, choose their favourite
and in turn receive a sample bottle of the corresponding
LP scent, along with a gig style ticket, directing them to
Selfridges where they will be able to purchase the bottle.
We chose to use a sample bottle as at an event such as this,
a sample on a paper is easily discarded and forgotten about,
whereas a bottle will be put in the consumers pocket and
they will be reminded the next day of the scent. By doing
a music event, Not only are we creating brand conversion
by entertaining and engaging the consumer, but LP are also
launching into an additional market as well as the fragrance
one. In BBC documentary, Something Old, Something New, New
York Times perfume columnist, Chandler Burr states there
was 1200 fragrance launches in 20103 So as a challenger
brand, an underdog in the fragrance world, we have to take
a different approach by targeting our consumer through an
alternative market.

Celebrity/PR

Music bloggers like Pitchfork and journalists from magazines

such as NME, GQ and DAZED & CONFUSED as well as fashion and
fragrance bloggers will be invited to create publicity not
only through the fragrance market but also to generate buzz
in the music community and therefore increasing the brands
reach. To the launch event, we would invite 90s music
icons such as Liam Gallagher, Damon Albarn and Ian Brown,
using their influence to promote the fragrance. We would
ask them to try the fragrance experience and then share
the scent they acquired via twitter using the event hashtag
#shareyourscent. GQ editor, Dylan Jones states men are
concerned about status4 therefore using iconic artists from
the consumers youth, the consumer form[s] an attachment to
[the] celebrities, regarding them asreliable arbiters of
taste5 . Not only will this create a fanfare surrounding the
product causing media attention, it will also create a sense
of nostalgia for the consumer.

Figure 1; Oasis,
1995. Photographed
by Will Camden
Figure 2: Sergio
Pizzorno G-Star

We will assign Modus Publicity as the main PR company to

help LPs launch. With previous clients such as LOccitane
and Lee jeans, we felt that they had both experience within
the fragrance market whilst having the eye for a more indie,
nostalgic brand image by working with Lee Jeans. Notably,
they have also worked with Selfridges on many occasions. The
one that stands out for LP, as a brand heavily influenced
by music, is the 2013 G-STAR RAW X SERGIO PIZZORNO limited
edition collection, in which Sergio, of Kasabian performed
in store. Modus where also behind the Twenty8Twelve circus
themed pop up store to mark the in-store arrival of the
Spring/Summer 11 collection.

Launch Event Leverage

With the #shareyourscent running throughout the launch

event, inviting the bloggers, journalists, artists and
public who attend one of the LP Live gigs, to post what
scent they got along with their chosen song on Twitter. This
will entice people who didnt attend one of the shows to try
out the bespoke experience whilst the bloggers and online
press will also create a word of mouth buzz online about the
event.

After the main launch event, the promotional video will be

launched on to the LP Instagram page, alongside photographs
taken from the launch events, again engaging the consumer,
allowing them to share the images they are in and add
their own using the hashtag creating brand advocacy, also
the celebrity guests at the launch event will share their
own photos of the night, attracting an audience that may
not be as in touch with the fragrance market, but will
take inspiration from their idols. Taking inspiration from
Burberry Acoustic LP Live will be streamed to the LP
YouTube channel so the public can watch the event live, again
they will be invited to share this event and discuss it
across social media using the hashtag #LPLIVE.

LP Live 2014 - Catfish and the Bottlemen

LP fragrance

After The Launch

As the product launch was a press event for bloggers,

journalists and celebrities, we decided to host a range
of smaller gigs around the country. We have researched
venues around the country and came to the conclusion that
these would be held in various places such as The East
Village Arts Club Liverpool, The Cockpit Leeds, Rock
City Nottingham, The Ritz Manchester The Institute
Birmingham and The Electric Ballroom London, due to their
size, locations and heritage with indie music culture.
Compared to the main launch event, these will be smaller
in scale with two iconic 90s headliner and three or four
upcoming acts supporting them. Like the launch event, these
will all be streamed live onto the YouTube channel and will
each feature the photo booth experience. By holding smaller
scale events around the country, we are interacting with
a wider audience than just the cities with a Selfridges,
therefore not limiting our reach. These events, including
the main event and the awareness campaign will be done over
the time period of one month, keeping the consumer engaged
with publicity stunts and live streams.

Fragrance Lab Selfridges Case Study

On the 1st May 2014, Selfridges launched The Beauty

Project. The concept will last ten weeks, celebrating all
definitions of beauty6 There is an installation known as
the Fragrance Lab that similar to our concept, offers
a bespoke experience for the consumer. The Fragrance Lab
matches the customers with their own character, distilled
into scent7 . Mark Tungate explains that There is a
growing market for made to measure fragrances8 . The Beauty
Project, Created by The Future Laboratory and Campaign
with experts from Givaudin charge 65 for this experience,
including a 50ml bottle of your fragrance. LP offers a
similar experience at the cheaper price of 65 for 100ml,
however we have the USP of uniting music and memories.
In the Selfridges Fragrance Lab, the visitors fill in a
questionnaire about their personality and then experience a
personalised consultation. In comparison to LP, the process
of receiving your personal scent feels more pharmaceutical
whereas LP takes a more laid back approach. LP also allows
the customer to purchase any of the four scents individually
if the scent you are given is not to your taste, unlike the
Fragrance Lab where you pay for the experience despite the
fact you might not like the final scent.
We chose to sell our fragrance in Selfridges due to our
Mid- Range price of 65 for a 100ml bottle. Having only four
stores in London, Birmingham, Manchester city center and
Manchester Trafford center it shows how unique and limited we
are. Selfridges fits our brands concept as it continues its
commitment to providing customers with extraordinary retail
experiences. LP will host a pop-up shop for 2 months, it
will be a step back to the 90s which will be innovating and
interactive. The pop-up will include a 90s nostalgia video
game station, 90s vinyls for sale and a record player for
the public to select the music thats played. There will be
classic 90s TV showings in a room and it will also feature
the fragrance experience photo booths. As a brand we have
chosen to only sell in the United Kingdom, as a brand strongly
associated with 1990s British music culture, the message
of music and memories would not translate as well over seas.
Being a British brand and only selling in the United Kingdom
will strengthen the brand essence.

The First Twelve Months

Months 4-7:

As the initial buzz dies down and the popup store closes, to keep the LP Brand in peoples minds we
will look to our relationship with music. Around the festival
months in summer, LP will have a strong presence in at many
of the festivals around the United Kingdom. At events such
as Leeds and Reading Festival, Bestival, Glastonbury and V
Festival, LP will set up our 90s pop-up shop that featured
in Selfridges, allowing a relaxed area that festival goers
can escape to during the day. They will also get the chance
to try the fragrance photo booth during the day offering the
music fans a chance to freshen up during the day. At night
the pop up shop will turn into a mini open DJ tent in which
the LP DJ will play iconic 90s songs. The brands presence
at music festivals will maintain LPs links with British
Music, whilst keeping the relationship with the consumer
strong. From the brands festival experience, we will create
a promotional YouTube video that will build on the brands
music and memories brand message. This will also enable the
consumer to spot themselves in the video which will therefore
make it more likely that they will share this content
with their friends still building the brand - consumer
relationship.

Months 8-10:

The next few months will be used to promote

the fragrances. We will regularly update the YouTube Chanel
with what were listening to at LP, maintaining the links
with music, both new and old, using twitter to promote this.
We will host small gigs in cities across the United Kingdom,
using the fragrance photo booths to introduce more people to
the fragrance. Continuing the #LPLIVE to allow the public to
share content across social media.

Months 11-12:

In the final months of the first year, we

will collate all the video footage and images, both brand
created and user generated content, to create a one year in
video. This will allow the people that have been a part of
LPs journey to reminisce about, a festival, a gig or even
seeing a pop-up band form in front of them. This is not only
emphasising the brands message and essence, but it provides
an emotional attachment for the consumer that makes them feel
part of the brands story. As our product is based on the
current 90s zeitgeist, the current concept may not translate
through future trends. Therefore we will begin to look at our
consumer, asking them for feedback to give us inspiration for
our next idea, keeping our consumer key to the process.

Conclusion
LP as a brand aim

to offer a bespoke personal experience,

bringing music and fragrance together to create a stronger
sensory experience for the consumer. The brand image is
strongly centred around 1990s 2000s British music
culture, in particular the rock n roll and Britpop
genres. By focussing on music and memories in our
promotional attributes and twelve month plan we are able
to create memories both for and with our consumer. The
music events we help to create will not only be true to
LP as a brand and help to increase our manifestation
and presence as a brand, but using it as a promotional
tool will be entertained and therefore more likely to
engage with the brand, Consumers are an audience to be
entertained by commodities, where selling is mingled with
amusement9 .

Strenghts
-Our strategy

emphasises consumer engagement and is based

around building brand trust from the consumer.
-The people involved in our launch process will be
entertained, therefore associate the brand with good memories
and want to buy into the brand.
-The promotion concept Increases brands links with music for
the future
-Involvement of high profile celebrities from our consumers
youth emphasises the brands nostalgic image and tone.

Weaknesses

-Our promotional tools arent specifically associated with the

fragrance market and product, they are more based on promoting
the idea and essence of the brand
-Although the 90s trend is very prevalent now, we are
aware it wont last forever therefore we have decided this
particular product will not be a long running product.

Opourtunities
-There are opportunities

for future music collaborations ie.

Sponsor festival tent
-We can use the LP YouTube channel to promote unsigned acts,
we could run a social media competition in which unsigned
bands can send in videos of them and the public can vote on
the best to play at a festival.
-The consumer engagement builds a strong relationship with the
customer allowing them to provide us with feedback and ideas
for future products.

Threats

-Our high profile celebrities and music event may overshadow

the product at the launch, there will have to be a large
amount of promotional material around the venue
-As our strategy is highly associated around social media, we
have to be aware that the content we create may not be shared
-There is also the threat that the current 90s zeitgeist is
going to fade. This means the product may have a shorter shelf
life than intended.

Bibliography
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/oct/22/soundand-smell-create-harmony
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/making-scentsof-sounds-n/
http://www.moduspublicity.com/clients_modus/
http://www.wgsn.com
http://www.o2academybrixton.co.uk/Info/About
http://pitchfork.com/
http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2014/05/21/britpop-playlist/
gallery/1169424
Mark Tungate (2008). Fashion Brands: Branding style from
Armani to Zara. 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page ltd.
http://www.moduspublicity.com/twenty8twelve-pop-upstore-at-selfridges/
Something Old, Something New. (2011). Documentary.
Directed by Ian Deyner. London: BBC.
http://www.creativetourist.com/articles/shopping/
manchester/shopping-in-manchester-best-shops-in-thecity/
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/aug/05/
birmingham-cool-insiders-guide
http://birminghampromoters.com/venues/
Rosalind H. Williams (1982). Dream Worlds: Mass
Consumption in Late Nineteenth-century France.
California: The Regents Of The University Of Califonia.

References
1. Cassie Barton. (2012). How sound and smell can create
perfect harmony. http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/
oct/22/sound-and-smell-create-harmony.
2. Ben Perdue. (2013). Madchester: emerging menswear
trend. http://www.wgsn.com.ezproxy.ntu.ac.uk/content/
report/Trend_Analysis/Menswear/2013/August/madchester_
emergingmensweartrend.html.
3. Something Old, Something New. (2011). Documentary. Directed by Ian Deyner. London: BBC
4. Mark Tungate (2008). Fashion Brands: Branding style
from Armani to Zara. 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page ltd. 174.
5. Mark Tungate (2008). Fashion Brands: Branding style
from Armani to Zara. 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page ltd. 122
6.Laura Saunter. (2014). Selfridges Launches Fragrance
Lab. Available: http://wgsn-hbl.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/
selfridges-launches-fragrance-lab.html.
7.Laura Saunter. (2014). Selfridges Launches Fragrance
Lab. Available: http://wgsn-hbl.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/
selfridges-launches-fragrance-lab.html.
8.Mark Tungate (2008). Fashion Brands: Branding style
from Armani to Zara. 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page ltd. 161
9. Rosalind H. Williams (1982). Dream Worlds: Mass Consumption in Late Nineteenth-century France. California:
The Regents Of The University Of Califonia. 67.

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