ITALIAN OUTDOOR BRAND INCLUDES SMALL LED SCREEN ON PACKAGING FOR NEW FRAGRANCES

October 13, 2021 by Dave Haynes

The Italian Skiwear brand Moncler has resorted to the gimmick of putting what amounts to a low-tech digital sign on the bottles of its new fragrances for men and women.

The woody, musky Moncler Pour Femme and Moncler Pour Homme both have messaging panels that can be updated via Bluetooth and a smartphone app. “This innovation allows you to write a personal note that appears in scrolling red letters across the bottle’s mirrored façade when activated by the Moncler logo-shaped push button in contrasting white (Moncler Pour Femme) or black (Moncler Pour Homme).”

The post adds how both versions of the fragrances are showcased in a “borraccia flask-shaped bottle, encircled with a ribbed silver case and cap – a utilitarian echo to Moncler’s mountaineering origins and the quilted construction of a Moncler jacket.”

“After several years of discussion, research and development, these two fragrances have come to life in a way that truly captures the essence of Moncler,” says Philippe Bénacin, Interparfums CEO. “With these two fragrances, even the bottle itself is a new adventure, a new spirit, and a new way of communicating – whether it is to write your name, a special message or anything you like.”

The fragrances are for sale at Moncler Boutiques and at Bloomingdales.

1,000 percent a gimmick, but it has the desired effect of getting some attention that maybe doesn’t happen if the product announcement is just about the scent.

It’s the sort of thing that can be done on fragrances that I assume have amazing margins, as in $10.24 production and packaging costs and $102.40 MSRPs. That’s a total guess, I’m not saying that’s the case here, but a quick Google search relates this sort of insight: “The liquid in the bottle is only 3% of the price. The rest of the price goes into the packaging, overhead costs and mostly into the marketing. So if you pay 70 dollar for your Armani, Hugo Boss, Gucci or Guess fragrance, you will only get a liquid that is worth 2$. Of course you need a bottle so in total you will get something of a value of 6 dollars.”

So adding a cheap little LED array would maybe add a coupla bucks. It could maybe also work on, let’s say, premium, boutique spirits. But it will be awhile before the costs would make this feasible for normally-priced consumer brands.

And maybe the bigger question is why?

It got and will get attention, so there’s that.