Estée Lauder’s newest fragrance Sensuous is making a big splash in magazines and retail counters nationwide. In a never done before public relations campaign, Estée Lauder has partnered with Harper’s Bazaar for the magazine’s July issue. Bazaar is dedicated 40 pages of editorial spreads to Sensuous and the four Estée Lauder fragrance models, Gwyneth Paltrow, Elizabeth Hurley, Hilary Rhoda and Carolyn Murphy, who will all appear together for the first time in the perfume’s advertising campaign. The women represent beauty at every age: 20s, 30s and 40s.
Many in the magazine business are criticizing Bazaar for dedicated 40 pages of prime real estate pages to just one product. Boy, they really sold out — Hearst — didn’t they?” said Allan Mottus, a beauty industry analyst who publishes the Informationist, a trade publication. “You have to take your hat off to Lauder. It is an enormous coup,” he added. Estée Lauder insists that it did not pay for the editorials. Critics of this move speculate that other beauty product companies will follow suit by asking for special treatment such as the one being given to Estée Lauder.
But Ms. Carlin sent a statement from Harper’s Bazaar.
Bazaar issued a statement saying that “Like many magazines, we often feature celebrities to coincide with their beauty and fashion launches,” Alexandra Carlin, the director of public relations for Hearst Magazines. [NYT]
