Lelabo, a niche perfume brand that refuses to mass-produce without advertising, has gained a lot of customers' "rainbow fart". Why can it challenge the commercial monopoly of major giants?
From the early luxury brands such as Chanel and Dior to the rise of brands such as Diptyque, Jo Malone and Atelier Cologne, the demand of Chinese people for perfumes and fragrances has also changed with the upgrading of consumption, especially for some new middle-class women, who are increasingly demanding brand positioning, whether the image conforms to their own personality and identity, and whether the raw materials and smells of products are natural.
Recently, Le Labo, a niche perfume brand from new york, USA, is not only very popular in China, but also sought after by young consumers, with a similar popularity. By August 3, 20201,Xiaohongshu had written more than 10,000 notes about Lelabo, and the topic of Weibo was read by nearly 10 million people. In addition, the brand has thousands of recommended notes in Taobao, Baidu Post Bar, Douban and other communities.
▲ The picture on the left shows a screenshot of Xiaohongshu, and the picture on the right shows a screenshot of Sina Weibo.
There are no physical stores in the mainland; There is no deliberate publicity and exposure; The price of perfume is not grounded, and the most expensive bottle is nearly 1000 USD; After Jo Malone, 20 14 was taken over by Estee Lauder Group ... What kind of "perfume philosophy" does Lelabo have for domestic and foreign consumers to take out their wallets?
Product strength is the real strength.
Refuse mass production, no advertising.
Le Labo was born in new york in 2006. It is a brand founded by two men. Although it was wholly-owned by Estee Lauder Group, this maverick brand has maintained its own pace of development. The two founders have always believed that smell is always the selling point of perfume brands and can determine how far an enterprise can go. As a result, the two idealists abandoned the grandstanding model of the traditional perfume industry and gave Lerabo an idealistic trait that almost ran counter to the stereotype of the industry.
? Reject mass production
"Refuse to mass-produce" here has two meanings.
Since its establishment, Lelabo has maintained the average speed of putting on a new perfume every year, and released 18 main perfumes. The name of perfume is not fancy, and each perfume is named after the main theme. It will be followed by a number, and Ta represents the amount of spices. Among them, the top three most popular scents are Santal 33, Thé Noir 29 and Rose 3 1.
In addition to the basic models, the city limited series is Le Labo's most famous perfume series, and it is also a perfume series that many people compete to collect. This is the interpretation made by the founder through the smell, looking for inspiration according to the personality of different cities. Each smell is only sold in the city where it belongs, and it can't be bought in other cities, including online stores. At present, there are 14 perfumes in Le Labo city limited series, which are new york, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Moscow, Tokyo, Seoul, Dubai and China.
Moreover, before being acquired by Estee Lauder, Le Labo also extended other related personal care products, such as scented candles and bath products.
The second meaning of "refusing mass production" is that the perfume sold by Lelabo in physical stores is hand-blended and packaged on the spot, rather than being shipped to the store for sale after mass production in the factory.
In every store in Lerabo, the perfumer will talk with every customer who comes to the store, provide consultation and taste, and then mix the fragrance on the spot. Although Le Labo stipulates that every perfumer can't change the formula of making perfume, customers can boldly define their own perfume labels-write their own names and 23 words on the perfume package. This kind of "customized service" is well received by customers.
? Don't advertise, let the product speak for itself.
When major perfume brands invested huge sums of money in celebrity endorsement and marketing, Lerab was quite Buddhist and chose not to advertise. Its product packaging is also very casual and simple. Although there is no design at all, it is full of brand recognition. Leraber believes that the emotion and brand information transmitted by enterprises are rooted in perfume, so he chooses to put all his money into the production cost of perfume.
All Le Labo products are made of top-grade raw materials from France, the capital of perfume, and the rose petals in Rose 3 1 are all picked by hand. Each Le Labo perfume has as many as 400 prototypes, which are prepared by top perfumers.
Lelabo official website, on the other hand, has no gorgeous visual typesetting, and everything only serves the products. Its page often lists the raw materials of perfume, so that users can clearly know the raw materials of the perfume they buy and how to combine them. Moreover, the language it describes does not use specific words to define the aroma of its own products, nor does it use sensational ways to stimulate people's desire to buy.
More interesting is Le Labo's Instagram account, which is the same as the brand official website. There are no fancy pictures, some are all black words on a white background, and the old-fashioned machine-printed fonts record the casual words of customers in the store. A social account with extremely low operating cost has become a strong connection between brands and users, and Le Labo fans all over the world often find resonance in these words.
A textured industrial style
Let every store become a "laboratory"
The word Le Labo means "laboratory" in French. In addition to the "experimental" significance of product production and packaging. Since the first physical store, every store in Lelabo has been built into an open "perfume laboratory", and perfume workshops, black shelves, lighting lamps, sinks, white industrial walls and bars have become the standard of its stores.
▲Le Labo new york Store
In the "laboratory", the perfumer takes out the raw materials from the refrigerator, then mixes the perfume on the spot with a weighing pan, a dropper and a measuring cup, then pours the finished product into a transparent glass bottle, then labels it with the date, the name of the operator and the name of the customer, and finally puts it into a kraft paper box.
▲Le Labo Sydney Store
Product making, perfume bottle packaging, store experience ... Lelabo combines these elements and turns the purchase process into a project similar to a scientific experiment. The two founders hope to take customers back to the original birthplace of perfume-the laboratory, and let them know the birth process of a bottle of perfume with the professional service and technology of the perfumer, so as to understand the strict requirements of the brand on quality.
▲Le Labo Tokyo Branch
Besides, Le Labo sells coffee in his own shop. In Williamsburg, new york Art District, Le Labo cooperated with La Colombe Coffee Roasters, which is also famous for its blue bottles, to open the first boutique Williamsburg, which is also the first Le Labo cafe under the brand.
▲ Williamsburg boutique
Lerabo said that in the future, brands will continue to cross the border and plan to open restaurants or clothing stores.
Lelabo's success benefits from its excellent product quality and offline experience. Brands provide customers with a unique space where they can choose products and see how the perfume they buy is made. Compared with those who can't smell, touch pictures or get packaged finished products online, Lelabo allows customers to perceive products in a way that ordinary sales environment usually doesn't, and then understand the brand. In fact, product trading and word-of-mouth establishment are only natural things.
Contracted the care of a luxury hotel.
Fermon, Park Hyatt and Addison all chose Ta.
After being acquired, Lelabo began its global expansion. As of August 20 19, Lelabo high-end department store has about 150 physical stores and distribution counters. In China, only China, Hongkong and Taiwan Province Province of China have branches.
For a brand founded in 14, such a store opening plan is really slow. Even so, Lelabo has been injected with stronger development potential.
On May 1 this year, Estee Lauder Group announced the results of the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 as of March 3 1. Due to the epidemic, shops and beauty salons were temporarily closed, resulting in a decline in sales and profits this quarter. However, Le Labo became a strong growth driver in this quarter.
In recent years, many luxury hotels have chosen Lelabo as their designated toiletries, such as Fermon Hotel, Park Hyatt Hotel and Addison.
Moreover, Le Labo also customized the exclusive fragrance with Le Meridien Hotel, new york ACE Hotel and Gramercy Park Hotel; In the gym and locker room of SoulCycle, a famous American fitness chain brand, the toiletries used are shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, facial cleanser, lotion and perfume customized by Lelabo. Further than hotel cooperation, SoulCycle also carries the function of sales channel, and you can buy a limited edition Le Labo travel suit in the store.
▲ ACE Hotel X Le Labo store integrated with the hotel.
In category expansion, perfume is just a medium of Lelabo. After being acquired, Le Labo launched a portable and compact aromatherapy cream; Subsequently, two kinds of laundry detergents were launched by cross-border cooperation of care brands with similar brand concepts; Inspired by the open fire in winter and Edison's light bulb, we independently developed the fragrance diffuser. ...
It can be seen that as long as we find a foothold in our expertise, even minority brands can become more and more international in the big environment.
-Summary-
How can minority brands not be abandoned in the development of enterprises? In fact, Lelabo is a good example.
First of all, Le Labo is a very "personalized" brand, the product packaging is very "rough", it refuses to advertise and mass-produce, and customizes personalized labels on the spot. However, this "personality" is based on the blessing of excellent quality. Therefore, in the eyes of consumers, Lelabo's products have become a unique synonym.
Secondly, emphasize the "small" brand. This "smallness" does not refer to the pattern, but to the "everyone has nothing" caused by its minority. Especially in the Internet era, social platforms provide a "stage" for everyone to show themselves, and TAs urgently need unique labels to flaunt themselves. Le Labo's instagram account "stole" some interesting clips of customers chatting with shop assistants. The spread of copywriting not only satisfies consumers' desire for expression, but also enhances the brand value from the mouth of the third party.
Of course, the "gold owner" of Estee Lauder Group has contributed greatly to the success of Leopold. It not only provides more development possibilities for brands, but also provides reference and suggestions for large groups to treat and acquire other minority brands in the future.
It's not so much A Le Laboriki as a deeper choice. This also makes its development exceed market expectations, and also makes the development of enterprises go further.