City perfume series slogan

Le Labo, a niche perfume brand that does not advertise and refuses mass production, has won many customers' "rainbow farts". Why can it challenge the commercial monopoly position 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, China people's demand for perfume and fragrance has also changed with the upgrading of consumption, especially for some new middle-class women, who have higher and higher requirements for 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, and its popularity is even more equal. By August 3, 2020, Kloc-0, Xiaohongshu had written more than 10,000 notes about Lelabo, and his Weibo topic was read by nearly 10 million people. In addition, the brand also 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; Not deliberately publicized and exposed; The price of perfume is not grounded, and the most expensive bottle is nearly 1000 dollars; After Joe Malone, 20 14 was acquired by Estee Lauder Group ... What kind of "perfume philosophy" does Lelabo have, so that consumers at home and abroad can take out wallets for it?

Product strength is the real strength.

Refuse mass production and do not advertise.

In 2006, Le Labo was born in new york, a brand founded by two people. Although it was wholly-owned by Estee Lauder Group, this maverick brand has always maintained its own pace of development. The two founders have always believed that smell is always the selling point of perfume brands, which can determine how far an enterprise can go. Therefore, the two idealists abandoned the grandstanding model of the traditional perfume industry and gave Le Labo an idealistic trait that almost ran counter to the stereotype of the industry.

? Reject mass production

"Rejecting mass production" here has two meanings.

Since its establishment, Le Labo still maintains the average speed of launching a new perfume every year, releasing 18 major 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 used. Among them, the top three most popular perfumes 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 founder's interpretation of finding inspiration according to the personality of different cities and through the smell. Each smell is only sold in the city where it belongs, and it is not available in other cities, including online stores. At present, Le Labo city limited series * * * has 14 perfumes, 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 Le Labo in the physical store is hand-mixed and packaged on the spot, rather than being shipped to the store for sale after mass production in the factory.

In every store in Le Labo, the perfumer will talk to every customer who comes to the store, provide advice and taste, and then make perfume 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-stick 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 the major perfume brands invested huge sums of money in celebrity endorsement and marketing, Le Labo was quite Buddhist and chose not to advertise. Its product packaging is also casual and simple. Although there is no design at all, it is full of brand recognition. Le Labo believes that the emotional and brand information conveyed by enterprises is rooted in perfume, so he chooses to invest all his funds in 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 made 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. In addition, the language it describes does not use specific words to define the aroma of its own products, nor does it stimulate people's desire to buy in a sensational way.

Even more interesting is Le Labo's Instagram account, which is the same as the brand official website. There are no fancy pictures, but some of them are all black words on a white background. The old machine-printed fonts record what customers say casually 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 * * * 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 the perfume workshop, black shelves, lamps and lanterns, sink, white industrial wall and bar 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 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 laboratory, the original birthplace of perfume, and let them know the birth process of a bottle of perfume with the professional services and handicrafts of perfumers, so as to understand the strict requirements of the brand on quality.

▲Le Labo Tokyo Branch

In addition, Le Labo sells coffee in his own shop. In Williamsburg, new york Art District, Le Labo cooperated with La Colombe Coffee Roasters, also famous for its blue bottles, to open the first boutique Williamsburg, which is the first Le Labo cafe under the brand.

▲ Williamsburg boutique

Le Labo said that the brand will continue to cross the border in the future and plans 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 on the Internet, Le Labo allows customers to perceive products in a way that ordinary sales environment usually can't, and then understand the brand. In fact, product trading and word-of-mouth building are only natural things.

Contracted the care of luxury hotels.

Fei Meng, Bai Yue and Addison all chose Ta.

After being acquired, Le Labo began to expand globally. As of August 20 19, there are about 150 physical stores and distribution counters in Lelabo's high-end department stores. In China, only China, Hongkong and Taiwan Province Province of China have branches.

For a brand founded in 14, such a store expansion 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. Affected by 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 Le Labo as their designated toiletries, such as Fermon Hotel, Park Hyatt Hotel and Addison.

Not only that, Le Labo also cooperates with Le Meridien Hotel, new york ACE Hotel and Gramercy Park Hotel to customize the exclusive fragrance; 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. In addition to hotel cooperation, SoulCycle also has the function of sales channel, and you can buy a limited edition Le Labo travel package in the store.

▲ ACE Hotel X Le Labo store that blends with the hotel.

In terms of category expansion, perfume is just a medium of Le Labo. After being acquired, Le Labo launched a portable and compact aromatherapy cream; Subsequently, nursing brands with similar brand concepts launched two kinds of laundry detergents in cross-border cooperation; 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 professional knowledge, 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, Le Labo is a good example.

First of all, Le Labo is a very "personalized" brand, and its product packaging is very "rough", refusing to advertise and mass production, and customizing personalized labels on the spot. However, this "personality" is based on excellent quality blessing. Therefore, in the eyes of consumers, Le Labo's products have become synonymous with uniqueness.

Secondly, emphasize the "small" brand. This "smallness" does not refer to the pattern, but to "everyone has nothing" caused by its minority. Especially in the Internet age, 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 contributed a lot to Le Labo's success. 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.

This is not so much a niche market in A Le Labo as a deeper choice. This also makes its development exceed market expectations, and also makes the development of enterprises go further.