The Modern Emotions of Fragrance
Laurent Boillot joined Guerlain in 2002 as Deputy Managing Director in charge of Marketing, then three years later he was appointed Managing Director in charge of International Marketing and Guerlain’s Swiss Subsidiary. In October 2007 Boillot was appointed President and CEO of Guerlain, and since January 2014 he also took on the role of Executive VP of Make Up For Ever and President and CEO of a new LVMH cosmetics venture, Cha Ling. With a background in marketing and development, Boillot began his career in 1988 at the Havas Advertising Group, after graduating from the ESC French Business School in Rouen. In 1990 he joined the Unilever Group, working within the Elida Fabergé division, where he held increasingly senior roles within the marketing division, followed by a senior marketing position at Haircare, before joining Guerlain.
Here Laurent Boillot shares with us his plans for standalone Guerlain beauty boutiques, and the reasons behind the appointment of Angelina Jolie, who rather than simply fronting a new scent, has acted as a muse and source of inspiration for the luxury French fragrance house’s master perfumer Thierry Wasser.
Guerlain is a Maison that is deeply rooted in its French heritage. Many are aware that Angelina Jolie’s mother is French, but what would you say to those, the French press for example, who may question why you have chosen a muse that is not French herself?
Yes, our muse’s mother is French, and we feel that is already a strong connection. You are right, we will probably get a lot of people saying this, but it is not a problem for us, we feel at ease with what we have done. When faced with a question of this nature, I always say that of course we always strive to do better, but we are proud of what we’ve done as far as Guerlain’s concerned. So people might love it or people might say ‘why her?’ and we will live with it.
Having said that, with everyone we meet we tell the story of our muse’s connection to the brand. The story, which is not only that she has a French mother, is that she has a personal Guerlain story herself, which is just as important. There is nothing more moving than when she was telling me about the Guerlain powder that belonged to her mother. I have been with Guerlain for 15 years and I have my own personal Guerlain story, everyone has their own personal Guerlain story. Whenever someone is telling you theirs, you can see in their eyes there is something very profound, there is a strong emotional link. She has that and she gave that to us. That’s a very strong license for her to be able say ‘mon Guerlain’ because sincerity is part of what she wants to portray and that is true for us as well. When I was with my team and we came up with the name for the fragrance, it was not just some marketing gimmick. I said that she had come back to us and said: ‘I have chosen Guerlain,’ and we wanted to make this the manifesto. So, it was all very natural for us.
As you say, you have been with the brand for 15 years, you have made over 1,100 fragrances so far and have travelled to many places around the world. What is next for you and Guerlain after this huge project, and what do you still want to achieve?
If you go to 392 Rue Saint Honoré in Paris, you will find our boutique that opened nine months ago, and it is totally dedicated to fragrance and fragrance only. I’m not saying that cosmetics are not important, I just think that sometimes it’s better to exclude all other elements in order to glorify one precious thing. The boutique is a total tribute to fragrance, with 111 fragrances there. The feedback we have had is very good. When you look at this boutique you look at Guerlain’s future. The dream is that in 15 years from now we will have 120-150 concept boutiques like this all around the world. I am saying this because it is part of our story to be a retailer and not only a creator. I’m not saying we want to retract our product from Sephora as this is the reality of business, but that is the dream that is 15 years away.
As far as our muse is concerned, perhaps we can prepare for another dream after this one. I think it’s fair for us to say we have so many nice stories in different countries of people who know the perfumes of Guerlain and at the moment it’s an elite group. We could go larger and say that every woman and man of the world should have access to Guerlain, perhaps they won’t become customers but they should know who we are. Also, when I put on my competitor hat, I find it hard that we are leaving room for other niche brands to pretend that they are the Guerlain of the modern time. So, in that regard, we just want to take our seat back.
It is clear that you have produced an exquisitely emotional campaign so that you can tackle the senses of people before the propaganda and clutter of this over-crowded market get in the way. Do you think that people have lost their direction by focusing too much on the commercial and glamorous side if the business, instead of the true luxury, which concentrates on touching the emotions?
Your analysis is so right, and the temptation is to just follow the rules of the retailer or your neighbour because people say ‘they’ve done that, so this is what we should do.’ However, I really hope this project will be a success. Not just for the sake of getting more money for investment to expand, but so that we are able to say we can do things differently and we can touch people by being strongly emotional. What we’re trying to present is that the whole story of the project is about emotion, and it is without the intermediary people that give advice because they are smart or concerned with making trends. It really is the product of the output of our encounters and a few people that are passionate.
Even the photo we have chosen highlights this. I have been told before that ‘you will never make a successful campaign with a lady with no face.’ I have received feedback that the image is not ‘obvious’ enough or ‘not recognisable’ enough, and maybe with this image it is not so obvious who it is. But we are saying that everything we do does not have to go by the rules. Perhaps people will not recognise her, but our aim is not just to share that photo. We are sharing the fragrance, we are sharing the work we have done with this lady, and the story behind it all. So we decided that whatever the comments are, this is the photo we are proud to choose.
How do you describe luxury today?
At Guerlain, we have a view of two worlds, one is to create desire and one is to create a link and meaning. We have this strong motto which is in the name of beauty, and we have so much belief in the link we create with our customers. As long as there are still stories of Guerlain, we will be in good shape and will translate the next generations as a good company. Sometimes it’s like reading a book, some you throw in the garbage and some you keep and say to your friends and kids ‘you should read this one.’
I can feel your warmth and passion towards what you are saying and I can feel your honesty. Can you share with the readers how you would describe the world of Guerlain?
In many ways, I could speak forever because it’s something so important to us. There is the legacy of five generations, the retail concepts and of course the perfume. But throughout everything there is a strong feeling that is all about giving more than we receive. This company always thinks about this concept; ‘what am I giving? Am I giving more in quantity and quality to the next generation?’ That is what we are doing with the fragrance boutique, it is a project charged with emotion. There is a term in business strategy, ‘brand equity,’ and sometimes people just don’t get it and they miss the point. They think about things in terms of dollars and not in emotional value. If we could value the emotional power of the brand instead, that’s exactly the equity I hope Guerlain is building and developing for the future.
How would you describe your presence in the Middle East as Guerlain? What are your objectives in the near future, and how are you going to penetrate this market and educate the readers and potential customers?
This is a region that is so passionate about fragrance and emotional relationships and friendships, so we are actually so close to the mindset of these countries. Right now, we are known by some, but our strength is more in the cosmetics area. However, we have had good results recently on fragrances when Thierry Wasser, Guerlain’s Master Perfumer, developed Ambre Eternel and Santal Royal. Our great success with this shows that when we go to these regions we really listen and take great care to get things right, these fragrances took five years to develop.
Referring back to the concept of the boutiques, we also want to open boutiques in the Middle East. It’s fine that we are in Sephora, or department stores in the region, but we also want to be able to communicate the full emotion of the brand here as well. I remember I was with a hat designer once and he said ‘my dream is that everyone wears my hat in the street. I’m not doing something to receive a prize, I just want the people to wear my hats.’ We want women to wear our fragrance, many women in fact, whether that’s ‘mon Guerlain’ or one of the others. As well as our focus on emotion, we are super competitors as well. If we weren’t competitors, we wouldn’t be here 190 years since we began.
You strive to touch the five senses with Guerlain and always try to inspire emotion, so when you roll out the boutiques it is going to allow a new generation to interact with the brand on a closer level. As one of the gate-keepers of the legacy of Guerlain, tell us a message you would like to pass to this new generation.
They must give themselves more to the generation after them, things are going to become more and more about emotional equity. There is also something fascinating we are experiencing in the digital world we are living in, and we can see this clearly with what’s happening in the world of make-up.
There is one lady who is very well known, she is followed by 20 million people who are all rushing to see what she is doing. I think the more digital you are, the more real you need to be. I can see that when those digital ladies come into our place and see who we are in the flesh and blood, they can see we are making something very special. So Guerlain is going to ensure our heart is beating strongly no matter what the technology. We will use technology and we won’t deny it, but we will always associate it with real women.
What would you like to tell our readers when they read this conversation in our coming issue?
Please choose your Guerlain, whatever that Guerlain is to you. Create your own Guerlain story.
What can we expect from the future? You have offered baby ranges on some of your lines before and Angelina Jolie is a very well known for being a mother. Can we expect a ‘mon bebe Guerlain?’
I would say a dreamer should always dream one dream in advance. Once you have reached one dream it can cause a depression afterwards as you think ‘what now?’ Perhaps that’s just my personality but you think ‘ok you’ve got the dream, you need to go for one more.’ Right now, we are living the dream. But I’m really hoping that, with this lady, we can go beyond that fragrance. I cannot say more, but there is definitely something to dream of there.
By Lara Mansour Sawaya
