Understanding the Marketing Exceptionality of Prestige Perfumes

1Moving from a luxury market to a ‘mass-luxury’ market

Quantitative evolution from 1985 to 2015

The market for prestige perfume has experienced a deep makeover during these last 30 years, an evolution of both size and complexity. A quick glance might suggest that overall things remain the same except for the normal slight, often-cosmetic and evolutionary changes, but actually everything has changed.

• The size of world feminine prestige perfume has increased more than fourfold (from $3.5 billion in 1985 to more than $15 billion in 2015,¹ particularly during the decade 1997–2007).
• The penetration of prestige perfumes has increased, defined as the proportion of women who say they use them regularly. In France, the increase is the change from one ...