Okay, so full disclosure: I know you’re technically a millennial if you were born after 1980, but I don’t believe that and also I don’t know who millennials are supposed to be anymore because if I am one, I am doing a bad job of it I think. (I mean, I use Emojis? But also I am too tired to do 99% of anything I’ve ever seen happen on Girls.) But okay. If you are a millennial, Dior is coming for you.
According to WWD, the brand is targeting the coveted demographic with the release of Dior Poison Eau de Toilette, which hits shelves today. (Or, technically websites — it launches in Macy’s, Macys.com, Sephora.com and Dior.com.) It’s been the subject of a mainly digital marketing scheme with a focus on e-commerce over IRL, and is the newest incarnation of the original Poison which bowed out in 1985. Last year, Dior launched Dior Poison Eau de Parfum — but it wasn’t sold in the US, so goodbye.
“They are sisters, but it doesn’t develop the same way on the skin,” explained Renaud de Lesquen, president and chief executive officer for North America, Christian Dior Couture and Parfums Christian Dior. “Poison Girl [Eau de Toilette] is edgier, it’s more provocative. She’s fresh, connected, and social. That’s why we decided to launch in a different way; to really target, recruit, and talk to the millennial.”
The perfume comes in 30-mL, 50-mL, and 100-mL sizes, retailing at $60, $78, and $100 respectively. The $60 price point was also meant to lure in millennials hesitant to drop $100 on perfume. Also, 60% of advertising has been digital.
“The millennial is digital,” de Lesquen continued. “We pushed the envelope quite drastically.”
And okay, cool! But also: do millennials really need to be marketed to differently? Let’s — for argument’s sake — stick with the story that I’m a millennial. (Born in 1985, hello how are you.) Am I really going to buy my perfume differently than everybody else? Do I need digital marketing? Probably, because I live on the internet. But I don’t need to smell like an edgy Twitter-user. I still like perfumes that smell . . . fine?
Between you and me, I’ll usually buy a new one to commemorate a #life #moment. Mainly because I want an excuse to shell out money for something I absolutely don’t need. And 99% of the time, that #life #moment correlates with the type of coat I’m wearing and what I feel like wearing at that exact moment. Truly, I buy perfume in the same “meh!” way I buy like, mittens. And if you tried to sell me a millennial mitten, I would wonder who you were and why this had happened to you.
But maybe I’m wrong! Maybe you’re a millennial who’s losing their shit right now. And if you are, go forth. Get that Poison, baby. Will I buy it? Probably one day for sure. But also I just bought Tommy Girl at Shoppers Drug Mart for $20 because I wanted to remember what it felt like to be 14, so maybe never listen to me about anything.