Back in early March, a French fragrance brand called Thierry Mugler launched a global campaign to tap the female market. Its name? Womanity—a platform for women (and some men too) to connect, share, and discuss femininity. Well, 3,770 contributions and one scent later, the undertaking was successful––particularly for an industry that’d rather dictate taste than collaborate to develop it.
In the beginning, the brand hooked up with MSN.com to create the site––basically, a tool to crowdsource groupies hoping to fashion a new fragrance. However, it did acknowledge that the result may be something else entirely. Still, we couldn’t help but wonder, had it cast the net too wide?
To Thierry Mugler’s credit, the site is impressive both visually and technically. A mosaic of windows displays user-generated responses to the question at hand: “What does ‘Womanity’ mean to you?” Consumers replied (as they continue to) with videos, photos, and straight-up text.
While the mission was originally a little vague and branded content sparse (only a little appears in the stream), it pushes a positive message of female unity. So what did Thierry Mugler do with this inspiration? The brand created, as it says, “a finely hewn fragrance, whose facets reflect the infinite expressions of womankind.”
Yes, Mugler squeezed a new scent out of the clamor, but how much of the user feedback really influenced the final product? If its grand announcement was any indication, what’s developed captures the spirit of the gender: “a warm fragrance, sharp and sweet, intoxicating and profound, fresh” (sounds about right). Highlights include modest, recyclable packaging (green is the new black), a cutting-edge aroma, and the promise of future extensions (fashion items, new editions, etc.).
For crowdsourcing to work successfully, it needs a specific purpose. While Mugler seemed jazzed about connecting with internet-savvy fems––and certainly created the platform for it––we recommend it stay better focused for future executions.
