shania.funurl.com

SMELLS LIKE SHANIA SPIRIT

.

By Sheri Block
CanWest News Service
March 7, 2005

.
CALGARY – If you love what Shania Twain sings, why wouldn’t you love what she smells?

Canada’s country superstarlette has become the spokeswoman for Febreze’s Scentstories — a special air-freshening machine that “plays” scents instead of music — and has just released her own disc of scents called Shania’s Wishes for Spring.

But there’s no music on this disc, which includes five tracks of scents such as “daffodils swaying in the breeze,” “hanging sheets on the line” and “breezes through the window.” (Just in case you don’t have your own window.)

Twain’s hit song Forever and For Always has also been featured on TV commercials for Scentstories, and a round of print ads are in the works.

“We selected Shania because we know her music creates a special mood,” says Joyce Law, a Febreze spokeswoman.

“Shania’s music certainly evokes a certain atmosphere in the space when the music is playing and very similarly, Scentstories also sort of offers this personal expression for your home through the sense of smell.”

While pairing Twain with an air freshener may seem like an odd fit, it’s not the first time celebrities have endorsed unusual products.

Wayne Gretzky has promoted everything from Tylenol and Ford to a clothing line at The Bay. George Foreman successfully launched a line of indoor grills, O.J. Simpson promoted Hertz, and more recently, Brad Pitt was seen in a television ad for Heineken.

“At first blush, I think you would agree that what does Shania Twain have to do with scents?” says Canadian-born Jonathan Holiff, president of The Hollywood-Madison Group, which recruits celebrities for endorsements, appearances and press campaigns.

‘Country girl’

“I’m guessing that they must have licensed not just her name and likeness, but also some of her music, because music and scent seem to combine nicely.

“I kind of look at it skeptically; however, as a marketer myself and someone who does this for a living, I would imagine what they were probably going for is the kind of ‘country girl’ sensibility of Shania Twain — which is kind of ironic, because she is more pop than country.”

Finding the right celebrity takes extensive research on the client’s product and demographics, says Holiff, as well as understanding what the objectives of the campaign are.

But do celebrity endorsements make a product successful?

“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” says Holiff. “There is clearly endless anecdotal evidence that that is true. The use of celebrities in advertising has been on a steady increase since the beginning of the last century.”

Not all celebrity endorsements have proven successful, however — for the campaign or the celebrity.

“Celebrities run the risk of being perceived by the public as doing anything for money at some stage, at which point the potency of their endorsement would clearly wane, but there are few such examples,” says Holiff.

He cites Celine Dion’s pairing with Chrysler as the worst celebrity endorsement in the last 10 years.

“They paid her $14 million, but consumers didn’t buy the car,” says Holiff.

Fired ad agency

“Sales lagged, and Chrysler/ General Motors fired their ad agency as a consequence. There was an example where I think that the agencies involved did not do proper due diligence.”

Debi Andrus, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, says in order for celebrity endorsements to be effective, there needs to be an appropriate celebrity matched with the target audience and product category.

Celebrities must also be trustworthy, credible and perceived to genuinely like the product they’re promoting.

“What people do is take the personality or the personal attributes that they respect in that person, like an entertainer or sports celebrity, and attach it to the product, that’s why it works,” says Andrus.

As for Twain and Scentstories, Andrus says the superstar might have enough credibility with her fans to actually make the connection successful.

But why would anyone care about what Shania Twain likes to smell?

“The reason why I’d be interested in what Shania Twain smells, or smells that are important to her, is because it makes me feel as if I know more about Shania because she has shared that with us,” says Andrus.

Twain will continue on her scented path with a new fragrance line she is developing for Stetson.

.