Fragrance Focus | AI Influencers Face PerfumeTok Backlash As Brands Test Boundaries

Fragrance Focus

Here's what's happening this week in the world of luxury fragrance marketing:
- AI influencer pulled after PerfumeTok backlash; authenticity rules the room.
- Moroccanoil enters fine fragrance with Mediterranean lifestyle positioning.
- Le Labo’s City Exclusive window returns; plan scarcity and CRM.
- Ôrəbella launches Eternal Roots; Gen Z celebrity momentum.
- Body mists show steady 5% CAGR; masstige wallets open.

⏱️ Why Your Attribution Model Might Be Leading You Astray

At eTail Boston 2025, Fospha’s Chief Product Officer Dom Devlin joined leaders from Ahold Delhaize, Fleet Feet and Bonsai to tackle one of marketing’s most expensive blind spots: how brands measure performance across channels.

Too many brands still skew budgets toward the final click - because that’s the only place their reporting gives them certainty, all while under-funding the demand generation that actually drives long-term growth. Fleet Feet’s Tiffany Lee shared how cutting upper-funnel spend for just eight months saw new customer acquisition drop sharply, only recovering once awareness campaigns were restored.

Dom added another layer: the marketplace blind spot. Fospha’s data shows 42% of Amazon sales are influenced by non-Amazon ads - yet most reporting tools treat those sales as “organic,” meaning the channels that triggered the purchase never get the credit. Without that visibility, key growth drivers are left under-invested.

This is where Fospha’s Halo capability comes in - bringing DTC and marketplace sales into one Unified ROAS metric. It allows brands to see the true impact of channels like TikTok, Meta, and YouTube across all revenue streams, not just their own sites, and make confident, evidence-based decisions about where to spend next.

🔎 Read the full session insights to see all the panel’s takeaways on full-funnel measurement and closing marketplace gaps

📥️ Explore Fospha’s Halo Report to uncover how brands like Nécessaire used it to beat their Prime Day benchmarks by 47%

📌WEEKLY MUST-KNOWS

AI & COMMUNITY
Digital Communities Have Revolutionized The Fragrance Industry. But Will They Accept The Advent Of AI?
Slate Brands launched then quickly pulled its AI perfume influencer after PerfumeTok backlash, even as Prada and major fragrance houses double down on AI in creation and marketing. The push-pull highlights a trust and authenticity fault line that will shape creator partnerships, disclosure norms, and brand safety. Creators, niche retailers, and luxury houses are directly affected as AI use requires clear guardrails and messaging.

CATEGORY EXPANSION
Moroccanoil’s First Fine Fragrance Is Perfect For Chic Jet Setters
Moroccanoil debuts L’Originale Eau de Parfum with a Mediterranean lifestyle campaign featuring Adria Arjona, extending beyond haircare into fine fragrance. The move opens new shelf space, travel retail potential, and higher LTV via cross-category bundles. Competitors and retailers should expect more beauty-to-fragrance migrations and adjust merchandising and pricing strategies accordingly.

RETAIL & LAUNCH STRATEGY
Le Labo Releases Osmanthus 19, a Fragrance Rooted in Kyoto’s Soul
Le Labo opens its limited City Exclusive window in September, making Kyoto’s Osmanthus 19 available globally for one month alongside discovery sets. The scarcity model creates planned demand spikes, sampling, and CRM reactivation without permanent distribution. eCommerce, retail ops, and CX teams should prepare allocations, waitlists, and store eventing against a tight selling horizon.

⚡QUICK READS

I Tried Bella Hadid's Newest Fragrance, & It's Her Most Alluring One Yet: Bella Hadid’s Ôrəbella adds Eternal Roots (woody–fruity, Jérôme Epinette), signaling continued celebrity-led premiumization among Gen Z; monitor DTC and Sephora sell-through.(More)

Cologne For Men: An Expert Reveals How To Pick The Right Fragrance: Men’s fragrance education content is trending—deploy decision guides and solid formats to lift AOV and reduce returns across male cohorts.(More)

Body Mist Market Projected To Reach $14.0 Billion By 2035: AMR projects ~5% CAGR with North America leading; lean into naturals, collabs, and limited editions to capture masstige growth and younger wallets.(More)

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