Behind Beyonce's Heat and Urban Celebrity Fragrance Deals
by Sheena Harrison
Beyonce’s musical talent made her an international superstar, and her House of Dereon line has turned her into a fashion mogul. Now that the diva has her own eponymous perfume, fragrance industry insiders say Ms. Knowles stands to add to her ever-growing financial empire.
Beyonce’s Heat launched on Feb. 10, putting her on a long list of celebrities who have their own fragrances, including Mariah Carey, Sean “Jean” Combs, Kimora Lee and Halle Berry. Heat was the No. 1 selling fragrance at its launch, generating about $3 million in sales within its first month in Macy’s stores, according to Coty Inc., the company that produces Beyonce’s perfume.
Coty is the largest fragrance house in the world with an estimated $4 billion in annual global sales, and creates perfumes and colognes for many of the fashion industry’s top names, such as Calvin Klein and Kenneth Cole. The company also has a roster of celebrity fragrances that include Berry, Jennifer Lopez, Phat Farm and Baby Phat.
Representatives from Coty could not be reached to discuss terms of Beyonce’s deal, and financial details were not discussed when it was announced in September. However, industry experts believe the megastar and the perfumer both stand to gain significantly from Heat and any future perfumes that Beyonce may launch through Coty.
“The offering from Beyonce was one of the most anticipated offerings for a celebrity fragrance and also carried a record-breaking promotional price tag to match,” said Matthew Melver, a Miami-based beauty industry consultant who has previously worked for Coty Prestige, Estee Lauder and Parlux Fragrances. “It got off to a great start.”
The fragrance industry is estimated to generate between $25 and $30 billion annually. Sales of prestige fragrances—those sold in U.S. department stores—totaled $2.48 billion in 2009, according to a release from the market research firm NPD Group Inc.
Melver says there is no typical deal for celebrity fragrances, but many stars receive royalties of 2 to 4 percent of the sold product. That royalty income, which is usually paid six to nine months after the fragrance’s launch, is often tied to promotional requirements for the star, such as doing media interviews and talk shows.
The amount of net income generated by Heat may be tempered by costs of promoting a perfume associated with one of 
the hottest names in the entertainment industry, Melver says. “With the yoke of one of the largest promotion budgets in history around it’s neck, we will see if the gamble paid off or just broke even.”
Sales from Heat will need to meet or exceed the product’s costs within the next year, or Coty may delay or choose not release future Beyonce-related fragrances. Melver says there’s reason to be optimistic that Heat will perform just fine since Beyonce is adored by her fans and the fragrance industry is approaching its fourth quarter, when perfume sales tend to peak.
It is believed similar deals have been struck for Berry, who launched Pure Orchid by Halle Berry through Coty in February, and Carey, whose M and Forever perfumes are produced by Elizabeth Arden.
Male celebrities who release branded colognes, such as Usher and 50 Cent, tend to fare well in the fragrance market – but men’s colognes only produce a fraction of sales compared to women’s perfumes, Melver said. “It is even harder for a male celebrity to be successful. This is mostly because of consumer psychology. Men do not typically affiliate with celebrities the way women are likely to.”
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‘HEAT’ Smells awful !!!!
[...] Beyonce just launched her new perfume, ‘Heat’, this February, but fragrance industry insiders are already predicting the move will pay off bigtime. Pop the hood to get an idea of just how much Mrs. Knowles-Carter stands to add to her ever-growing financial empire. Continue [...]
I’ll pass
Halle Berrys perfume smells really goood.
Heat wasn’t what I thought it would be and even though it’s only in EDP, its staying power is much less than the max 6 hours for a basic EDP. I thought the packaging lacked a helluva lot, reminded me of Isabella Rossellini’s first fragrance packaging- boring and red. The scent itself was trying to hard to be a dark and sensual scent but be flirty at the same time. A waste of money, even though it goes for such a low price.
I should have sprayed it on me first before i actually bought the perfume. That sh** smells like spilled ink!!!
I don’t know where all these negative reviews are coming from…..when Beyonce launched “Heat” in Feb 2010, it was the number 1 perfume and made $3 million in just three week of it’s release. Now, I haven’t sampled the colonge yet…but I will soon. Most of the colonges do not smell good to me…I like one of Jay-Lo’s perfume and Brit Spears…I don’t like how Mariah Carey’s or Halle Berry’s perfume smells. My favorite perfume of all time is Micheal Kors…by Michael Kors.
I agree with the last part of the sentence…..although the celebs gain even more fame and money from they’re endorsement deals, they are still “employees” who have to do what they are told in order to stay employed. As long as Bey is bringing in the big bucks…she shouldn’t have a problem.
Heat smells okay but nothing to talk about. It doesn’t stay on you long. It’s like a soft sent. I like perfume that stays. Perfume that others can smell on you and ask what are you wearing.
[...] Behind Beyonce’s Heat and Urban Celebrity Fragrance Deals by Sheena Harrison Beyonce’s musical talent made her an international superstar, and her House of Dereon line has [...] [...]
DEMON JUICE UGH!!!!!
yeah and isn”t Beyonce allergic to pefume???
I don’t think it has anything to do with celebrities affecting sales for men or women. Generally, women tend to wear more perfume than men, although that is not the general rule. I know some guys that have at least 10 different colognes, largest sizes too.
When I buy perfume, it has nothing to do with the celebrity on the packaging and I’m a woman. A lot of assumptions in the article.
On top of that, I used to sell fragrances at a number of stores in the west end of London.
People tend to go for what’s new or for something that smells nice. That’s why in a lot of stores they will spray you as you walk past, or spray a card with the name of the company on it.
To Proved It,
Even if Beyonce is allergic to perfume…that does not mean that she can’t promote perfume for those who do wear it.
Yeah these celebrities sure do have many fragrance deals. It’s a nice market.
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Stop supporting this garbage as a person. I am not taking it back. I mean it. She destroyed our women with that Independent song. As if we don’t need a man. But now she’s got a Millionaire. Go figure. Now women need women.
PARK, you poor sad little thing pls get some self esteem and learn to stand on your own with or without a man, they should compliment each other , B was rich before JZ, they work well together they compliment ea other , JZ didnt make B she was already an independent woman, something you obviously know nothing about, just do your own thing YOU’LL ENJOY LIFE SO MUCH MORE!!!!
Co-sign with BLKCAT, B was rich before she was with Jay-Z.
There’s nothing wrong with an independent woman saying she’d love to be married and have kids.
It doesn’t make her less independent, it makes her more of a role model to young women out there who don’t have one.
As women, we should bigging each other up, not tearing each other down.
(And don’t bag me for my original comment, it was on the perfume, not the woman herself. The article is actually about the perfume, remember?)