Business Opportunities Weblog

December 1, 2009 by Rich Whittle | 1 Comment

When the world’s largest fragrance company showed Halle Berry a prototype bottle for her debut perfume, Berry said no. The simple rectangular design failed to convey her personality., reports Forbes.

She suggested an imprint of waves on the back of the bottle–to express a connection to nature–and added rugged copper-colored rings–which resembled a bangle she was wearing at the time–to the bottle’s neck.

Berry’s first fragrance, Halle, debuted in March 2009 after two years of development–just as the economy was tanking. On March 9, the Dow tumbled to 6,547.05, marking its lowest point in more than a decade. Berry had her doubts about the timing, wondering if “now is not the time to be asking consumers … [to] buy something else.”

In fact, the sudden success of Halle by Halle Berry was seen as an anomaly in the challenged beauty market: In the first half of 2009, while fragrance sales fell by 8.7%, Halle by Halle Berry debuted as the best-selling fragrance at stores including Target , CVS, Walgreen and Kohl’s.

Halle bashfully demures when asked about her greater ambitions, but she understands that the key to her success lies in the ability to sell authenticity. “As long as I stay true to it and I’m always honest … then I think, in the long run, that just helps to validate my brand.”

Photo by arizonafoothillsmagazine.com.

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Tags: Celebrities, Cosmetics, Startup