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www.WebWholesalerMagazine.com FEATURES Air Play Fragrances
AIR PLAY FR GR NCES launched in September of 2011, a line of four oil-based, all-purpose air fresheners, backed by hip-hop stars, Nelly and the St. Lunatics. Cur- rently distributed in convenience stores, liquor stores, and through mass merchandisers, the air fresheners are sold retail and wholesale through
Airplayfresh.com, and produced by Superior Fragrances. The Air Play line
has been in the making for about two years. “We fi rst got started with Blu Bolden, COO of Derrty Entertainment, which is Nelly’s label,” says Jillene Docter, vice president of operations for Superior Fragrances. “The guys were very involved with choosing the fragrances, making sure that the for- mula is 100 percent safe for the environment and safe for people’s health. T ey wanted it to be compliant in every state. It’s very long lasting, and will defi nitely outshine any of the other air fresheners on the market.” T ere are currently four varieties available: Red Riot, which features a strawberry apple scent; Green Light, which is more of a fresh, clean fragrance; Blue Chill, currently the most popular, which contains a slight scent of melon; and Pink Sugar, which is a vanilla cashmere fragrance. “We had to have approval every step of the way,” Docter notes. “We fi rst put together a nice port- folio, put ing an idea in the hip-hop icons’ heads and throwing some suggestions out there. From that port- folio, the guys all sat down and picked out the basics. What colors do we want to use? How many diff erent scents do we want to start with? How many bot les do we want in our displays? What can look at ractive and still be small enough where convenience stores will put
it next to Five Hour Energy on their counters? In two years, we’ve thrown a lot in their direction, and they’ve sent a lot of ideas back.” T e care dedicated to packaging was a large part
of the process necessary in get ing the product on the market. Included in the recommendations was the idea to make everything black, Nelly’s favorite color, with small, clear hashes that go around and up the back of the bot le, so the user can see how much of the product has been used. Initially, Air Play plans on targeting the St. Louis market, where Nelly and the St. Luna- tics are based. Because they are local, the mem- bers of the group are able to do promotions for the fragrances, including dropping by certain con-
venience stores in the area that carry Air Play for a few hours to do bot le signings and hand out free samples. In addition, Superior Fragrances is working on local commercials, advertisements and billboards, as well as contests on the radio to give listeners free products. Many new companies have been hurt by trying to
move too quickly, and Air Play is going to take a city-by- city approach in marketing the fragrances. “Our goal is to hit St. Louis hard, get some products moving in this area, and then pick our next target,” Docter says. “We want to make sure that everything goes perfectly. We don’t want any fl aws because we’re representing some- body whose image is really important, so we really want to take it step by step and hit every channel that we need to, making sure we’re crossing our T’s and dot ing our I’s.” She adds that there may be additional scents or an expansion into other products.
Continued On 40 30 January 2012
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