Harajuku Lovers Dolls

Gwen Stefani was the lead singer in the popular 90s band No Doubt. On a visit to Japan in 1996, a trip around the city’s fashionable Harajuku district struck a chord with the singer, whose solo career would be heavily influenced by Harajuku style - best described as a distinctive blend of east and west influences, viewed through a pop-culture filter.

Stefani’s Harajuku obsession has inspired fashion and other product lines. The latest Harajuku product line was a new range of five collectable fragrances, called “Harajuku Lovers” from fragrance producer Coty Inc, famous for its celebrity perfume collaborations.

The fragrances, inspired by Gwen Stefani’s Japanese backing dancers, took the form of five collectable dolls, each named after a dancer and each with its own unique scent, style and personality. The challenge was to get teen girls to fall in love with the uniquely positioned Harajuku Lovers dolls and, crucially, collect all five fragrances. Coty needed to build a craze around the dolls and fragrances. It was vital to get teen girls immersed in, inspired by, and talking about the world of Harajuku.

More often than not for today’s teens, the most influential playground is the digital one. Crazes are now born and expressed online. The online world, through communities and social networks, has become the place for teenage girls to spend their free time, expressing themselves and interacting with their friends.

The solution was to identify and influence a group of “Harajuku Lovers”. Coty looked to develop an online fan base of influential teens who would seed the craze in the digital playgrounds.  Coty we ran an online Harajuku Treasure Hunt to win a £1,000 shopping spree at Topshop, the no.1 high-street store for the target audience. Five dolls were hidden across targeted websites, each holding a unique code. Cryptic clues guided “Harajuku Lovers” to search for the remaining dolls. Once they had discovered all five codes, they uploaded them to HarajukuLovers.com to be in with the chance to win. This was got users exploring the Harajuku world and personality.

At launch, an online campaign, packed full of rewards on favourite online and mobile sites, stimulated conversation and sharing. Excitement in the retail environment was a vital part of the approach as Coty wanted to stand out against the mass of fragrances in store. A Karaoke Booth road-show was created, where “Harajuku Lovers” could record their own karaoke videos in store, which were automatically posted to HarajukuLovers.com, for others to watch and comment on. Coty provided the inspiration and platform for fans to express their Harajuku love in their own way, on their own fan pages. This took the brand into the heart of their personal social networks, recruiting all of their friends to fall in love with the dolls as well.

After launch, Harajuku Lovers reached became the No.1 new fragrance for five months, measured by sales performance. Over 250,000 consumers interacted with the online advertising, with a further 50,000 on the mobile WAP site (5,000 of who went on to download wallpapers and screensavers).