New Stetson Cologne Reaches Out Through Gallantry

THE Stetson line of men’s fragrances is introducing a campaign for a new cologne on Thursday that it hopes will define a 21st century code of chivalry.

Coty, which created the original Stetson fragrance in 1981, developed the new cologne, Caliber, for men age 30 to 40. Through early December, it is promoting Caliber through digital and print advertising and a contest, all meant to encourage trial before the holiday shopping season. The campaign carries a “new rules of chivalry” theme.

The original Stetson fragrance, named after the creator of a popular 19th century hat worn in the American West, includes products like after-shave and deodorant; beside Caliber, the first new Stetson product in over six years, the line also includes two other colognes, Black and Sierra.

Mary Santangelo, director of marketing for Coty Beauty, U.S., described Caliber as “more modern” than the original Stetson cologne, with a “crisp, bright, clean fragrance that is more appealing to younger consumers.”

She said Stetson buyers traditionally have been men over 45. “We really have had such success with the brand, we want to bring it to younger consumers,” she said. Stetson products are sold in mass-market stores like Walmart and Target, and at drug retailers like Walgreen, CVS and Rite Aid.

According to Karen Grant, global beauty analyst for NPD, the market research firm, the Stetson brand has been among the top three sellers in men’s mass-market fragrance in the United States for over a decade.

In the past few years, sales of men’s mass-market fragrances have dropped more than sales of men’s prestige fragrances, Ms. Grant said. This has occurred, in part, because it is easier for consumers to test fragrances in department stores, where prestige fragrances are sold, than in stores carrying mass-market fragrances.

Steve Red, president and chief creative officer of Philadelphia-based agency Red Tettemer O’Connell + Partners, which developed Caliber’s campaign, said its concept was based on Coty’s traditional definition of “what the Stetson man is about, self-made, self-reliant, with integrity.”

To understand the mind-set of younger consumers who could be Caliber users, the agency interviewed young men, in all professions, on a road trip through the western United States.

“The modern cowboy really exists. The true-blue guy lives all over the country, he’s the kind of guy women love and guys want to be, self-reliant. He always has an answer at hand, is quick to help somebody, knows the right thing to do in every situation and lives by a code of honor always,” Mr. Red said.

Mr. Red said the agency’s research also found that “chivalry is still important today. Men and women believe in it.”

To define what chivalry stands for, the agency came up with “new rules of chivalry,” featured on a new Stetson website, introduced Thursday. One tip is, “When asking a lady on a date, a phone call is in order. Leave the ‘What’s up?’ texts for the dudes.” Another says, “Getting close is often a matter of smelling good enough to get close to.”

Two other rules: “Never make fun of a lady’s cocktail choice, no matter what the color,” and “Keep your eyes on her, not the bar TV behind her” — are featured in 15-second videos on the new website and YouTube.

The campaign also includes a full-page print ad in People magazine in November and in the December issue of Woman’s Day. Banner ads featuring the rules are running through the end of November on websites like AskMen.com and SBNation.com, and on mobile sites of Esquire and Men’s Health. There is also a contest whose grand prize is a trip for two to the 2015 South by Southwest music festival.

The new Caliber campaign is illustrated with black and white photography, which Mr. Red said “hearkens back to the classic Stetson man. It just felt straightforward, like him, no nonsense.”

Ms. Santangelo said the media budget for the new campaign was $1.5 million to $2 million.

According to Ms. Grant, “the young generation wants to ‘up their game.’ They aspire to designer and higher-end products and they want to be perceived as gentlemen,” which could make Caliber’s code appealing.

Marian Bendeth, a fragrance consultant in Toronto, called the new campaign’s “lack of sexuality and more politesse unusual.” She added: “The majority of fragrance ads for women and men go back to the sexual act or lead-up to it. This is just based on interaction.”

She predicted the campaign could “definitely affect a small percentage, but whether it will be the whole demographic is up for question.”

She also says it is aimed as much at young women as it is at young men. “The woman would like for the man to do things he doesn’t; his parents probably didn’t teach him how to treat women,” she said.

Yoram Wind, a professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, said it could be argued “that the Marlboro campaign for years with the cowboy was very successful because he was interpreted by many not so much as a cowboy as an independent.”

He said it was “an open question” whether Caliber’s pitch to a modern cowboy would succeed, since it is not clear if the cologne’s target consumer would relate to the rules of chivalry.

Irma Zandl, a New York-based consultant on marketing trends, said she was not optimistic the campaign would resonate with consumers. “The message of chivalry and ‘real men’ is interesting, but the execution strikes me as being regressive,” she said. “They are playing up old stereotypes about men and women. There’s no surprise, no charm, nothing contemporary or forward-looking.”