Before it was discontinued, Avatar cologne by Coty was one of the most expensive fragrances due to its rarity, packaging, and brand positioning.
It is common for luxury designer brands to release fragrances that have a hefty price tag due to their association with the luxury brand, whether the price tag fits the performance and complexities of the fragrance in question or not.
One such fragrance that has continued to raise eyebrows due to how expensive it was is Coty’s Avatar cologne. This brand offers fragrances at every price point, with the more affordable fragrances touted in most instances.
However, the Avatar cologne is part of the luxury, high-end side of the brand. Aspects like its rarity, packaging, and brand positioning determined the cost of the cologne.
A brief look at Coty as a luxury brand
When Coty was founded by Francois Coty in 1904, he hoped that his fragrances would revolutionise the industry.
The first fragrance that he released was the La Rose Jacqueminot in 1904, which made Coty a millionaire and inspired how he would think about fragrance creation, not just from the point of view of creating a fragrance that smells expensive, but to also package and bottle the fragrances in materials that are expensive.
However, when his business was sold to Pfizer, the fragrances were sold through pharmaceuticals and drug stores, which affected its brand positioning.
But when Joh. A. Benckiser acquired the brand, the strategy changed to keep Coty in the top tier fragrance brands.
As a result, it currently operates under two divisions today: Coty Beauty and Coty Prestige, which offer fragrances at every price point through almost 40 separate brands.
Why is Avatar cologne so expensive?
With the understanding that Coty operates under two divisions, it can be understood that the Avatar cologne fell under the Coty Prestige category due to its high price point.
The fragrance, which was introduced in 1997, is classified as an aromatic spicy fragrance for men.
Its composition comprises four notes, namely, citrus and aromatic profiles, which are brought forward by the bergamot and coriander, and the fruity heart notes which are the blend of pineapple and woodsy notes that leave a lasting impression.
As such, the first reason for the expensive price of the fragrance is the quality of the ingredients that were used in the cologne.
This is despite the simplicity in its nose design, the cologne is still touted for its long-lasting and impressive projection properties.
Acquiring the type of quality ingredients which can offer this is expensive which informs the overall pricing of the cologne.
However, there are other factors that affect the expense of purchasing a bottle. This is as Avatar has since been discontinued and finding a second-hand reputable online retailer with the cologne is becoming increasingly difficult.
So much so that one fan of the fragrance has created a petition to bring it back. Other factors which affect the cost of this perfume include its rarity, packaging, and brand positioning.
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Rarity
As the term suggests, the rarer a product is, the more you create a sense of mysticism around it. Similarly, Avatar was released as a rare fragrance which was not widely available.
Coupling this with the high selling price of the cologne, it only affirmed why the fragrance was so expensive, especially since the scent was already lauded for its note profiles, longevity, and sillage properties.
Packaging
Another reason for the high price of Avatar is its packaging. Tracing back to the sentiments shared by its founder, which is that in addition to creating luxury fragrances, it is important that the packaging is just as luxurious.
Therefore, with Avatar, not only does it come in a collector’s bottle, but the bottle is refillable with ampules.
Moreover, the bottle was made from crystal and handcrafted, and both the material and the process of creating the bottle by hand affects the cost.
Similarly to how a haute couture custom made dress is more expensive than a ready-to-wear garment from the same luxury design house.
Brand positioning
Avatar by Coty was not released as part of its more affordable division, Coty Beauty. Instead it was released as part of the luxury division, Coty Prestige.
As such, besides just purchasing the fragrance, by buying a bottle you are buying into the luxury brand, especially since the fragrance was targeted towards more of Coty’s affluent and celebrity market, rather than it being targeted to the market that purchases Coty products via the drug store.