Estée Lauder Companies has chosen Kosovo-born pop star, Rita Ora, as the face and social media maven of its new DKNY MYNY scent, which will be available exclusively in the UK at Heathrow Airport from 16th – 31st July 2014 and from travel retail locations worldwide, beginning August 2014.

 

DKNY MYNY, the latest addition to an already impressive scent stable is very much in keeping with the brand’s inextricable relationship with New York, MYNY once again captures the zeitgeist of the Big Apple, this time focusing on the people of New York and their connection with the city.

 

“We were interested in this idea that no one actually comes from New York,” explains Gabai-Pinsky. “But everybody comes to the city because they truly believe that it will help shape them into what they want to become, and that is super powerful.” Nowhere was this more apparent to Gabai-Pinsky and her team than in Brooklyn where a generation forced out of Manhattan to the more affordable neighbourhood of Williamsburg has precipitated an exciting ‘field of expression’.

 

“I was reminded of how this city is constantly reinventing itself,” she explains. “Thanks to this sense that anything is possible and anyone can achieve everything.”

 

A rich source of inspiration for DKNY MYNY, the brand’s Creative Director took to the streets to hear, firsthand, how New York City nurtures this ambition and self-belief. The result was an incredible collection of passionate testimonials that Gabai-Pinsky calls a ‘kind of love story’ between the people who live in the city and the city itself.

 

In a dramatic departure from the traditional simple ‘spritz and sniff’ approach to marketing scents, the DKNY team used these heartfelt vox pops as a ‘mood video’ and springboard to create a fragrance that was directly informed by what people had to say. What emerged was a scent created to be interactive not instructive.

 

“We absolutely felt we had to listen,” explains Gabai-Pinsky. “There was such a strong sense that it’s not just about us, it’s about them. We wanted to create both a scent that celebrated this relationship, this love affair and a platform for conversation, rather than simply saying ‘alright this is it.’’

 

The answer lay in digital media and tapping into the extensive network of social channels, including Facebook and Instagram, to spread the DKNY MYNY tagline, ‘Be a Part of It’. This idea of ‘hearing back’ and starting a conversation founded on a mutual love of New York City soon begged the question: how best to kick things off? Or more specifically, who best to kick things off.

 

Right and top: Kosovo-born Rita Ora.

 

The search for that conversation-starter led to the Kosovo-born, UK-raised singer Rita Ora. Handpicked by Donna Karan to front the fragrance campaign Ora is the perfect fit, enjoying a bond with both the brand and the city. “DKNY is a label I connect with because my mother was a massive fan of Donna Karan and always had her dresses in the house,” Ora explains.

 

“DKNY for me is a younger version of the Donna Karan brand. It’s fun and effortless and that’s exactly what the MYNY scent is too.”

 

Armed with her 10,000,000 followers on social media, Rita Ora is a powerful poster girl for DKNY MYNY.

 

The catalyst for Gabai-Pinsky’s online conversation, it is her story that anchors the fragrance’s digital platform, forming what Jeanette Liang, Executive Director of Global Digital Marketing for the Estee Lauder Companies’ Aramis and Designer Fragrances Division, calls a ‘portal for people to tell their own New York stories and be part of a global collective.’

 

To celebrate the launch follow @HeathrowAirport on Twitter.

 

For the full-length article see a future issue of TRBusiness.