Elizabeth Arden is one of the best-known fragrance and beauty companies in the world. Unfortunately, it has lost much of its relevance over the past 20 years. When Arden came to us, their objective was to revive their company for a contemporary consumer by creating a brand around Britney Spears. We isolated two targets: 14-18 year-olds, who love Britney, and 18-24 year-olds, who like her but have a more sophisticated, even cynical, view of her. The key to reaching, and engaging, these young women was to break from the category conventions using non-traditional communication channels and challenging creative.

A mysterious banner, on just five niche sites, tempted girls to input a mobile number and zip code. Those who did received an audio message on their phone only seconds later, from Britney herself! These teens forwarded Britney's voice message to friends, as well as multiple subsequent text messages, also from Britney, each one building greater buzz. We took great care that the voice mail and text messages were Britney chatting with fans rather than pitching to consumers.

Curious was the number one fragrance launch of 2004 and this century thus far. Almost 30,000 signed up for the Britney voicemail. AOL domination drove near 500,000 clicks in one day. "Curious was the number-one fall launch…and one of the biggest launches we’ve had – period," Debbie Murtha, SVP Cosmetics and Fragrances, May Company.