The tennis world’s richest player, Andre Agassi, has landed a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal to launch a new fragrance for Estee Lauder.
Estee Lauder – which will market the Agassi fragrance under its Aramis unit – hopes to revive its sagging men’s fragrance category with Agassi’s appeal as a down-to-earth jock and dad.
“Andre Agassi can open a new world for mass-market men’s fragrances,” said Tom Jullian, trend analyst with Fallon Worldwide. “He’s got good values, he’s charitable and he’s a new father – that’s a realness that can help revive the category.”
“Since Joe Namath made Brut famous, [the category] has fallen and stayed weak,” Jullian said.
Estee Lauder said the new Agassi fragrance, whose bouquet and name are still under wraps, would be launched around the time of the U.S. Open to capture Agassi’s global draw with tennis players.
Industry sources believe the tennis ace is getting more than $2 million a year for the deal.
Agassi already collects about $20 million a year as a spokesman for consumer giants like Nike, Canon, Schick and Deutsche Bank.