Submitted by YKONEAgency IPI Score 84/100

100 Years of Shalimar

Influencer Marketing

YKONE cast 15 tribe-segmented creators across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts to bring Shalimar's centenary heritage to younger audiences, generating 3.8 million reach.

3.8MReach
4.7MImpressions
32.2KInteractions

About the campaign

Shalimar, created in 1925 and described by Guerlain as the first ambery perfume in history, reached its centenary carrying the weight of a heritage that risks feeling remote to consumers who did not grow up with it. The challenge was to draw younger audiences into a century-old love story without flattening what makes it iconic, in a category where creator content cannot convey scent and the narrative itself must stand in for the product.

YKONE's answer was tribe segmentation: 15 creators, including @agathe_clement, @tiffanybouelle, @maralafontan, @may.berthelot and @cartonmagazine, were grouped into artists, icons and storytellers, with creative concepts tailored to each grouping while centralised artistic direction kept Shalimar's identity consistent across every voice. The logic was that a single dominant creator would skew reach too narrowly while an undifferentiated roster risks incoherence, and that audiences register content as native rather than advertising when it arrives through a creator's established aesthetic.

Each creator was briefed to immerse themselves in Shalimar's story and interpret it in their own voice, producing 46 story-driven posts across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts, including three Shorts on YKONE's own channel. The agency reports 4.2 million reach, 4.8 million impressions and 37,700 interactions at a 0.7 percent engagement rate, all self-reported figures.

Case in 60 seconds

Shalimar, created in 1925 and described by Guerlain as the first ambery perfume in history, carries significant heritage weight but risks feeling remote to consumers who did not grow up with it. At its centenary, the brand needed a way to draw younger audiences into the story without flattening what makes it iconic.

A single dominant creator would skew reach too narrowly, while a large undifferentiated roster risks inconsistency. Matching creator aesthetic type to distinct audience sensibilities, rather than optimising purely by follower count, allows a heritage narrative to feel culturally native to multiple communities simultaneously.

YKONE segmented 15 creators into three internal groupings, artists, icons, and storytellers, and tailored creative concepts per grouping while maintaining centralised artistic direction, so that Shalimar's identity remained consistent even as individual voices varied.

YKONE managed campaign casting, artistic direction, creative guidelines, and content production. Each of the 15 confirmed creators was briefed to immerse themselves in Shalimar's story and produce content in their own voice within those guidelines. The 46 posts ran across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, with three YouTube Shorts credited to @agathe_clement, @tiffanybouelle, and @maralafontan visible on YKONE's own channel.

According to YKONE's portfolio, the campaign reached 3.8 million people, generated 4.7 million impressions, and recorded 32,200 interactions across 46 posts. All figures are agency self-reported; no independent source has verified them.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Younger consumers who had little or no prior relationship with Shalimar, reached through creator communities with varied aesthetic preferences, from art and culture to lifestyle and fashion. The segmentation by tribe rather than by follower tier was intended to match tone as well as scale, so that each creator's existing audience would receive content that felt native rather than intrusive.
Centenary anniversaries can reinforce the perception that a brand belongs to another era. Leaning entirely on heritage risks confirming that distance; ignoring heritage to chase contemporary trends risks alienating the brand's existing equity. The campaign had to hold both simultaneously.
Luxury fragrance is sensory and experiential. Creator content cannot convey scent directly, so the narrative frame, the love story and origins described on Guerlain's own product page, becomes the product surrogate. The challenge was making a century-old story feel personally relevant rather than historically distant.
Guerlain positioned itself as the keeper of an iconic story and gave creators room to be interpreters of that story rather than product demonstrators. YKONE's portfolio describes the creative framing as enabling creators to "immerse themselves in Shalimar's story" so that content would be story-driven rather than product-forward.
Audiences are less likely to register content as advertising when a creator they already follow presents it through their established aesthetic. Distributing the campaign across 15 mid-tier creators with distinct styles, rather than concentrating on one or two large accounts, increased the probability that any given viewer would encounter the campaign through a voice they already trusted.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Instagram posts (primary channel)
  • TikTok posts (primary channel)
  • YouTube Shorts (video output, three confirmed on YKONE's channel credited to @agathe_clement, @tiffanybouelle, and @maralafontan)

Partners

  • YKONE (lead agency: casting, artistic direction, creative guidelines, campaign management)

Participation mechanic

  • Each creator received tribe-specific creative guidelines and was given latitude to interpret Shalimar's centenary story in their own voice within those parameters
  • Content was story-driven rather than product-forward, per YKONE's reported creative framing

Creator role

  • 15 confirmed creators: @agathe_clement, @maralafontan, @tiffanybouelle, @souk_and_pix, @blondinav, @may.berthelot, @annecharlottepontabry, @dianeperreau, @alexandraguerain, @cartonmagazine, @vicmonfort, @wendyswan, @felixradu, @amandine_gold, @tedskata
  • Segmented into three internal groupings: artists, icons, storytellers
  • Each creator acted as narrative interpreter of the Shalimar heritage story within centrally set guidelines

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult typeConfidence
Total reach3.8 millionReachAgency reported
Total impressions4.7 millionImpressionsAgency reported
Total interactions32,200Engagement (absolute)Agency reported

Why YKONE's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Centenary anniversaries carry inherent editorial appeal. A 100-year heritage story gives creators a substantive narrative frame, reducing reliance on trend-driven hooks that can feel thin or date quickly.

  2. 2

    Distributing a campaign across a larger number of mid-tier creators rather than a small number of large accounts can broaden audience diversity without sacrificing thematic coherence, provided creative guidelines are specific enough to hold the brand identity steady across varied aesthetic voices.

  3. 3

    Segmenting creators by content type, artist, icon, storyteller, rather than by follower count alone allows a brand to match tone and cultural register as well as raw reach. This is the approach YKONE reports using for the Shalimar campaign.

  4. 4

    Story-driven briefs that ask creators to interpret a brand narrative in their own voice, rather than demonstrate a product, are more likely to produce content that reads as genuine to an existing follower base.

  5. 5

    Using YouTube Shorts alongside Instagram and TikTok extends content life beyond the initial feed moment and creates a durable asset layer that can be revisited after the campaign's active phase.

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