• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, August 1, 2023

Burberry is introducing Goddess, its first refillable perfume, with a new marketing campaign starring actor Emma Mackey.

Mackey plays a proud and athletic Goddess in the spots, leading a pack of lionesses across a plain. It’s a different look at the young actor who plays the Nobel Prize-winning Barbie in the summer’s hottest film. Best known for her role as Maeve in Netflix’s “Sex Education,” she also recently starred in “Emily,” a portrait of writer Emily Brontë.

Burberry says the new fragrance, a blend of vanillas with lavender, comes in a bottle inspired by its archives with an updated gold medallion. This is the first time it’s made a fragrance refillable.

Burberry is a latecomer to the refillable party. As young consumers make more demands about sustainability, companies like Benigna Parfums, Giorgio Armani, La Bouche Rouge and Lancôme are already offering refillable options as a way to reduce impact. In Europe, while refillables are estimated to account for just 6%, industry reports say they are growing at more than 30%.

The launch comes as the luxury brand wrestles with challenging trends, including weaker demand in the U.S.

The London-based company recently announced its first-quarter results, with global sales rising 17%. Revenues gained in all regions, except in the Americas, where sales dropped 8%. Heritage rainwear and leather goods – particularly women’s bags – performed well.

Mackey will likely help Burberry as it continues to invest in efforts to engage with younger shoppers using social media tactics. “We achieved a record 20.8 million views on TikTok, with a post featuring our new blue rose print,” it says. And it supported a new swimwear campaign, “A Burberry Summer,” with window displays and pop-up shops worldwide.

The company also offered an update on ongoing efforts to spruce up physical stores, refurbishing 19 more stores in the quarter. That includes the New Bond Street store in London, which the retailer reopened in June.

With new immersive shopping experiences, offering womenswear, menswear, eyewear and shoes, the renovated shop has a stronger focus on leather goods. And it opened an additional store New York, while the 57th Street location gets an update.

Burberry says it remains on target to redo 50% of the store network by the end of the next fiscal year, with the project completed by 2026.