• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer @mahoney_sarah, April 25, 2025

To engage Instagram- and TikTok-weary young women, personal care brand Billie is trying a fragrant twist in out-of-home advertising: It’s plastering posters of women’s armpits around New York, each with a scratch-and-sniff component inviting passersby to sample its new Coco Villa scent for all-day deodorant. A campaign like this is not unheard of — McDonald’s and Sure have dabbled in scent before, and AstraZeneca once “sneezed” on people for a flu campaign. Catherine Wolpe, co-general manager of the Edgewell-owned brand, tells CPG Insider why she thinks this stunt is worth sniffing out.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CPG Insider: You’ve got a new scent to introduce. What made you decide to do it this way?

Catherine Wolpe: A lot of brands are always launching new scents. We wanted to do something disruptive — something that felt different and true to the Billie DNA. We asked ourselves: What’s going to get people talking? What’s going to trigger a conversation or drive trial? The idea was to help people smell the product before they buy it, and our team came up with this really fun and disruptive way to bring that to life in New York.

CPG Insider: The old-school version of this would be scent strips in magazines or mall sampling. Why out-of-home?

Wolpe: Totally! We all remember those magazine scent strips. I used to pull them out of Vogue, rub them on my wrist, and feel very sophisticated at age 11. The technology’s been around, but it hasn’t been used much in out-of-home. Logistically, it’s tricky. But we have an amazing internal team that always finds a way to make an idea work. And this approach — showcasing women’s bodies in a way that sparks conversation — really fit how we like to show up. One filter we use for creative is: Would any other women’s personal care brand do this? If the answer is no, it’s probably right for us.

CPG Insider: Still, you must have talked about the potential gross-out factor. Not everyone wants to sniff a stranger’s armpit, even a two-dimensional one.

Wolpe: We talk a lot about where the line is. Some people might say, “Why would I put my nose in an armpit?” But we’ve found that what really gets a reaction is when women show body hair. That still surprises people — even in 2025. That sort of visceral reaction is part of why people talk about it. Some were excited about the idea, and some weren’t, but we hoped the concept would break through. This is just a very Billie way to do it.

CPG Insider: Young women are hard to reach — they don’t watch much TV, and social is so saturated it’s almost invisible. Where does out-of-home fit in your media mix?

Wolpe: It’s a channel we use selectively, usually when we have news that’s going to get people talking and circulating content. Billie’s always been a social-first brand, and that’s still where our core audience is. So we try to meet them there in different ways — some work is meant to be funny or shareable, some is about product education. We also show up in podcasts, audio, and streaming. It’s about finding the right message for each channel and making sure the content feels like something she wants to engage with — not something that talks at her.

CPG Insider: Why just New York?

Wolpe: We’re based here, so it was important for us to be able to see the ads and test reactions. And it’s a place where people tend to engage with this sort of thing — New Yorkers have seen just about everything. But more than that, this kind of activation is meant to travel far beyond the footprint. Our goal was always for it to be photographed, posted, and shared by influencers and fans.

CPG Insider: The execution must have been complicated. What happens if it rains? How long do the scent strips last?

Wolpe: We thought about all of that. We explored multiple vendors and ended up using traditional vinyls with sticker overlays, which allowed us to get the scent just right. We sourced a fragrance panel from our fragrance house and did multiple iterations to make sure the scent was a perfect match for the product. Posters are replaced every two days — or more often if something happens. There were a lot of details to work through, but our in-house production team nailed it.

CPG Insider: Coco Villa is one of several scents you offer. How do you think about managing the scent portfolio — especially with competitors like Native offering dozens?

Wolpe: We’ve got a bunch, across different retailers. Vanilla is always popular. Ours blends coconut, vanilla, and sandalwood. But we also offer muskier, floral, or fresher options. Scent is incredibly personal — what one person loves, someone else might hate. Our goal is a portfolio that feels complete, not bloated, and gives everyone a scent they’ll love.

CPG Insider: I’m guessing this wasn’t cheap. Can you share anything about the budget?

Wolpe: I won’t give you an exact number, but I will say it was hell of a lot less than you’d think. We’ve got some real magic makers on our team — people who’ve worked in advertising forever and know how to make an idea happen without overspending. We pulled this off for a number that would surprise most people.