• WSJ (paid subscription required), Friday, March 3, 2006 1 PM

Fragrance marketer Coty Inc., is jumping on the "Desperate Housewives" bandwagon and plans to launch a new perfume tied to the popular ABC TV show. The fragrance will be introduced this fall and has yet to be named, but if recent history is any indication, it will probably find an eager market. The show has established a cult following and spawned merchandise based on its characters. For example, viewers have bought "Dirty Laundry" T-shirts for $24.95, Bree's dishwashing gloves for $13.95 and Susan's Swarovski crystal ring for $42. The items are sold on the network's abctvstore.com Web site. "We've seen a tremendous response to 'Desperate Housewives' products made available to date, so extending the brand into the world of fragrance makes perfect sense," said Bruce Gersh, senior vice president-business development, at ABC Entertainment. The new fragrance is part of an effort by TV networks and production companies to find new revenue streams. "The entertainment industry is figuring out how to completely, synergistically turn these hit television shows into entire lifestyles," says Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University in New York.

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