Story of A Scent
Storytelling and Customer Experience for the Perfume industry
When we think perfumes, we know that storytelling is going to be larger than life. The world of perfume is beyond what’s in the bottle. A perfume is tool for personal expression, a conjurer of memories and a mood-setter. Perfume shopping experience, for that very reason, needs to go a level deeper into being a sensory and tactile experience.
In this newsletter, we'll explore the art of storytelling across a variety of perfume brands, with a particular focus on emerging brands that may not have the same advertising budgets or celebrity backing as established houses.
1. World Building with Penhaligon’s Al Ula
I want to start with a review of one of the big ones. Penhaligon’s launch activation of Al Ula is a great case study in launching products of culturul relevance. You can discover the detailed review of the launch, below.
This season at Maison&Objet, as expected, saw some really innovative products from across the globe and categories. I am always excited about their curation- it serves as a perfect platform for new discovery for all cool things happening in the consumer, design and art space.
Big trends noted as follows:
2. Holistic wellness scents as a category
Black Fades: a dark & light journey to well-being
Winner of the European Product Design award, Black Fades, focuses on interplay of dark and light for their brand ethos. More importantly, the focus is on wellbeing and mental health. Speaking with the founder, I’m told how the brand was birthed in Hong Kong during the Covid-19 crisis, a focus on centering energies and hormonal balances using scents.
The brand's storytelling is centered around the care and craftsmanship that goes into every product, from the raw ingredients to the meticulously designed vessels.
While their scents are most definitely unique, what I love is their packaging and brand design: square candles, heavy to hold, cold as cement, centering like sitting on a cold piece of earth.
Check them out, here.
Nue Co.: Scent-Based Brain Boost
Nue Co. is taking their perfumery to the next level, using neuroscience to develop fragrances that target specific areas of the brain. Their products, like Mind Energy, are designed to boost focus, productivity, and overall cognitive function. So findings from their research tells us the following:
They use different scents can stimulate different parts of the brain.
Woody scents tend to be calming, while citrus scents can be invigorating.
Nue Co.'s Mind Energy fragrance has been shown to improve focus and productivity by 83% and 72%, respectively, after 32 days of use.
Øthers: Mood modulation Tech
This avant-garde brand is at the forefront, merging cutting-edge olfactory science with mood-modulating prowess. They have only created two perfumes, so far but their brand presence is strong. Really cool bottles and packaging, great copy and visuals, their digital experience is sublime!
Mystic Zingaro offers a deep sense of relaxation with notes of white cedar, green tea, nutmeg, cinnamon, palo santo, and sandalwood. On the opposite end, Red Skies is a vibrant elixir of neroli, orange blossom, iris, jasmine, cedar, and patchouli, designed to energize the body and mind.
More than just fragrances, Øthers' creations are holistic experiences. Additionally, divided into practices beyond the scent, such as journaling, meditation and daily ritauls, their wellness app complements each scent.
3. Perfumes as a gateway to art, music and literature
Ercit et Parfum
A brand that explores the essence of art through fragrance, in this, primarily literature - bonjour sapiosexuals!
By finding the intersection between various forms of creative expression- such as writing, painting, photography, and music- and scent, they expand intellectual experiences into the realm of multisensory engagement.
Their story-telling combines the literary and olfactory quite seamlessly. I just wish they had a wider range!
One of their fragrances Aimez-vous bergamote, is inspired by Françoise Sagan's book titled “Aimez-vous Brahms?”.
A mix of oddities coming together to create something majestic, it is a fragrance that was created with two unconventional combinations of citrus and leather, something they felt resembled Sagan’s anti-chronological writing flair.
DS&Durga
DS&Durga has stellar digital presence, which is augmented by their playlists.
Winner of the 2024 Esquire Grooming Awards, DS&Durga create a sense of the world that inspires their scent and then link it to a specially curated playlist.
4. Scent-as-a- Service
As a Marketer, I’m stoked about what NOS is doing! Their goal is to fix the problem of boring and overpriced brand scents. Don’t we all know those generic lobby or store scents, right?! Even though, this is a B2B service, its super relevant towards how bespoke perfumes can be crafted and marketed today.
Since 2020, NOS has been crafting bespoke fragrances that capture the essence of businesses using "Scent as a Service”, an AI-powered platform that detects inputs to understand the brand visually and verbally and basis the survey recommends
So, how does it actually work?
STEP 1: Decision-makers receive a digital survey with brand questions and submits images for AI-analysis.
STEP 2: NOS generates a scent brief which summarizes client-provided information and pinpoints olfactory territories aligning with the analysis results.
STEP 3: After approval of the scent brief, the NOS lab formulates a first scent version. If the client wishes to tweak the scent, it's possible. The final version should be a perfect reflection of the brand.
STEP 4: Production starts. Depending on the application of the brand scent, different timelines will apply. Perfumed Candles, Room Scent, Eau de Parfum, merch etc.
What’s really the use of a bespoke brand scent, you say?
There’s loads- starting with enhanced brand recognition, differentiation from customers, increased perceived value, positive brand association, to name a few.
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