How evokes a perfume?

It’s a big challenge to evoke the fragrance of a perfume. Everyone could see and judge the small bottle on the shelves or on the screen, but what about the juice itself? How the client could desire the scents? What are the best ways of communication?

Brand image and its ambassadors 

Let’s take J’Adore from Dior as a first example. Each new campaign is an event, even if they all keep the same codes: gold, celebrity, extraordinary and haute couture. Indeed, we find in the last campaign Charlize Theron in an haute couture dress, walking in the hall of mirrors at the Versailles castle as in the previous campaign and wearing the same necklace as in the first campaign. François Demachy, Dior’s perfumer-creator says “For a great perfume such as J’Adore, it’s the brand that expresses itself”. There is no olfactory storytelling where the fragrance is explained. The goal is to make an impact and get a message; the smell of perfume doesn’t really matters.

Jacques Polge Chanel’s perfumer thinks the same “A fragrance has to tell its brand, its modernity. If its universe is rich, what does it add? Each advertisement for the No. 5 or Coco Mademoiselle has its own identity, but all, by their atmosphere, their codes, reinterpret the overall vision of home. We should not give too many details on the fragrance.” The great homes do not give much importance to the fragrance of the perfume. They rely on their reputation and the history of their brands to sell their products. The important thing is to make dream the customers, make them want to wear perfume, not because it feels good just because they agree with the message. 

Some other brands do not necessarily try to tell huge and beautiful stories; they just use a classic “celebrity marketing” where the star and its image are sufficient to sell the product. This is the case for Burberry that chose the tops Cara Delevingne and Kate Moss as ambassadors to My Burberry. Another example is Givenchy who chose Alicia Keys for Dahlia Divin. One more time, we don’t see any flowers or storytelling about the juice. Some brands such as Paco Rabanne do not use “celebrity marketing” certainly because of a lack of budget, so they try to set a concept. For example, for One Million, Paco Rabanne plays on the topic of success and wealth with a touch of humor. Thus, no one of these brands make a reference to the smell, they keep some mystery about the perfume itself.

The fragrance first of all

But a new strategy is being born. This is a strategy where the juice is essential and at the heart of communication. The initiative comes from Lancôme that has launched a new campaign in 2014 for "La vie est belle". At first there is the classic strategy of "celebrity marketing" with Julia Roberts as an icon. But then we discover a whole new approach with a film dedicated to the evocation of the fragrance. The film tells the approach of perfumers, and explains how the different flowers and ingredients help to feel happier because the aspiration to happiness is the topic of the perfume. This is very unusual because the brands are usually much attached to assert their expertise and the history of their home. But it is a way to highlight the work done by perfumers and to legitimize the message. Then the perfume is no longer the simply reflection of a concept or a muse.  

This does not mean that big house like Chanel or Dior do not give importance to the fragrance itself. Most often the aspect of creation and fragrance happens in the background, often with internet sites dedicated to scent where the creator explains in some interviews the different scents and process development. 

So we can imagine that take fragrance in consideration could be the future way of communication for brands...
 

Article posted by Johanna

Sources: http://www.lesechos.fr/week-end/styles/0203749845630-comment-le-parfum-se-met-en-scene-1041791.php

How a perfume is developed?

The aim of this article is more understanding the creation of a perfume from raw materials to legislation.

A lot of raw materials could be used to create a perfume, an odour.

•  Flowers: staple of women’s fragrances. Most commonly used flowers are: rose, jasmine, tuberose, iris, violet, orange blossom, mimosa , narcissus and lavender.

• Fruits: Used to give modernity to a fragrance. Most of the fruit used in perfumes are citrus fruits and are a family called citrus scent. Most commonly used fruits (except citrus fruits) are: vanilla, melon, peach and apple.

• Woods, plants and herbs: Plant materials also include trees (cinnamon, sandalwood, birch) or resin (frankincense, myrrh, labdanum). The Virginia cedar, pine oil, patchouli, sandalwood and vetiver are among the wood often used in perfumery. Basil, mint and marjoram are specifically used in men's fragrances for they give a fresh, clean and uplifting.

• Animals’ raw materials: Six animal species are used in the manufacture of perfumes, mostly now in their synthetic form, for reasons of ethics and regulations: musk, a secretion produced by a male deer called musk deer and from Tibet; castoreum, from the glands of the Canadian beaver; civet, musk secretion of wildcat from Ethiopia; ambergris from the sperm whale, beeswax and hyraceum produced by the Cape Daman, a small mammal of South Africa.

• Synthetics raw materials.

Fragrances’ creation

There are different ways to extract fragrances.

• At first, the distillation technique:

The substances, thanks to warm, vaporize, and the vapour is harvested to create a liquid.

Flowers or plant we want to distillate are placing on a still full of boiling water.

Thanks to this system, essential oils will be collected and then be used in perfumery.

This is the major technique of traditional perfumery.

• The enfleurage process:

It is a process that relies on the power of fat to naturally absorb odours.

There are two types of enfleurage: heat or cold enfleurage.

Heat enfleurage consists on put flowers and leave it to brew in hot oils or fat.

The resulting mixtures are then filtered through tissue to obtain a fragrant ointment.

Cold enfleurage is used especially for fragile flowers (daffodils, jasmine…),and it’s consisting on spread a layer of grease smell on the walls of a glass frame, which is then covered with flowers. The flowers are renewed until the fat is saturated.

• Infusion:

It’s for dry matters. The matter is put inside solvents for a long time. But it’s not frequently used because it’s a very expensive technique.

• “Espression”:

This technique is frequently used. It’s reserved for the extraction of essential oils in the peels of citrus fruits.

These peels are cold pressed under running water, then filtered . The heat required for the distillation damage the intensity of these oils.

Distillation process

Legislation

In 1966, the fragrance industry has created its own system of regulation: a totally independent laboratory RIFM (Research Institute for Fragrance Material) was created and funded by the industry to determine the safety of fragrance ingredients.

The data produced by the RIFM about the safety and toxicity of fragrance ingredients are used by the International Fragrance Research Association (IFRA) to make recommendations to be followed by perfume creators.

The perfume industry operates in a legislative environment increasingly restrictive.

Animals’ products (as grey amber) are forbidden nowadays.

The recommendations of the IFRA becoming more and more drastic room and legislation perfumers department verifies systematically That Let The products accord with the guidelines of IFRA.

The Vienna Convention on Narcotic precursors is also involved in the profession of perfumer and some aromatic raw materials are considered narcotics.

Local regulations exist too.

In Europe the European Cosmetics Directive existing since 1967 covers all finished cosmetic products.

In the United States, the organization that manages many creative industries perfume is called FDA (Food and Drugs Administration). Australian raw materials are recorded by the AICS.

Sources:

http://tpe-mitp-parfum.e-monsite.com/pages/fabrication.html

http://www.parfumsetsenteurs.fr/parfums-et-senteurs/matieres-premieres-et-techniques/

http://tpeparfum.tripod.com/id26.html

Article posted by Marine

Marketing strategies: the lethal weapons for differentiation.

We have seen before that the fragrance market is a competitive one! Indeed, figures are impressing: more than 1300 new fragrance are launched every year.

Facing this reality, brands must find commercial strategies in order to differentiate themselves. If the trade marketing and the distribution channels are critical strategic points. Including the consumer behaviour in its strategy is a key factor in order to target a specific segment make the difference within this segment.

Understand the consumer behaviour

As the market is incredibly competitive, each fragrance must target its communication, according to the consumer desires, way of buying, values and the image that they would want to reflect. Fragrance manufacturer must play on two main boards in order to be attractive and differentiate themselves on the market.

The olfactory marketing : The fragrance become an expression of ourselves and its « performance » seem to be less important !

Brands play on the emotion of the consumer; he will buy the perfume without even smelling it! Each point of the brand communication must be deeply study. Indeed, if the customers identify the « pressure » and the association that brands try to push, he will reject the project. Worst, his association will be wrong and he will dislike the fragrance smell !

So, brands play on the projection of buying a fragrance which is associated to an advertisement campaign or even a brand image reflecting the values and the « want to be » of the consumers.

« I could not afford to buy a Dior suit but a Dior fragrance would be a good compromise »

Most of the fragrance manufacturers use this strategy because :

-                        -    Smell is a very subjective fact : people cannot remember or picture a smell. This is a neuropsychological fact ! They MUST associate the smell to an image in order to remember it. Playing on the customers emotions, brands make them associate the smell with a precise image, according to the segment they have targeted

-         -  Seduction, luxury, erotism and social valorisation are preexisting psychological motivation for everyone. Brands make people do links between the fragrance and those motivation.

« Hugo Boss Bottle night is your perfect partner of seduction »

The positioning strategy: who has the best offer? Who can justify its price?

This strategy is set up for a minority of people who do not make associations between their fragrance and the image of it that brands want them to have. The smell and the price become the most important criteria. They are also very sensitive to the effort that the manufacturer put in order to provide innovative product. This could be for the flavour or way of producing its juice but also for the innovation brought to the bottle. Discounts and boxes with additional products - such as after shaves, soaps...- are also criterias in their decision. 

Fishbein and Ajzen have studied this segment and say that unconsciously, people gives a « global grade » to the products, according to its most important criteria. This is a rational way of choosing and the most they find advantages, the most the grade will be high.

This segment of consumer is also targeted by luxury brands. In their grade, consumers could take into account the craftsmanship of the fragrance manufacturer, its investment and the effort that he pushed to have you as a customers. Moreover, if they feel that they made a « good deal » when they bought the fragrance, they become very loyal consumers.

  

Article posted by Neal 

What are the different touch points on the fragrance market?

A touch point is an influential action initiated by a packaging, a communication or a sensory interaction. We can define it as a message that literally « touches » a customer in some way. It’s a way to create the customer’s experience.

For the fragrance market, we can define tree touch points: communication, distribution channel and packaging.

The first touch point that we can identify is the communication campaign. Indeed communication in this market is very important because it influences largely consumer’s choice. Communication is done both through TV commercials, advertising campaigns but also displays in magazines. This is the first touch point with customers because they are often influenced by what they see on TV or by who represents a brand. With a good communication campaign brands can reach different consumer desire and then guide then to the different point of sale. 

Once the purchase is aroused the customer have to choice a point of sale, which could be selective retailing channels or supermarkets. Here is the second touch point, because the customer is looking for a certain type of service. In selective retailing channels customers are looking for some customized advices. They want a perfume that corresponds to their age or their personality. Because of the communication campaigns they often have an idea of what they want but they need the help of adviser to make the good choice. That's why it's really important to establish a sort of "identity card" for each perfume in order to fit with customer needs.

Last but not least, customers are a careful look at the product packaging. Before the scent, the packaging is the first thing seen by the consumer, it should reflect the image of the brand and the quality of the perfume. The packaging seems increasingly influence the choice of people in fragrance. The smell is not enough, either for personal purchase or gift.  According to some professionals, the chosen color is also important because it sends a message to consumers: orange for the vitality and energy, black for elegance, gold for glamor and silver for power. Professionals then emphasize their efforts to best match the target consumer choice. And when year’s end celebrations are coming, they create limited editions or collectors small box to awaken to new consumer interest.

So we can say that choosing a perfume is not really a rational choice but a choice based on senses and emotions.

Article posted by Johanna

Caracteristics of the fragrance market and impact on brand management

28,9 billion^[1] : this is the revenue, in dollars, generated by the sales of perfumes in the world in 2014. I am going to look into the specific characteristics of this highly profitable market in order to better understand the challenges the perfume brands have to cope with in their management.

The demand

• Size of budget and frequency of purchase

It is difficult to find hard data on these two elements even though we can assume the frequency of perfume purchases is relatively low. Indeed, the average monthly budget dedicated by a French household to the purchase of cosmetics products is 31€^[2]. Knowing that the term “cosmetics products” gathers skincare, hair products, make up, perfumes and toiletries, we can agree on the fact that the size of the budget is restricted and the purchase of a perfume keeps on being occasional.

This is a first constraint for the brands, knowing that the consumer will only buy their product once or twice a year and that as a result, the risk the consumer will be willing to take in buying a new product will be very low. In order to reduce the risk, brands distribute numerous samples for the consumer to try.

• A seasonal demand

Being an occasional purchase with a strong gift value, the perfumes sales are highly seasonal: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother and Father’s Day are the peak of sales.

The companies, in order to increase this gift value and to attract consumers toward their brand, often release limited editions gift sets with toiletries escorting the perfume.

• A geographical demand

The fragrance demand is very much influenced by the culture, the education and the combination of images and scent... to simplify, we can talk of a demand impacted by the geographical markets. To illustrate, let take the commercial success of Guerlain “La Petite Robe Noire”: third in terms of sales in France, it doesn’t even appear in the top 10 in the United States. If we stereotype the markets, Russia is going to be attracted to florals, Middle East to orientals, USA to chyprés, Asia to fruity florals.... Asia is also an interesting market to study because it has a little fragrance heritage and the usage of perfume remains low.

In terms of brand management, it means that fragrances companies have to adapt to local markets. Even though if big campaigns are going to be conducted worldwide, specific animations and extra communications need to be adapted to the country and its best sellers. 

The distribution

 

• Distribution and price

Perfumes are often distributed either in the selective retailing channels or in supermarkets. Depending on the distribution channel, the product sold won’t be the same: in supermarkets are sold cheap perfume by mass distribution brands. In selective retailing channels are sold the high end perfumes by luxury brands. It is not the same companies that operate in each distribution channel and the management is very different as well: prices will vary a lot (from 8 euros in supermarkets to more than 100 euros in selective) as well as the means allocated. In most countries, we can observe an almost monopoly of the selective perfumery obliging the brands to adapt to the retailers requests.

Source : Olfactorama.fr - Perfumes linear in Sephora Champs Elysées

The competition

 

•  A large and dynamic competition

One of the most important characteristics of the perfume market is the competition. The last can be fisrtly observed in the numbers of perfume brands present on the market: in 2010, 1160 perfume brands were carried by US department stores ^[1].

In addition to the number of brands, the competition arises on the number of perfumes available for the client to choose. In 2013, more than 1300 perfumes^[3] were launched !

The perfume brands have to cope with a diversity and a multiplicity of the perfumes on the market, making it difficult to be noticed by the client.

• Competition and Communication

In order to cope with this growing competition, brands have to communicate: beyond the scent, the image given to a perfume makes the difference. The top brands have enormous communication budgets with advertising campaigns not only on their new launches but also on their pillar range in order to keep a certain rank of sales. For example, the communication budget for Dior Parfums in 2013 was of 86,3 millions of euros^[4]. 

• A way to differentiate : the Trade Marketing

These last years, brands also invested a lot in the Trade Marketing. Indeed, with this out of proportion competition, brands need to adjust their management and increase their visibility. If communication allows a global awareness for the consumer, the Trade Marketing concentrates on the visibility on the point of sale, in order to attract the client and to create a customer experience that will build a relationship between the client and the brand. One of the most amazing examples of the creativity of the brands can be seen of the Sephora Champs Elysées, with the podiums installed by brands every two weeks.  

[1] Source : According to a research made by the NPD group in October 2014

[2] Source : Euromonitor International 

[3] Source : Michael Edwards, Parfums du Monde, Edition 2013, Editeur Michael Edwards and Co

[4] Source : Kantar Media Study in 2013

Article posted by Marie Lou Van der Houwen

Flash news ! Chanel is selling cosmetics and fragrance brand Bourjois to Coty

Originally launched in 1863, the company was bought by the Wertheimer family (owners of Chanel) in 1917. 

Bourjois, famous for its cosmetics, also commercialize perfumes : well-known for its perfume "Soir de Paris" created by Ernest Beaux who also created the N°5, the company is major actor on the mass market retailing with Clin d’Oeil and they also launched a more premium range, Glamour, in 2013. 

Source : Bourjois.fr

To read more about this subject, follow the link : http://online.wsj.com/articles/coty-inc-offers-239-million-for-chanels-bourjois-cosmetics-brand-1412686482

Article posted by Marie Lou Van der Houwen

Presentation of fragrance market

Some general informations about the market:

• Market growth rates have been averaging 2-3 percent over past decade
• Top four companies account for over fifty percent of global market share, whilst top ten account for seventy percent
• There is an increased demand from customers for “natural” ingredients as well as for performance and functionality of fragrances and fragrance ingredients, such as increased stability, controlled release systems, prolonged top notes, etc.
• Shortening end product life cycles
• Increasing oversight of quality standards and labeling
• More than 75% of men, and 90% of women buy perfumes

Fragrances distribution channels 

Selective stores: 

* Famous selective stores : These stores represent more than 65% of the global sales in this field. Since 2010, Sephora has been ranked first leading. On 100 euros spent in cosmetics (perfumes included), 26 euros are spent in Sephora stores.

* Department stores: Usually, brands owns luxurious corners in department stores (8% of global sales)

Online shops:  

Given the number of online shoppers, all the selective shops got their own website on which you can buy all the perfumes you want. This new retail offer is a real opportunity for retailers (Sephora website has 1,5 million of visitors per month).

Drugstores: 

They represent about 6% of perfumes sales. With a mid-priced positioning, they are between the selective shops and the large retailers. They differentiated themselves by selling more skins care cosmetics.

Large retailers:

Their offer is mainly composed by colognes and low quality perfumes and represents 15% of the global market.


Article posted by Marine