The Art Of Tailor-Made Perfumes Part 1
Brand Story And Concept
This article is intended for perfume lovers and perfume professionals and it contains my insights about the art of tailor-made perfumes. To perfume lovers, it’s about the process of perfume brand creation as well as the creative and business aspects. To perfume professionals, it’s about the importance of balancing creative and business parts of the brand and thinking of consumers first and then adapting it to the requirements of a client.
Perfume is a really special product that sells with certain ‘terms & conditions’ only. Smelling is probably the only sense that we are not educated about, so we actually can't properly explain what we smell, what we buy and what we perfume ourselves with. We purchase by instincts, by feelings, by brand awareness, by lifestyle advertised and by recommendations and because we were convinced, in a good way, by a salesperson. So why do consumers prefer one brand over another?
I've asked many perfume professionals that work in the market for decades one question: "What is the most important for any perfume brand" and the answer has more or less been the same - “Brand Story and Concept”.
And yet, this still remains the most important and the most underestimated part of any perfume brand. That's why before creating a perfume brand and a ready-to-wear perfume we need to take into consideration a lot of details. For example, creating just amazing perfume composition but failing to create relevant and storytelling-inspired packaging is an inevitable collapse of the perfume.
Also, having an expensive perfume composition, expensive glass bottles from reputable manufacturers from expensive European destinations and uber-luxury packaging but failing to create a relevant brand story and retail presentation is a very obvious reason for failure.
There are many intangible factors as well like adhering to the current people's values, general social, economical and political tendencies, the popularity of one or another perfume ingredient, current best-selling perfumes, upcoming IFRA regulations, and many others that need to be considered.
It might seem like never-ending questions, provisos, limitations, and rules in creating a perfume brand. On one hand, it’s true. These things exist. But the flipside is that all of this is manageable and one just needs to know, understand, and foresee the outcome.
You may have the best intentions but if you miss even one single detail in the perfume process, it could be the reason for failure. For example, you may have really nice perfume compositions, bottles, presentation, marketing etc but you may not have realized that your perfume cap or sticker has some resemblance to another perfume brand. You may even never heard of it and never seen their packaging before but in the end, you have a similar cap or some other aspect of the packaging, then it would surely be considered as a copy, and that can be a huge drawback for any brand.
So, what to start from when you want to create our own perfume brand?
First of all, I advise to sincerely answering yourself to the following questions
- Why do you want to create a perfume brand?
- What is the main idea your perfumes would carry?
- What do you want to convey to people with your brand and its perfumes?
- What is the novelty that people will receive from your brand that they didn't receive from other brands?
Secondly, hire a perfume brand design company that will plan for you perfume brand journey (concept, design, packaging, production, etc.) and don't rely on just perfume manufacturing company. The latter does not possess relevant expertise and market knowledge, while perfume design companies have a wide network of connections and market expertise to create a 360 degree perfume brand experience.
A few more things to always remember.
- Don't copy - but be inspired by ideas, instead,
- Make sure your design is clear and speaks for itself
- Go for simple and big ideas
- Don't exaggerate or over complicate your brand and all its elements ( "Too much", "Too Big", "Too Expensive", "Too Luxury" does not work with niche perfume brands.. at least not right at the beginning!)
In niche perfumery, the rule of the thumb is that less is more. So remember to try and create a feeling of luxury and grandeur with minimalism.
Road Map to creation of brand
Usually, when clients ask us what the process of creating a perfume brand is, we share a brief map. And it consists of these steps
Brief
The very beginning of the exciting and challenging road. We will be gathering ideas, thoughts, emotions, memories, moods, inspirations and visions to put on paper and form structure to and bring identity to the brand. We will define objectives, attitude, competitive background, target audience, general feel and look.
Mood Board
Time to translate our brief into a visual and emotional perception to form a more solid idea about the brand concept, story, design and positioning.
Concept Design
It’s the final step in forming concept design and brand story. We will sharpen all raw edges of the design and start technical drawings.
Perfume
Exciting and very emotional step. We will brief perfumers and will be participating in constant refining and fine-tuning the scents until they become perfect and ready to become a part of the brand heritage.
Packaging
At this meticulous and responsible step we will choose suppliers for glass, packaging and accessories. Depending on the complexity of the packaging, suppliers may be from Europe, Asia, Middle East or other regions.
Filling and Packing
Final step before products will be shipped to end consumers. This step includes maceration (3-4 weeks). At this stage, we will consult you about distribution, marketing and brand strategy.
6 major steps that may take as long as 9 months at times. But yes, those are the important steps that we take. So as we’ve discussed the idea about designing the brand and covered briefly the roadmap to perfume creation, in the next article I’ll talk to you about packaging and perfume creation.
- Ivan Siarbolin
