Essential Scents: Fragrance Business 2007

What do brands as diverse as Method, Febreze, Neil Morris Fragrances and Juicy Couture have in common? To the thinking of IFF’s group president of fragrances, Nicolas Mirzayantz, “Each clearly demonstrates that fragrance holds the unique power to turn a really good product into an iconic product.” 

Mirzayantz’ comments came at the opening of GCI magazine’s two-day "Fragrance Business 2007," taking place during HBA. From pet care to air care to fine fragrance, each of these brands employs fragrance to make emotional connections with consumers. 

“Human beings are driven by emotions—not by logic or reasoning,” said Mirzayantz, and then quoted Canadian neurologist (and Parkinson’s pioneer) Donald Calne: “The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to actions while reason leads to conclusions.”

Scent Insights

Febreze’s Martin Hettich described the brand’s expansion from fabric freshener to home fragrance juggernaut that encompasses plug-ins, aerosols and candles. Meanwhile, Method’s Suzanne McCormick and The Fragrance Foundation’s Rochelle Bloom each highlighted the great strides home, laundry and personal care products have made in using fragrances that increasingly trump fine fragrances in terms of creatively delivering the emotional impact of scent to the consumer.

Juicy Couture’s Marcy Fisher, explaining the brand’s recent move into pet care (shampoo, perfume and conditioner), described the need to tap into consumers’ affection for their pets. Niche perfumer Neil Morris put a fine point on the topic, explaining how the childhood memory of a storm rolling in over Cape Cod became the inspiration for his scent Storm.

Mirzayantz cited a number of additional examples in which scent’s impact has been exploited far beyond the perfume bottle. Westin Hotels, for instance, has launched a signature white tea scent across a number of international locations. Taking the fragrance-as-branding concept one step further, the fragrance is now being sold for home use. Mirzayantz also described an interesting scent-diffusion option—including a Summer Citrus Fruit scent—available in the new FIAT 500.

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