BBC Perfume Documentary - "The smell of the future"

The last episode of the perfume documentary investigated the smells of the future. The type of fragrance we like, normally depends on when and where we are. For example, Russians tend to like rich and heavy perfumes whereas the Chinese prefer light and airy fragrances and the Brazilians like fruity scents. Ann Gottlieb, the mother of fragrance, predicts global scents. She revealed that Asia is an important market for selling perfumes, different scents are region appropriate as they appeal to different cultures. Lynx/Axe is a body spray aimed at boys aged 16-25, Brazil love this product and from previous research, Brazil is the fastest growing fragrance market on earth. The latest craze in this country is fruity scented footwear, it is amazing how scent crazy Brazil is! 

Photo of Ann Gottlieb and model

The most successful scents are fresh, clean, fruity and tasty. Ann Gottlieb explained how smells have a different meaning in other countries. For example, in Europe, vanilla is seen as heavy, but in Brazil, they think of it as a fresh scent. Once Ann had created the new scent for Lynx, she organised two focus groups, one in New York and the other in Brazil. The first focus group was unsuccessful, they didn't collect reliable results. However, in Brazil, the results were as expected! They loved the fruity scent and Ann predicted correctly, men's fragrance is becoming more like women's and men love it. As a result of the focus group, Ann added more of a fruity scent to the spray and made it fresher. 

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BBC Perfume Documentary - "Bottling a memory"

Episode two was about the perfumers, how fragrances are actually made and what influences the scent. Some say that a fragrance should capture a moment. Many people have certain scents that they associate with people or memories. Christopher Brosius is a perfumer who embraces everyday scents and hates 'traditional' perfumes. One of his creations was the scent of an unwashed body, he asked customers what it smelt like and one of them described it as a sweet and spicy scent. Personally, I don't understand why someone would want to buy this scent but Brosius creates every smell. Christopher Brosius was approached by a customer who wanted a fragrance that smelt of England. Brosius took a trip to London and recorded smells such as piped tobacco, old coats, old books, whisky, pubs and transport. From his findings, it took him 5 months to create fragrances that reminded him of his trip to London and then he presented them to the client. Christopher Brosius's aim is always to create something that's more than a nice smell.

Perfumers for brands and companies have the difficult job, they are in charge of sticking to a scent and mixing the right type of solutions and the correct amount. Students who learn to be perfumers have 3 years where they aren't allowed to create any fragrances at all, they have to memorise all the raw materials and have multiple tests to examine their knowledge. 

Re-visit tomorrow for my thoughts on the final episode!

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BBC Perfume Documentary - "Something New, Something Old"

My next project for Fashion Communication and Promotion is focused on fragrance. We haven't been told much yet, but we will eventually be working in teams and creating our own fragrance, packaging and the marketing. As an introduction, we were asked to watch the BBC Perfume Documentary. Each episode focused on different parts of the industry, from specific brands to perfumers and perfume houses. So much goes into the creation of perfumes, I was unaware of the process before watching this documentary.

Episode 1, "Something New, Something Old" explores the perfume houses and investigates how important marketing is for fragrances. It is just as important as the smell. The main focus in this episode was the perfume house Guerlains. This house is based in France and they sell brand perfumes with ancient recipes. The biggest clientele is mothers, they aim to impress mothers so they can bring their children in - this is the best age to grab customers because if you attract them at a young age, you are more likely to keep those clients for life. Every Wednesday, the people of Guerlain meet to discuss recent affairs, there are secret mixes added to each of the fragrances. These recipes are kept in a book that has been around for decades (it even survived when the factory got bombed). Unfortunately, Jean Paul Guerlain made a racist remark on a talk show and his contract was terminated. However, the company remains open and and is run by someone else.

In New York, Mothers day is the most important day for fragrance. The American brand Tommy Hilfiger wanted to create a fragrance that connects with the younger generation. His main aim was to mix music and fragrance together. The brand began brainstorming around the idea of Rock and Roll. The next step was to get two perfumers to compare recent launches of perfume to see what is selling. Tommy Hilfiger commissioned the Ting Tings for the advert of the new fragrance 'Loud' (see above). The brand ambassadors were Daisy Lowe and Josh Beech, they both love music and are idols for the younger generation. During the fragrance launch, the project manager said that you can never predict full success in the business so it is very risky. 

Re-visit tomorrow for my thoughts on episode 2!

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