The project reflects the growing strength and importance of such online communities, as well as being a fun, innovative way to educate and engage consumers, according to marketing manager at CPL Aromas, Angela Stravrevska.
Readers of the online blog have submitted a number of fragrance suggestions, from which three will be chosen, taking into account the views and comments left by members of the site.
The three winning fragrance briefs will then be interpreted by CPL’s perfumers and samples of the resulting products will be given to members of the Basenote’s community for comment and improvement.
This is not the first project of the kind for the company which also worked with tourism organisation Visit England on a fragrance, By George, designed to capture the scent of the country in a bottle.
Education and appreciation
Although the direct commercial opportunities for these kinds of projects are limited - the fragrances created by CPL are unlikely to be commercialised and sold in large quantities - the exercise benefits the company in a more indirect fashion, Stravrevska explained.
Aside from the good public relations from the project, it also serves to educate consumers to appreciate fragrances in general, and Stravrevska drew parallels with the world of wine.
“With wines, consumers enjoy and discuss them; learning about the industry which drives them to search for new wines they can discover and enjoy. Fragrance is still a little more difficult to get in to.”
The benefits the sector could reap from recapturing, or instilling, an appreciation for the art of perfumery has been recognised by the Fragrance Foundation.
Set up in 1949 to enhance the image of the fragrance industry and expand the use and appreciation of fragrances, the US branch has recently launched an industry wide campaign to boost sales.
‘One drop changes everything’ focuses on the transformative nature of fragrance and is based on the silhouette of an atomiser with visuals that can be modified depending on the campaign.
Fragrance Foundation president Rochelle Bloom described the campaign, which will target occasional fragrance wearers and entice them to become fragrance fans who use the product more often, as a ‘unifying rallying cry’ for an industry that has been struggling with flat sales.
“In a declining retail environment, increasing sales by 2-5 per cent would have a significant impact on the total category,” she said.