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World Perfumery Congress, Nice, June 2018 by Simon French

Friendly, Vibrant, Conflicted

The three words I came away with from this year’s WPC.
It seemed as though half the perfume industry of Barcelona was on the flight from Barcelona to Nice. Lots of hugs, kisses, handshakes and friendly chats. The other half was on the return flight!
This continued at the Monday evening reception. Conversations ranged from how long
had it been since people had seen each other, raw material pricing (better have another drink!), how we’ve all aged and what were IFF thinking buying Frutarom.

I settled in for the first session from Euromonitor and experienced the first of several occasions where I came away scratching my head a little.
We learnt US. UK and Brazil (by a long way) are the three key growth markets for fine fragrance.
Hannah Symons told us what consumers want. Simplicity, Purpose, Well-Being, Experience, Empowerment and Differentiation. That just about covers everything! I wonder if the consumer wants it all at the same time?
Euromonitor admits to being confused on what “niche” perfume brands are. Let’s be fair, so do most of us but we are constantly told niche or indie brands are driving the fine fragrance industry. I was therefore further confused a few days later the WPC, reading the Fragrance Foundation awards (FiFi’s), where only a passing nod was given to this segment.
Hannah acknowledged the growing trend in “digital scents”. Those companies selling their fragrances, or others’ online. The signs are this segment will continue to grow but again, no-one is really sure how, or how to track it.

The exhibition halls have expanded in recent WPC’s. More exhibitors and bigger stands from the major players. Some blurred into each other. Better signature and creativity is needed. I had to look up at the name of some companies to be sure who it was. I always wonder why some companies exhibit and who they are trying to sell to. Or is it to announce their existence. “Hey! remember me? Not acquired yet!”
Several stood out. Mane’s 3D entrance and ‘terrace garden’ was inviting and attractive. Robertet’s old French village was quaint and like some old French villages it took a while to find where the entrance was!
Firmenich was ‘there’, well placed and a little functional. Then deliberately or otherwise, right opposite was a huge imposing “G”. It was impossible to miss coming in or going out of the hall.
I have a feeling that was Givaudan’s idea. The stand was a little disappointing, looking more
like an airport lounge, adorned with huge mouths on the wall. A tribute to The Rolling Stones or Rocky Horror?
Hasegawa had taken the opportunity to announce to the Western world they meant business with an extremely charming, impactful stand, promoting Chinese and Japanese culture. Their
Chinese GM Simon Guan, hand painted and presented numerous water colours on the spot with fragranced paint representing the specific flowers.

I found it remarkable that the relationship between art, photography, travel and fragrance was a recurring theme through the week.
Nest founder, Laura Slatkin and CEO, Nancy McKay took us on a journey through the brand’s creation and how they created their Fine Fragrance line. What really interested me was how they used an artist to ‘re-create’ 19th century botanical paintings to inspire perfumers.
Master Perfumers Dave Appel and Emilie Copperman discussed Symrise’s “A World Tour Through Scent”. The inspirations and pressures of creating fragrances on a whirlwind tour of iconic locations using photographers and Nez Olfactory Magazine’s Mathieu Chévara.
Hasegawa, Nest and Symrise remind us this industry is such a unique combination of art and science. Plus, there are so many inspirations around us that can and do inspire fragrance creativity. We need that as do our clients!

Two presentations not to miss were from P&G – the world’s largest fragrance company, lest we forget. Master Perfumer Rafael Trujillo took us through the fascinating evolution of Tide detergent and its fragrance in US. He described how ‘The Smell of Clean’ evolved, influenced by consumers and the cultural events of the day, combined with necessary formulation changes. I couldn’t help but think that the smell of “Clean” is ultimately whatever P&G says it is and we better agree.

The presentation of Miguel Alemany (the head of Flavour & Fragrance at P&G) was both inspiring and a ‘finger wag’ at the industry. He made four forceful, eloquent points.
1. Excessive Legislation
2. Lack of Innovation, citing the (r)evolution of the mobile phone and why not for fragrance?
3. The chemical phobia of fragrance. The audience (and I) lapped up his “Benefits of Fragrance” and why it shouldn’t be such a red flag to some people and organisations. We have a greater responsibility to educate.
4. Lack of unity in the industry. This is really something that hit home with me, although, I saw some nervous glances when he mentioned trust and communication.

So what’s next for the Fragrance Industry? I don’t think the Congress really set out to answer that but instead, to pose the question and get us to take a long hard look at ourselves. We seem to be influenced by outside agencies rather than be the influencers.
I came back to Miguel Alemany’s final point on how, as an industry we need more unity. Then again P&G, as a major influencer, would say that. I do feel there is an opportunity to explore different business models and be better prepared for emergencies.

All that said, I came away feeling energised. The industry has changed since I first joined it all those years ago, but it is still a great place with great people with incredible untapped potential.
I even managed to get to Grasse, enjoy myself wandering around and visit the Perfume Museum.
I hesitate to say the Fragrance Industry is “on fire” as one presenter put it (there was some hollow laughs in the audience) but it is clearly vibrant and healthy.
To use a topical analogy, The Fragrance Industry is currently like a top professional footballer who has taken a few knocks but is confident with a breather, some treatment, he will be back and on top of his game soon.

Simon French, June 2018

 

1 Comment

  1. August 22, 2018 at 6:21 pm

    Thanks Simon for your report…
    Interesting observations…