Thierry Mugler Angel perfume advert How perfume design communicates It is a question which we should ask more – should perfume or packaging come first? The design of a perfume’s packaging communicates via small elements such as name, font and colour selection. Textures on the box and accessories on the bottle complete the visual cues.This visual journey gives the consumer an expectation of the personality and quality of fragrance he or she is buying. However, it seems that many perfumes under perform in terms of fragrance. The fragrance does not match what the packaging is communicating. This can explain why so many perfume brands fail. This is particularly the case in mass market perfumes, but it can happen for luxury and niche perfumes too.. Sometimes the packaging is telling one story but the perfume is communicating a different story which undermines its credibility. The creative story of Angel perfume One could argue that the final name ‘Angel’, the blue box colors and advertising campaign don’t communicate anything of the fairground and therefore the concept is not clear. However, this perfume is not completely sweet, it has heavy notes of patchouli and oud. This concept may have started off in the fairground, but it finished somewhere else. The name Angel really has nothing to do with the original fairground concept. Often an original idea will lead in a different direction when true creativity is unleashed. Angel perfume itself managed to trigger enough fond past memories of sweet smells. However, maybe ladies attributed the sweet notes in the fragrance to other memories from their life. Let’s look at the extremely popular fragrance by Thierry Mugler Angel. The company gave a brief to perfumers to capture memories of the childhood smells of the fairground. For this reason notes of candy floss, caramel and chocolate are in the fragrance. The team combined this with patchouli to balance out the sweetness. This was one of the first major gourmand fragrances in the designer perfumery industry. For additional information about the brand development story read more here. Perfume design – a clue to fragrance intensity ChatGPT Let’s look at a famous men’s fragrance: Drakkar Noir by Guy Laroche. This classic Aromatic Fougère scent is bold, spicy, and rich. Now, imagine we packaged our version of this fragrance in a white or silver box. The deep, aromatic sensuality of the scent wouldn’t come across. Customers might subconsciously expect something lighter, fresher, or more aquatic instead of a strong, spicy fragrance. For mass market perfumery people often select the perfume after the new product development is completed. The question of ‘should perfume or packaging first’ can be forgotten in the rush to get products to market fast. Many mass market perfume manufacturers who are too afraid to take a risk will simply choose a top selling designer fragrance and ask the fragrance house to supply something similar. In designer perfumery the whole creation process starts with the concept and we give briefs to perfumers to develop a fragrance to communicate the essence of the idea.We develop packaging later to reinforce the fragrance message. This gives a more credible result, the perfume and the packaging are communicating the same story. We create a perfume to arouse memories and to communicate an emotion. Drakkar noir 1980s ad Explore perfume is selling very well in Africa Mass Market perfume design In West Africa one UAE export perfume Explorer has been a popular product. However, when you look at the packaging, it is extremely simple and there is nothing very special about it. The cap has been used time and time again by other fragrance manufacturers and the bottle is a simple square shape. But the reason why this brand sells well is the perfume. Extremely spicy and long lasting and if you spray it accidentally, then it doesn’t wash off your skin for days. Which is exactly what the market wants. A fragrance with this profile has a heavy price per kilo. The right fragrance drives repeat purchase In short, great packaging of a brand will persuade a client to buy first time, so it is a big influencer on decision making. But the fragrance itself cannot be overlooked and selected on a whim as a last minute thought, as this is the main factor which determines the likelihood of repeat purchase. Perfume factories should try whenever possible to ensure that the fragrance selection is reinforcing the packaging imagery and communication to achieve maximum credibility for the product. If you enjoy reading articles about perfume trends, why not try our article about the market growth in unisex perfumes. […]
Should perfume or packaging come first?
