Secrets of Perfume Bottles 2

There are some brands out there with some really fabulous bottles and in this post I would like to highlight just a few of my favorites:

Thierry Mugler

Thierry Mugler’s avant-garde style has been successfully translated into each and every bottle design. His bottles create a touch of nobility.A jewel,talisman or curved flask - each bottle enhances the Muglerian scents. There is something space-age about the designs and they emulate the fantasy of the Mugler brand. For Mugler the bottle is a vision -crafting a bluecrystal star for Angel took more than 2 years to create.

Thierry Mugler’s avant-garde style has been successfully translated into each and every bottle design. His bottles create a touch of nobility.A jewel,talisman or curved flask - each bottle enhances the Muglerian scents. There is something space-age about the designs and they emulate the fantasy of the Mugler brand. For Mugler the bottle is a vision -crafting a bluecrystal star for Angel took more than 2 years to create.

Guerlain

Guerlain has always attached great importance to its bottles, which are like jewels, works of art, sculptures with rounded forms and precious, gilded colours. I discovered a droplet of gold in Idylle's bottle. A form at once simple and complete, a feminine form with a woman’s shapely hips, a form that soars like a tower, full of grace and sensuality.

Insolence bottle was created by French sculptor - Serge Mansau, who created theas three stacked, tilting half spheres, resembling a spinning top or spiral in movement to fit the fragnance's "olfactive spiral"structure.People had divided opinions on the look. Some found it innovative and beautifully shaped, while others thought it was too futuristic for Guerlain, or even a bit silly, often mentioned as the "dishes in the kitchen sink" bottle. Cardiet Design, a Parisian firm, filed a lawsuit alleging that Guerlain had copied one of their designs, but Guerlain maintained that the Insolence bottle was inspired by a sculpture Serge Mansau made in 1973, and Cardiet Design later dropped the case.

Cultural and Social Forces Affecting Perfumes Purchase

Smell is not just a biological and psychological experience, it is also a social and cultural phenomenon.  The choice of perfumes is a complex decision making process that the customer has to go through. There are different elements that marketing gurus such as Kottler and Keller recognized as consumer behaviors factors : cultural, social and personal factors.

Culture is one of the most major influencers in consumer behaviour. Consumption choices cannot be understood without taking into consideration the culture in which they are made. Consumer products and services are a part of the system of meaning. The system is often culturally shared and culture specific and it is passed on from one generation to another. One of the world’s largest cosmetics companies L’Oreal has realized the importance of tailoring products according to consumers’ culture. 

Family, social roles and statuses as well as different reference groups are some of the social factors that, in addition to culture, affect consumer behaviour. In terms of choosing the perfume one’s decision can be easily influenced by the fact that someone in the family has used the perfume before or simply has recommended it.  Social roles and statuses also affect the way people choose to buy or not to buy a certain product or a service. Therefore the  choice of a certain perfume distinguish one from the different social classes and gives other a hint on the message the person is sending to the society. Furthermore, personal characteristics also influence a consumer’s behaviour. Examples of personal characteristics include the consumer’s age, occupation, economic circumstances, personality, self-concept, lifestyle and values.Last but not least ,probably the most important factor while choosing the perfume is personality of the customer. It refers to the person’s way of living as expressed in activities, interests and opinions  that often reflect unconscious motives underlying purchasing decisions.

Perfumes show the personality of the person who is using it, or who are we trying to be that is why  personality is probably one of the most important traits while trying to identify why customers are choosing this and not the other brand .

References:

http://www.sirc.org/publik/smell_culture.html

https://publications.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/26464/Thesis.pdf?sequence=1

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/22/recession-cosmetics-lipstick

How Big is the Perfume Industry?

Have you ever wondered how big is the perfume industry? For a starter let me give you a number of new perfumes that were supposed to appear in 2011 – 800. Yes you are reading it just right – 800! Therefore you shouldn't be surprised by the next number I will give you in a second -the global market for fragrances is about to set to almost double from $17bn in 2010 to touch $33.5bn by 2015. Historically the perfumes market has not really been the most dynamic one- but nowadays it became one of the fastest growing markets .

Europe is a place that is associated with the largest worldwide market for fragrances and perfumes, and Europeans are known to be the finest connoisseurs of scents. Saying so, it can be easily assumed the European companies are also the one dominating the global market and produce majority of the world’s desirable brands. The international market for fragrances and perfumes is highly polarized and fragmented, given the extreme faddish fashion trends dictating the market’s fortunes. Key market participants include Avon Products, Inc, Bulgari S.p.A, Chanel SA, Coty, Inc, Elizabeth Arden, Inc, Estee Lauder, Inc, Gucci Group NV, Gianni Versace S.p.A, Liz Claiborne, Inc, L’oreal SA, LVMH Group, Procter & Gamble, Puig Beauty & Fashion Group S.L, Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation and Revlon, Inc.

Now you might want to ask yourself a question, are Europeans spending the same amount of money now as they were before the financial crisis? Customers were spending less money on the perfumes than before the crisis. Recession in both continents hit the perfume business as well as the other industries. But interestingly enough, emerging markets such as Asia –Pacific, Latin America or Eastern Europe became the major motor of growth for the global fragrance market.

And those markets will become so called trendsetters  in the perfume industry in the nearest future. The tastes of London, Paris and New York will soon count for little.

What we smell like in the future is more likely to be dictated by the customers of Shanghai, Mumbai and Sao Paulo. BBC ‘sepisode of the Perfume Series, The Smell of the Future, looks into the future of the global perfume industry. The exploding new fragrance markets Brazil and Asia (China, India, Arabic countries) dictate the tempo now and the industry giants, such as Avon, are heavily investing into shifting their production / marketing to these markets' tastes and needs. The emerging regions are becoming increasingly important not only because of the trends that they are dictating to the world but also because they account for almost one-third of global sales, nearly doubling in value from 2002–2007 to an estimated $9.3 billion.

Probably the most interesting case among the countries we have just mentioned above is Gulf region. Per capita consumption of perfumes in the Middle East, estimated at $380 annually, is among the highest in the world, according to a report by the Fragrance Foundation Arabia (FFA).

References:
a)http://www.ehow.com
b)http://www.articles.sun-sentinel.com

Guerlain - Brand Identity

A French perfume house, among the oldest in the world. Guerlain is among the few older houses that exist just to produce and market perfumes, It owes its name to its founder Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain, as well having as main characteristics its unique essence often said to be characterized by a common olfactory accord known as the "Guerlinade."

As Chanel, it has a large and loyal customer following, and is held in high esteem in the perfume industry.

This is not any more a private company, today, is one of the brands in LVMH, (Louis Vuitton, Moet, Hennessy) The world's largest luxury goods company, with many well-known brands, including Christian Dior and Givenchy.

Since its acquisition by LVMH, Guerlain has reformulated some of its classics, as a consequence of not being any more private, in order to be up to date in this competitive market.

Guerlain, has not focused their branding into one solely essence or perfume brand (It has more than 30!), their perfumes are characterised since the 19^th century, to have different names in honour to the specific socio - cultural situations lived through the time, as well representing familiar personages.

·  Eau de Cologne Impériale (1853) as a gift for Empress Eugénie, the wife of French Emperor Napoleon III.

·        Jicky (1889): Said to be named either after the nickname Aimé Guerlain gave to his nephew, Jacques- Over 120 years later, Jicky is still being sold, making it the oldest fragrance in continuous production.

·        Mitsouko (1919): Named after the heroine of the novel La Bataille by Claude Farrère, Mitsouko is said to herald the ending of World War I.

·        Shalimar (1925): Named after the garden in Kashmir, built by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, Shalimar.

·        Vol de Nuit (1933): Composed as a tribute to flight, celebrating the novel of the same name by pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Air France.

·        Samsara (1989): Composed by Jean-Paul Guerlain. The name is a reference to the cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth or reincarnation in Hinduism and many other religions in South Asia.

This way, Guerlain, not only brands itself as an exclusive brand and with original essences, as well tries to give a warmer feeling by associating his family and as well, trying to reach the customers, by identification of the social or cultural events at that time.

Below, the brand identity prism for Guerlain...

One important point, in their distribution channel, Guerlain, is one of the brands that has refused long time to sell its products in department stores, to avoid this way losing its exclusive market. As many other brands, Guerlain has extended its market to the skin care and make up market.






Source:

-        http://www.guerlain.com