BBC perfume documentary - diverse future of perfume

The BBC series focused a lot on the future of perfume, and the ever growing styles that the industry is facing.

For a long time the industry seemed to be largely driven by the american/ western perception of nice smells, to which the rest of the world accepted and either brought into or avoided. Now the market is planning to expand a lot more, and wants to reach other parts of the world, and cater to their unique perception of scent.

It was clear in the series that regional scents are becoming more common place in the industry. Smells have different meanings in different places, due to different foods, products, lifestyles, and just general daily aromas. A good example that was used was the smell of vanilla, we may see this as a warm, rich and cozy smell, whereas in places such as Brazil vanilla is seen as a very clean and fresh smell.

Brazil was portrayed as being one of the key growing and target markets for the fragrance industry. With such a large population, and clearly a very different desire from perfumes, targeting to this specific part of the world is key.

The amount of intense research that went into catering to Brazils fragrance preferences was really interesting. Market research is absolutely key, and the series proved that when done right the research can be very helpful and essential. Research into Brazil for example showed that the country as a whole prefer a sweeter more 'tuti fruti' smell. The humid climate means that people want to feel fresh and clean when using the fragrance's, and with regular showers resulting in many more applications of the products, Brazil is considered the perfect storm for the industry.

 

Styles of scents are also big trends in different parts of the world, trends that are fast changing and very different to western styles. For example very successful Arabs are a big market for fragrance brands, and catering to their taste in the moment is important. Due to these tastes changing often, being able to predict the next big scent is key to catering to diverse scent styles.