Last Thursday, Me and my team went to London to do some research into different fragrance brands and asked employees what makes their brand stand out and what makes them different. The reason we looked at fragrance brands was because for our last semester, we are learning how to create a brand and its story. Fragrance is a sector in which stories are told through not just what it looks like, but also what it smells like so this is why I think our course wanted us all to look at fragrance and create a brand around it.
When we first got to London, we got dropped of on Park Lane and we then got the tube from Marble Arch to Shoreditch. Here we walked around to see if we could find any inspiration or even look for scent stores to ask questions. Walking around, we found many vintage stores which wasn't to my surprise as Shoreditch is known for its urban-hipster vibe. We then found two scent stores which were very similar but different at the same time. These stores were Aēsop and Le Labo. The main similarities between these were that they're both unisex and who's target consumers are mainly fashionable professionals. When looking at both their stores and their packaging, they are both minimalistic with a slight urban-rustic feel to them. When looking at the images below, you will be able to see the strong similarities.
We got a lot of information on the Le Labo store and the woman told us the story of the brand and that it was based around 'Wabi Sabi'. This means that not everything is perfect and that it grows in age. By this, she meant if the paper label got old and worn, it could enhance the beauty of the product and that getting better with age shows not everything is perfect but the scent. I found this a great story and interesting concept behind the product.
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| Aēsop |
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| Le Labo |
After going to Shoreditch, we went to Covent garden to go and ask questions and take some images of Penhaligons, Miller Harris and found a store we had never heard of named Atelier Cologne. Penhaligons was my favourite of the three as it was like walking into a lab of expensive beautiful and luxury scent. The store was a real experience. One thing I also noticed was that they had a scent mist breathing out of the store so passers-by could be enticed to walk in.
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| Penhaligons |
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| Penhaligons - outside of store scent mist |
I asked an employee what makes Penhaligons special and he replied that because it was family owned and is an important heritage to Britain, being in Covent garden it sets the scene for this and really shows the brand for what it is. This was really interesting to me and I thought would this mean its main target audience is British? and he said that it depends on a stores location who the target consumer is and that the Covent Garden store mainly attracts Middle Eastern Tourists. The Penhaligon experience is really one to remember and I would recommend anyone to go into their stores and try their beautiful perfumes.
The next store we went into, Atelier Cologne, was a beautiful store but is new to England as it is originally from France. The first thing I looked at was the packaging and I was not very impressed with the branding. On first glimpse, the logo looks like it's saying "Gtelies Cologne" I had to double check online to see what it was actually called as the font is misleading with a large-lower case A. Not good. For a scent which I could spend £55-£225 I think I would like to know the name of the brand I'm buying from. Other than this the woman who I spoke to inside the store was very helpful and behind the brand was an interesting story about a couple who found a gap in the market for colognes and created these with pure perfume and all raw materials. The quality of these products are amazing and the price range is really backed up by this. I then asked about the consumers and she told me that Middle Eastern customers prefer more of a woody scent and European and Asians prefer a fresher smell.
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| Atelier Cologne - Covent Garden Store |
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| 'Atelier Cologne' Brand name and font |
The final store we visited was Miller Harris. One of our lecturer's, Laura Quick, designs personalised bottles for them so this is why we felt it would be a great chance to go and have a look. This brand is a slightly cool and young brand with a street target consumer and the store was incredible, however, to me it lacked on showing off the product. They had one table with them laid out in neat lines which felt slightly boring to me as they have very simple bottles. Miller Harris is a British Brand who honour nature and the materials they use. The provenance of Miller Harris' materials is from France.
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| Miller Harris |
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| Miller Harris - Shop Front |
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