How the Internet Will Benefit the Fragrance Industry
by Michel Mane

To get people’s attention in this age of over-indulgence, one needs to engage them emotionally and experientially through images, sounds and scents. As products reach a plateau in terms of functionality perfection, the pleasurable aspect of their utilization creates the most significant point of difference. The future of the fragrance industry is a bright one indeed - provided it can enhance its ‘intellectual capital’ as its most enduring means of producing creative talent and consumer knowledge. Because, like any other prosperous industry, the fragrance industry will remain buoyed by a steady stream of new and meaningful consumer products.

We are moving into an era of dominance of knowledge-based products and services allowing their mass customization. Knowledge is accessed with computers and the Internet through connectivity and speed as increased bandwidth becomes commoditized. Companies are building learning tools to process an increasing flow of information to build knowledge and understanding, and create entrepreneurial opportunities that can turn into a huge market.

Customer Relationship Management is a technology that is complex to deploy, yet it offers great sustainable and long-term value to the fragrance industry. We are entering a phase in which we will know more about the consumer’s needs and preferences so that marketable solutions can be designed and recommended accordingly. The customers receiving preferential attention now feel considered more than mere shoppers, and the brands (marketers or vertical retailers) build an unprecedented level of trust and operate even more efficiently. As information portals link an increasing number of economic actors electronically, they provide the ultimate customized services and efficiencies (including lower costs and consequently access to more potential consumers).

In harnessing this knowledge, the fragrance industry can now develop higher margin products such as skin care cosmeceuticals for aging baby boomers or, and more importantly, expand the consumer use of fragrances.

FINDING NEW, CREATIVE USES FOR FRAGRANCES
Why indeed can’t we use fragrances for purposes similar to how we use images and sounds? Fragrances intrigue, they evoke personal experiences perhaps in a more powerful way than images and sounds do. An event can thus be identified with a fragrance, the same way a fragrance can reinforce the identity or bring a new identity to a brand whose primary objective is not to commercialize fragrances under one form or another. Those two types of olfactive communication are becoming more frequently utilized to enhance the shopper or exhibition visitor’s well-being and receptiveness, as well as to create consumer products and retailers olfactive logos.

In addition, a number of point of sale sampling devices, and computer-game applications associating fragrances to images, sounds and video have been proposed by several companies.

EVERYONE'S SIGNATURE SCENT
And why couldn’t fragrances become ubiquitous and mass customizable? Fragrances allow us to create our personalized universe. To mass-customize fragrances, the question becomes how can we empower ourselves to create the desired fragrance which will either match or change our mood to the desired one? It is not until the Internet develops as a real media to educate consumers and allow the diffusion of fragrances that the fragrance industry will enter in a new development era. Fragrance will then become truly ubiquitous and customizable, and its fields of applications will only be limited by our own imagination. The fragrance will be able to alert the user of an incoming message, to olfactively personalize and sign it. Fragranced banners will enhance the sensory experience of the web-trotters. Once the fragrance is integrated in the Internet technology, the consumer will ultimately be able to download the software driving the fragrance diffusion peripheral, access fragrance digital files encoding any type of fragrance, customize them and release the newly created fragrance when and in the universe of his/her choice.

THE ROAD AHEAD
France Telecom Research, partnering with Ruetz Technologies for the fragrance diffusion systems and the ISPICA for the fragrance design, is pioneering this futuristic communication technology. Yet, the challenges presented by the fragranced web are linked to :
1- mass produce a well-designed prototype,
2- sell this new concept and effectively price the fragrance diffusion system and the consumables,
3- design a system that can efficiently diffuse the right fragrance at the right time with the right intensity.

The challenges are thus hardware related. AC2I, Aerome, Aromajet, Digimage Multimedia, Osmooze, Prolitec, Ruetz Technologies, Scentair, TriSenx and other companies in Japan in particular are perfecting their proprietary diffusion systems. The technology which will allow the dry diffusion and mixing of a large array of primary scents will be the winning technology.

On a B2B viewpoint, such technology will further help fragrance designers work more closely with peers in other networked research centers around the world, as well as with consumer products marketers who will smell and comment on their perceptions all at the same time.

Simultaneously, electronic sensor technologies will literally smell an environment and digitize the ambiance. The resulting ‘olfacto file’ will then be decrypted and the scented environment restituted on demand.

BACK TO BUSINESS...
NOT AS USUAL
Business to Consumer applications are potentially numerous, but an even more significant use of the Internet lies in the capabilities to conduct Business to Business online transactions.

The growth of the fragrance industry in terms of value is expected to be slower than in the past several years due largely to pricing pressures applied by large multinational marketers and retailers leveraging their purchasing power. The Internet provides the technology to reduce costs of doing business securely and conveniently while improving the quality of service, provided that the business community remains connected on the same platform. This model becomes more and more relevant as the frontiers between retailers, distributors, marketers and ingredient suppliers become blurred. The diversity of trading partners is enhanced as it allows them to save time and energy to maintain relationships. Reverse auctions enable the buyer to invite bidders and test lowest cost of goods levels, while auctions help reduce excess inventory. Promotion, marketing and development costs can also be significantly reduced with speed to market accelerated accordingly. These are the solutions B2B portals such as Beautyportal.net provide to the Beauty industry at large. Integrate your company ERP with such marketplaces and then invest the rest of your time continuing to build relationships with your customers and vendors during face to face transactions. Our business will always be about interfacing people and technology.

The Internet is as much a window to the world as a door into the future, and it will impose itself as the ‘high tech, high touch’ medium. In this newness driven marketplace, the Internet becomes this indispensable tool to vertically integrate with your supply web, and to provide an individual access to an increasingly large number of consumers.

Michel Mane is President of Mane USA, a leading design and manufacturing company of fragrances and flavors. He can be reached at the following e-mail address: michel.mane@mane.com