Emotional connections
Scents are influential. They can give comfort or cause alarm, encourage a good mood or a bad one. But what influences what scents people decide they like?
Several things: trends in lifestyle, fashion, food, health and wellness, as well as demographics and prevailing attitudes.
Today, retailers want greater control over everything that goes into their private brands so that they can effectively control sales, revenues, margins and profits, says Lori Miller Burns, director of marketing relations and communications for Arylessence Inc., a Marietta, Ga.-based fragrance and flavor manufacturer.
Managing fragrance in household and personal products is an important part of this effort, Burns explains.
“The key part of this is controlling the ingredients in the product that connect to consumers and influence the shopper’s buying decision, particularly the critical sensory ingredients driven by the consumer’s emotions,” Burns says. “Winning scents are what consumers are seeking and what shoppers are buying. Taking control of fragrance ingredients and making improvements happen should be a goal for every store brand retailer.”
What’s great about a store brand is how quickly it can get to market, says Adam Troyak, planning director for Dallas-based Shoptology, a shopper marketing agency whose clients include brands, retailers and private label manufacturers.
“Having an ear to the ground gives private label a real advantage in shaping and reacting to cultural trends,” Troyak adds.
Scent as differentiator
Millennials and multicultural consumers in particular have embraced private brands, seeking them out and driving their growth, Troyak notes. Millennials in particular are driving authenticity, product transparency and customization, affecting how scents are developed and used in products.
Scent can be a differentiator, and the ability for quick-turn product development allows private brands to stay closer to trends and capitalize with relevant fragrances where many times smell is the deciding factor in the to-buy or not-to-buy decision, says Troyak. “Consumers now expect a sensory delight in large-scale commercial products where cost matters, which gives private label an opportunity,” he adds.
Store brands have the opportunity to compete for every shopper, not just price shoppers, and build loyalty in the process, Burns says. “When you develop winning fragrances, you not only attract shoppers with the emotional and sensory benefits that really matter to consumers, you also develop the power to compete aggressively against national brands,” he explains.
Natural’s lure
Sales of natural fragrance blends are expected to outpace the overall natural flavor and fragrance market, estimates The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com., in its October report, “Natural Flavors & Fragrances.”
With forecasted annual growth of 5.2 percent until 2020, Freedonia predicts sales of natural fragrance blends will reach $290 million.
Health and wellness trends, as well as environmental concerns, are shaping fragrance preferences, Troyak says, with the natural/clean movement gaining in popularity.
“Our desire for good health influences how we react to fragrances,” Burns says. “For example, we love fresh, invigorating, uplifting and emotionally inspiring fragrances for our shampoos, lotions and hair-care products.”
The cosmetic and toiletry market accounted for more than three-quarters of natural fragrance blend sales in 2015, Freedonia reports. In that segment, skin care products are expected to offer the best opportunities for growth through 2020. The demand for body washes is also expected to bolster growth.
Sales of environmental fragrance goods — air fresheners, deodorizers, candles, potpourri and incense — are also expected to accelerate through 2020, according to The Freedonia Group. Innovations in diffusers and other scent delivery systems could “reignite the relevance of home fragrance and expand usage occasions,” notes Carol Spieckerman, president of Spieckerman Retail, a retail strategy and communications agency.
“Fragrance is the latest category to get swept up in the convergence of technology and everyday products. On a broader scale, retailers are returning their attention back to harnessing the power of physical retail experiences after being distracted by digital over the past few years. Fragrance is part of that picture as retailers explore the potential to create multi-sensory environments,” Spieckerman adds.
In the cleaning product segment, Freedonia expects above-average sales advances for products with natural fragrance blends, especially in dishwashing and laundry detergents, but also in sanitation goods and polishes. Cleaning products accounted for nearly one-fifth of total natural fragrance blend demand. Consumer demand for products free from artificial additives also continues to grow, driven by concerns over the effects of synthetic ingredients on health.
Consumers are growing more interested in natural product claims, but the lack of standards for making such claims can cause confusion for consumers, according to global market research firm Mintel’s 2016 September report, “Fragrances — US — What’s In?” The report concludes that the consumer trend toward demanding transparency will lead them to demand to know what ingredients are used in fragrances.
Customizing scents
Scent preferences are highly personal, and that truth has driven the popularity of customized fragrances, the trend behind the growth of layering kits and fragrance oils, Mintel states.
Consumers have come to expect product customization, Mintel points out, and it is particularly relevant in the fragrances market, where nearly 60 percent of consumers have either tried or are interested in trying custom-blended fragrances.
Initially seen in the fine fragrances market, customization has moved into mainstream products, the report notes.
Store brands can succeed by shaping both fragrances and fragrance options, especially for the experiential and experimental millennial and Generation Y shoppers, who now surpass even the baby boomer segment, Burns says.
Understand their unique tastes, the diversity and character of products they are buying, and what quality and value mean to them, he advises.
Understanding the scent preferences of different ethnic groups, from the strength of the scent to the specific types of fragrances that incite emotional connections is also vital to store brand product development, Burns adds.
So fine
It’s not a pine and strawberry world anymore. In line with Americans’ increasingly cultured taste in food has come increasingly refined taste in scents, Troyak says.
Adventurous and scent-literate, consumers — especially those on the younger side — seek out sophisticated and nuanced fragrances, he adds.
“Fine fragrances influence products of all kinds, especially in personal care, and surprisingly, also in laundry. Laundry fragrances are a direct derivative of fine, fashion and designer fragrances,” Burns notes.
The changing male demographic that is resulting in an increasing number of single men and single father heads-of-households is also having an important impact on scent trends, Troyak says.
There is a move toward more masculine fragrances in household products, he explains, with scents such as oak and musk leading the way. Men prefer woody fragrances, and some new household cleaning brands targeted to men often feature bold, outdoorsy types of scents, Troyak explains.
Food and beverage trends also affect the fragrance market. New, innovative scent pairings such as lime and sea salt are an extension of food and beverage mashups, such as those seen in flavored sparkling waters, Troyak observes.
There’s even an ice cream sundae inspired by fragrance. The Mintel report noted that Estee Lauder joined forces with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream in Los Feliz, Calif., to introduce a toasted coconut and cherry sundae echoing the notes in its Bronze Goddess fragrance.
It’s not a pine and strawberry world anymore. In line with Americans’ increasingly cultured taste in food has come increasingly refined taste in scents.