Tuesday, April 28, 2020
My new fragrance is evolving -- more personal notes (#2)
The beginning of this story can be found here.
Picking up from where I left off (see above), I had a scent and I had a theme and working name but they didn't go together, or so I thought. Then, looking harder, I began to see how the name and the scent could go nicely together. The name actually had a double meaning but I had only been looking at one side of it. Now I began to see that, with this fragrance, I could go in two directions, but not at the same time. One version will get worked out now. The other may make an appearance some time in the future.
I mentioned in my last message that I was planning to use a big picture in my ad for this new perfume and the picture had to harmonize with both the scent, the name of the fragrance, and the "story" behind the fragrance. For a picture I turned to my archive of photos for which I own all the rights. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for; I just hoped to get some ideas and find some inspiration.
Browsing through hundreds of images collected over a period of twenty years or more, I began to spot pictures that could fit my theme -- not a lot of them but some. Images can tell a story. Sometimes a single image can make a stronger point than a video or even a feature film. While any image is always subject to interpretation by the viewer based on their own experiences and world view, certain images almost transcend subjectivity and lead people to a common thought. These images have great impact. I can't say that any of mine claim that distinction, but a few were leaning in that direction.
Out of all the images I viewed, I selected three that seemed to work for my new perfume. Each, as I viewed it, shared a common theme but each would give me a slightly different slant when it got down to my writing a "story" with it. Of the three images I selected, one was chosen as my starting point. The other two, quite different than the one I selected, are being held in reserve, perhaps for future use.
With the image selected, I can now bring the working name of the fragrance into focus and create my story. This story will harmonize with the scent and the image, each reinforcing the other, making the promotional material more powerful.
The ad
Now it's time to get started on the ad, with the photo for my inspiration. The "big" ad will be a web page at my pglightyears.com. If done nicely, it will lend itself to "little" ads being extracted from it for use elsewhere, perhaps on Facebook, or Twitter, or an email, or as a mention on other websites. In the process of developing the "big" ad, I'll also review the working name for this fragrance and see if I can improve on it. You never know.
The scent
I had taken my basic scent in two directions. Besides the basic scent, I was working on a simple accord that could "decorate" each version, taking them, for the most part, toward the meaning of the name I was not going to push. Still it might, I was thinking, work for both.
So now I have to polish up this "decoration," and polish up the two versions of my basic fragrance. Then I can see how my decoration works with each of them. I might need to make modifications to the basic scent. I might need to add a bit of something or change a bit of something. Here's where multiple trials come in. The aroma materials I needed arrived yesterday (4/27/20) and so I'm ready to go at it.
Going forward
Now that I have my photo, I'll work on both the scent and the ad. This will take a few weeks and, during that time, not only will I get this work done but I'll probably get some ideas for another scent ... or another ad.
Be patient and, in three to five weeks, I'll give you the next installment of this story.
Friday, April 24, 2020
Working on a new fragrance -- some personal notes (#1)
Yesterday (04/20/20) I ordered some supplies I'll be using in developing a new perfume. I've already got a problem on my hands. The scent that has been evolving is out of sync with the theme I selected for the fragrance and the working name now makes no sense.
What I want is a name and a theme and a scent that go together. The name should suggest the scent, the scent should suggest the name and together the name and the scent should fit nicely into a "story" or theme that can be used to advertise the fragrance. This is a very important starting point because it makes the whole project logical. When naming, you have the theme and the scent to guide you. When developing the scent you have the name and the theme to guide you. When developing a story for marketing purposes you have the name and the scent to guide you.
But as of today, for my new fragrance, the scent doesn't fit either the working name or the story. The story doesn't really fit the working name either. So what should I do?
To go ahead with things the way they are now, I'll be forced to force any promotional enthusiasm. Right now, while I'm still at the beginning, I think it will be better to make adjustments to my theme. This will perhaps help me with a new trend of thought for a name. Why take this approach? Because I think I have something with the fragrance itself. Maybe it just happened but at the moment it makes sense to me to go with the scent and see what kind of theme and name I can develop for it.
Audience
Before I make changes to my theme or my working name, I have to consider my audience. Who am I going to market this fragrance to? The name, scent, and story all must be suitable for my target audience. Ideally it will have a powerful effect on them, get them aspiring (maybe even get them perspiring for my perfume!)
Now I'll reveal a trade secret. Please don't spread it around. The only audience I'm concerned with are the men and women who visit my pglightyears.com website. This is where I'll be selling the fragrance. The audience at this web site is almost exclusively visitors who have been impressed by my writings elsewhere, my blogs, my bio-byte.com and perfumeprojects.com websites and perhaps a tweet, a Facebook posting, or a mention on somebody else's site. This will NOT be a large number of people and, as I have written elsewhere, I'll be matching my production with my anticipated sales. I'm not planning to get stuck with a ton of unsold inventory.
So now I have to rethink this project, ask myself if the scent that is developing will be for this audience and, if so, how should I re-write my story and working name?
I know that in my announcement for this fragrance -- the webpage I'll give it -- there will be a large photo of something -- I don't yet know what. But that photo will have to be in sync with the name of the fragrance and its story -- and the scent itself. So, as a start, I can begin to think in visual terms.
-- Stay tuned! (To be continued.)
Saturday, April 11, 2020
Your raw idea might create a powerfully original -- and successful -- fragrance
I was going over some of my own creations recently and it struck me that some of them are quite good. Now stop a minute. "Some," not all? And "good," not "excellent"? Let's get real.
Some of my fragrances are better than others. Why pretend otherwise? But the better ones are good and here's why I say "good" rather than "excellent" or some other superlative. I simply do not have the skill that a professional perfumer, working in the fragrance industry, would have. I make no pretense about it and I admire the work of people whose skills are far advanced over mine. If one of them were to take the best of my creations they might, with a few adjustments, make it "excellent." They might add a little this, subtract a little that and smooth out the balance. They might polish the rough edges, the small, jarring transitions from one note to the the other. Even the best of my fragrances are a bit raw. But they have a strong voice. That's what makes them special.
If you have ideas for perfumes, materials to work with, and the skills to use these materials to create the fragrances you want to create, yours too may be a bit raw. But if your concepts, your basic scent visions are "right," your fragrances will be worth producing and putting out to the public, even with their rough edges. If your vision is "right," and well executed, the rough edges disappear beneath the strength of your concept.
In short, don't be discouraged by what you can't do. Go forward with what you can do and, if your vision is right, there's a good chance your customers will relate to it -- and want more fragrances from you!
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