Hello, Fragrant Friend 👋,

We’re still floating on cloud nine from our very first Scently Speaking Meetup in Amsterdam. Over 20 wonderful souls joined u, some traveling from abroad just for this moment. I’m still deeply moved.

Guests experienced the two final modifications of our debut scent, Reflection, and even stepped into Chester’s shoes as a perfumer. His inspiration? A chance encounter in Bali, watching a woman perform the Canang Sari ritual. That single moment sparked the idea for our very first fragrance.

And during this special gathering, we finally revealed the name of the fragrance publisher we’ve been building for over a year. After months of hard work, we’re proud to share it with you: New Niche Publishing. The DNA of every scent we’ll create under this name will stay true to what you experienced in Amsterdam. Perfume, published!

🗓️ Contents of this Issue

1. Note Worthy: Blind Buys, Scented Cinema, and Retail Revolution

2. Niche Newcomers: Anomalia, Annindriya, Diptyque,Cristian Cavagna, Orto Parisi

3. Scent MythBusters: Perfume success is mostly pure luck

Note-Worthy 🔎🌸

#BLINDBUYINGBEHAVIOR: Why do fragrance lovers purchase perfumes they've never smelled? Consumer psychologist Cathrine Jansson Boyd reveals the psychology behind online fragrance shopping, where brand reputation and personal identity trump actual scent experience. With #PerfumeTok driving discovery and McKinsey predicting online channels will capture one third of beauty sales by 2030, visual storytelling and social proof are becoming the new nose when it comes to fragrance selection.

#SCENTEDCINEMA: Scentbird is taking "immersive entertainment" to aromatic new heights with their latest marketing stunt: a "scent along" screening of "I Know What You Did Last Summer." The subscription fragrance platform diffused five curated scents throughout a movie theater during the film, creating a €32 fragrance set that matches the slasher's moods in collaboration with Sony Pictures. This marks an 18 month strategy connecting fragrance to pop culture moments, from Marvel to "The Bachelor," proving scent marketing is moving beyond fashion into pure entertainment.

#RETAILTRAININGREVOLUTION: Beauty retail's secret weapon isn't the products on the shelf but the people behind the counter, and top retailers are finally treating them like it. Industry expert Merrady Wickes champions the "lifers": those 30 year fragrance counter veterans who carry entire businesses on their backs through rich client relationships. From Goop's multi day training with six month buddy programs to Bluemercury's scenario based selling strategies, the smartest beauty retailers are investing in face time, full size gratis, and ongoing education to create sales associates who don't just sell products but build empires.

Niche Newcomers 🎨 🌟 

French artisan Chris Maurice delivers metallic sophistication with Anomalia's latest supernova, while Dutch collaborative duo Tanja Deurloo and Hélène Vonesch craft magazine inspired elegance for Annindriya's sixth release. Diptyque revisits ancient mythology through their iconic musk celebration, as Italian master Arturetto Landi channels queen bee majesty for Cristian Cavagna's latest gourmand creation. Meanwhile, Alessandro Gualtieri's Orto Parisi explores transcendent awakening through his characteristically unconventional olfactory philosophy.

Scent MythBusters 🎭️ 

TL;DR

The belief that niche fragrance success emerges from random fortune represents one of the industry's most persistent misconceptions. In a marketplace generating over 8,000 new launches annually, brands like Marc Antoine Barrois, Le Labo, and Alessandro Gualtieri's Orto Parisi employ identifiable strategic patterns rather than relying on serendipity. Through analysis of fashion credibility transfer, artisan theater, and perfumer deity positioning, we discover that apparent overnight sensations follow calculated frameworks that can be decoded and understood.

The Misconception 🕵️‍♀️

Picture the romantic narrative: Marc Antoine Barrois launches three exceptional fragrances and through pure chance captures the zeitgeist, Le Labo's cult following emerges organically, Alessandro Gualtieri's Orto Parisi empire builds through artistic serendipity. We've been conditioned to believe these successes resulted from being "in the right place at the right time" with superior juice that naturally found its audience. The myth suggests that in an oversaturated market of 8,000 annual launches, success is essentially a lottery where quality eventually rises to the top through organic discovery, regardless of strategic positioning.

The Reality Check 🛑

The truth reveals sophisticated strategic frameworks that create compound advantages in crowded markets. When we examine breakthrough successes, we discover they employ specific positioning strategies that transform apparent disadvantages into competitive moats.

• Marc Antoine Barrois demonstrates fashion credibility transfer, leveraging established couture authority to enter perfumery with immediate legitimacy. His collaboration with superstar perfumer Quentin Bisch signals industry validation, while extreme restraint with only three releases creates strategic scarcity. Each fragrance becomes an event rather than another product launch.

• Le Labo employs artisan theater through "freshly blending your perfume on site, in front of you, just for you" experiences that transform commodity purchases into experiential rituals. Their plain white labels and utilitarian bottles signal authenticity through deliberate anti aesthetics, capturing consumers suffering from fragrance fatigue.

• Alessandro Gualtieri's Orto Parisi and Nasomatto succeed through the perfumer deity model, positioning him as olfactory visionary whose unconventional approach challenges industry orthodoxy. This creates parasocial relationships where consumers follow his artistic journey rather than just buying fragrances.

• Tom Ford represents the contrasting celebrity bridge strategy, using mainstream luxury positioning to capture consumers wanting sophistication without niche intimidation, proving multiple strategic pathways exist.

So, is the myth busted?

Absolutely. Perfume success follows identifiable strategic patterns that create compound advantages in oversaturated markets. The most successful brands employ sophisticated positioning frameworks that transform apparent disadvantages into competitive moats, whether through credibility transfer, artisan theater, perfumer deity status, or celebrity bridge strategies.

The Strategic Success Formula

Where Authority represents existing credibility (fashion background, perfumer reputation, celebrity status), Differentiation divided by Market Noise shows how clearly a brand stands out from the 8,000 annual launches, and Restraint Coefficient reflects whether strategic limitation (Barrois's three releases) or calculated proliferation (Ford's extensive line) matches the positioning. The formula reveals why authentic authority combined with clear differentiation and appropriate restraint creates breakthrough success, while brands lacking these elements remain invisible in oversaturated markets regardless of fragrance quality.