WATCH — Scent Matters: SIX, Oo La Lab and Symrise on the expanding role of perfume in personal care

The fragrance market in APAC has been tipped for tremendous growth thanks to the millennial and middle-class consumers from lucrative markets like China and India.

To capitalise on the opportunities, Karim Lisi, sales director of fine fragrances APAC, Symrise stressed that innovating in the digital realm was crucial for both cosmetic brands and suppliers today.

“Do you know how many hours the Chinese consumer spends on WeChat? We have to give access to perfumes through the digital way because that’s the reality – people want to consume online.”​

Dan Terry, founder of Singaporean brand Oo La Lab, noted that e-commerce remained one of the big questions for smaller fragrances houses.

“How can you take the whole fragrance experience into the online space? How can people get the meaning and understand fragrance without the whole olfactory experience of it? Can that be conveyed as ones and zeroes?”​

According to our interviewees, functional fragrances are set to be the next big trend in the market.

“I think one of the biggest trends in fragrance specifically, is this idea of fragrance with benefits. A lot of products today are looking to help deliver something else beyond the basic expected functionality of a product,”​ said Clarissa Araujo, regional marketing manager, fine fragrance APAC, Symrise.

Singapore-based perfume house SIX has been actively working with Givaudan to developed fragrances that are scientifically proven to aid people in sleep, memory and more.

“A lot of times people are concerned whether these essential oils are working to solve your sleep problems… Now we have something that is [legitimate] and scientifically proven to perform that function,”​ said founder Jason Lee.

Later, we discuss how the fragrance world is set to change, especially in the wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Check out the video above to learn more.