Educate to empower: Maison 21G aims to educate and build loyalty with new subscription-based model

Each month, subscribers will receive a mystery box with two five-millilitre roll-on perfumes for S$21, instead of the usual price of $40 for two roll-ons.

The goal of Club 21G is to help consumers build a ‘scent wardrobe’ and discover different perfume combinations and mixes with the help video content to support the learning process.

“I’m convinced we can buy perfume online if [the consumer] gets the right level of advice and transparency. I'm a strong believer that perfumes can be sold online like the way we buy our shoes and clothes – for instance you should be able to return it if you're not happy,” said f​ounder and CEO Johanna Monange.

In order to persuade people to buy the personalised perfumes from Maison 21G’s online stores, the brand offers consumers a choice to buy a five-millilitre roll-on that cost S$20 instead of the full 25-mililetre bottle for S$80.

“In order to help consumers buy perfume online, I offer a roll-on of their creation. It’s been a very good way to educate. I always say perfume is like a boyfriend – you have to wear and live with it to know if you like it.”​

According to Monange, the company sends out hundreds of roll-on perfumes every week.

“We've seen a huge success of our roll-ons. Most of the time they order two roll-ons… We take it very seriously. We send our roll-ons all over the world and people love it. They will reorder because they see the quality of the perfume. I see it as a way to build loyalty.”​

Monange told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that observing the consumers’ willingness to try her products further convinced her that there was a need for this new model.

“I want to build a long-term relationship with the people. I will give you more at the beginning, but I know you will stay in my community. It’s like how you always remember the teachers that share with you and push you to learn.”​

Education is key​

The desire to educate and inform the consumer about perfumery is a very personal mission, said Monange.

“I saw the decline of perfumery in the 2000s, after the launch of perfumes like Angel and J’adore. I saw my industry become so poor after that. Before this, brands were bolder but now they have all been bought up by the big groups. Today, we see perfumes that try to fit everybody, leaving them with no character and poor quality.”​

Monange has dubbed her mission to educate and put perfumery creation back into the hands of consumers as her “big little revolution”.​

“My competitors are very opaque. They have no intention to educate because they want to push the same things to everybody. Dictators don’t want to educate people; they don’t want them to ask questions. I want to empower the people to choose their products while having the right level of education.”​

She added: “I know my competitors are not happy about what I do, but I do believe that education should be at the heart of perfumery. That’s why I think this concept should have been launched 10 years ago.”​

Monange concluded that her goal was to foster an interactive sharing community and hopes that in a year’s time she will begin to receive feedback from her consumers to further strengthen and build on the foundation that she has laid down.