The Scent of Success: 4 new brands that are changing Japan’s fragrance culture
At around 30 billion yen (US$274 million), Japan’s fragrance market is only a tenth of the size of France’s. Yet, Japanese startups are rapidly growing by listening to the potential needs of consumers. We take a look at the efforts of four companies that are slowly but surely changing the fragrance culture in Japan.
Of mists and moods: CODE Meee’s aroma mist
CODE Meee, a company founded in April 2017, is rolling out their subscription service CODE Meee ONE where aroma mist that is functionally personalized to users’ purposes — whether that be de-stressing or improving concentration, among others — can be delivered each month for a 1,800 yen (US$16.45) monthly fee.
The mists use Japan-sourced natural essential oils, and the service’s original personalization algorithm was developed in partnership with IBM. Designed to be applied during work break times, the mist’s fragrance has a relatively short lifespan and is only meant to be effective within a 50 cm radius around the user. As a product, it’s comparable to health care goods for easing stress and inducing relaxation.
The process of personalization involves users answering online questions related to their gender, age, what stress issue they’re most aware of, and in what type of situation they wish to use the product. From there, three customized fragrance formulas are recommended, and the user selects one to put in their shopping cart.
There’s even an added option (offered for free) where if you link with your Twitter account, the AI can analyze your tweets and propose even more optimized fragrances.
For companies as well, CODE Meee is offering fragrance solutions that seek to maximize workers’ states of mind based on brain wave activity and the science of sensitivity. Feedback from users who’ve tested out taking breaks in resting rooms that incorporate these fragrance solutions and then returning to work have reported that their motivation had increased, and quantitative data has also been gathered.
In November 2019, CODE Meee also started verification tests through brain wave measurements in cooperation with Dentsu Science Jam Inc.
Personalized perfume: Bespoke Scent Society
Bespoke Scent Society is a service started in August 2019 by Yamaneko Co., Ltd. where made-to-order perfumes can be created just through interactions online.
The perfumes of Bespoke Scent Society are all genderless and feature a characteristic faint fragrance. The Western idea of perfumes being something for conveying one’s sex appeal hasn’t been adopted much here in Japan, and this is thought to be one reason why Japan’s fragrance market hasn’t spread to the extent it could. Accordingly, Yamaneko has aimed for fragrances that don’t alienate those in the vicinity of the user.
Users answer 13 questions online, including when they plan to use the perfume, their physique, lifestyle habits, and the type of person they admire. They’re then recommended a specific perfume formula and provided details such as what type of impression the perfume gives to people around them, ways to apply the perfume in a casual manner, and the ideal number of sprays when applying. The pricing is 3,980 yen (US$36.35) for an 8 ml travel-size bottle, or 19,800 yen (US$180.85) for a 50 ml bottle.
Five months since its launch, there have already been 50,000 online questionnaires taken and over 2,000 people have become members — over 70% of whom are female. In response to those who’ve voiced that they want to actually try smelling the fragrances before purchasing, the company is currently setting up events to establish real points of contact with users.
Small in size, big in brand: SCENTPICK
Next is a subscription service where brand perfumes are delivered in portions designed to be used up in a month. With SCENTPICK, which was started in April 2019 by the company of the same name, you can get brand perfumes delivered to you in dispenser bottles (sets of 1 to 3 bottles of 5 ml each) for a monthly fee starting from 1,680 yen (US$15.35).
These small dispenser bottles can be kept in the portable custom pouch that’s sent with the first-time delivery and can be switched around in accordance with your mood or the occasion. This service gets rid of the problems with buying full-blown bottles of perfume — they seldom get used up completely and are expensive — and just eight months since it began, membership has exceeded 10,000 people.
You can choose your favorite brands from the line up of several hundred different perfumes, or you can also receive a perfume selected for you by AI after you answer four quizzes. In the latter case, a perfume that matches the user individually is chosen by an original algorithm that considers not only the user’s preferences but also their lifestyle and character.
Another merit of the service is that, unlike the many individuals and companies that sell unofficially-divided portions of perfume without a license, SCENTPICK gains permission from the original cosmetics manufacturers and sellers and are thorough in managing product quality. In the future, they plan to increase the perfumes they handle to include not just major brands but also niche fragrances.
The scent of a gift: AROMAPRÉ
AROMAPRÉ, a service started on April 16, 2019, by Stytice Inc., is responding to the demand for gifting aromas.
The gift giver purchases an ‘aroma card’ (3,850 yen incl. tax; US$35.15) and gifts it to the receiver. Using the enclosed code, the receiver can go online and blend 26 types of aroma oil to their own preference. They can also choose blends by experts, including aromas for kids and concoctions for the menopause, blends for each of the 12 zodiac signs, or they can also make use of a chart that presents recommendations in accordance with the user’s answers to several questions.
The completed original aroma oil gets delivered to the receiver along with an aroma stone. The service is currently available on AROMAPRÉ’s official site, as well as in Cosme Kitchen stores across Japan.
So far there have been around 4,000 orders since the service began, and many have welcomed the ability to give aromas as presents without worrying about the receiver’s personal preferences. In this way, the service seems to be fulfilling the needs in the market.
Text: Ching Li Tor
Original text (Japanese): Megumi Otsuka
