February 2014 Spray 21 Churchill Weller Cussons, explored the need for “Understanding consumers: stepping into their shoes.” She demonstrated the factors that are driving consumer choices/behavior and how every aspect of a product can communicate with the consumer. “Social pressures mean we live in a contradictory world where contrast and diversity rule. We need to understand those aspects of consumer motivation and what’s going on under the surface,” she said, illustrating the point by showing the same images of a holiday suggesting that the same experience that for some would be “heaven” and for others would be “a kind of hell.” All consumers are different and have individual needs, but it is possible to class them within groups as humans. Understanding every area of a person’s life is needed to truly understand what it is important to them, what they really value, to uncover true insight. For instance, PZ Cussons went through a step-bystep process with mothers to do just this and its “Mum & Me” range resulted from understanding the needs of mothers and mothersto be. “The consumer decision journey used to be a linear funnel, but today we have more sophisticated consumers who are seeking status, who look for a certain quality among a huge choice, and who are looking for an experience with a brand and product while always seeking more,” Brunt said. “Social media sites and the reduction of the space-time equilibrium have meant that consumers can tell the world what they want and the brands can openly hear this and engage them through this medium.” She spoke of the sophistication of consumers, how purchase channels have been fragmented in recent history and how people can now be influenced by a greater volume and type of opinion from all over the world. “Fragrance plays a key role in the evaluation, purchase and experience of a product, as it helps to create associations and emotional connections to a brand and product,” said Brunt, but warned perfumers, “Consumers need more than just a great fragrance to be enticed into buying a product. It’s about touching all the senses of the consumer in the first instance, both in-use and post-use, while continuing to reinforce that this product is the one that they want and need, that makes a successful brand. Finally, it is essential for this process to be dynamic and to never be satisfied with the current level of experience that is being provided by the product, as there is always a changing and never-ending development journey.” Battle of the senses The second of the three sessions was Product development and the battle of the senses, chaired by Stephen Weller, Director of Communications for IFRA Global. Dr. Anne Churchill, Head of Global Sensory at Givaudan Fragrance Division spoke on the “The Multi-Sensory Ap- “We found that when someone’s body odor is combined with their preferred fragrance, the resulting blend is more pleasant to other people than the same odor combined with an arbitrarily chosen fragrance,” Roberts continued. “This suggests that choice of a fragrance is influenced not only by the properties of the fragrance itself, but also by how it will interact with that person’s underlying odor.” The earliest known evidence of this was found in the second millennium BC. Humans, it seems, are good at selecting perfumes for themselves but not for their partners, and choose fragrances that match their own body odor. Research shows that our natural smell interacts with the perfume we wear and that these mingled scents affect potential sexual partners. “One implication is that fragrances might not simply mask body odor, but rather complement it, or even enhance the information contained within it,” Roberts concluded. “Another is that this interaction could be important in understanding how consumers choose perfumes.” Deb Brunt, Head of Consumer Insight at PZ
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