ImaginativePRO Blog

HOW COMMODITY, AN ONLINE NO-FRILLS SCENT BOUTIQUE, IS USING 'SCENT TAILORING' TO RE-INVENT FRAGRANCE MARKETING

COMMODITY, AN ONLINE SCENT BOUTIQUE, IS AIMING TO CHANGE THE INDUSTRY BY MAKING IT EASIER TO DISCOVER A GREAT NEW FRAGRANCE.

The fragrance industry--a realm of cheesy commercials and tenuous celeb endorsements--has been fairly untouched by the Internet age, unless you count the flourishing knockoff economy. Yo Santosa, the creative director of the L.A. agency Ferroconcrete and co-founder of new online scent company Commodity, says.

“The biggest challenge is that you can’t smell what you see online.  Currently the fragrance market is saturated with shirtless male models and lofty slogans. We wanted to create something modern that felt accessible even if you’re not into fragrances.”

Click Image To View Video

Last year, a Ferroconcrete art director named Owen Gee came to Santosa with an idea for an online service that would allow customers to test scents in their own homes.  Santosa, who had branched into starting companies with the haute cookie site Fruute.com last year, saw the market gap.  The group explains on Kickstarter. 

“Right now, finding a great fragrance is a complex process.  The choices are overwhelming and the in-store experience is confusing. The problem is, after sampling a few fragrances our nose gets tired and can no longer distinguish what we’re smelling, it’s a guessing game.”

Commodity's KickStarter crowdfunding page (Click Image To Enlarge)

Gee and Santosa call their company Commodity, and the service it provides “scent tailoring.” On the homepage, you choose from 20 original scents, unpretentiously named things like “cloth” and “gin.”  Then Commodity sends you a pack of 5-day tryout kits, which let you discover how a scent will change over time as it interacts with your body chemistry. A $50 price tag for a 30ml bottle (which ships for free) comes thanks to the company’s streamlined structure, which spends a fraction of what a big brand would on advertising.

Users choose from a palette of 20 unpretentious scents, 10 for men and 10 for women (Click Image To Enlarge

They’re named things like 'Book.'

And 'Gin.' (Click Image To Enlarge)

Santosa tells Co.Design. 

“We also put a lot of thought and detail into every aspect of the packaging.  For example, we wanted something that is sequential for the tailoring kit. This way it’s clear that each scent should be discovered one day at a time. So the packaging comes with perforation in sets of 5 or 10, with numbers on them.”

The company calls its service 'scent tailoring.' (Click Image To Enlarge

On the homepage, you choose several scents to try out (Click Image To Enlarge)

 Then Commodity sends you a pack of 3-day tryout kits, which let you discover how a scent will change over time as it interacts with your body chemistry (Click Image To Enlarge)

The glass viles slip easily into a small leather sheath, which has thedimensions and weight of a nice pen.

Santosa sees Fruute and Commodity as field tests for future ventures, a business model pioneered by product designers like Yves Béhar that’s quickly spreading through other creative industries.  She adds. 

“We’ve learned a lot, seeing both sides (the client’s point of view as well as ours).  I’ve always encouraged our team at Ferroconcrete to pitch their ideas if they have a great concept for a company.”

A $50 price tag for a 30ml bottle (which ships for free) comes thanks to the company’s streamlined structure (Click Image To Enlarge)

You can also buy a smaller 'roller ball' version of the fragrances (Click Image To Enlarge)

Which comes in a leather case (Click Image To Enlarge)

COMMENTARY:    I like Commodity's idea of a no-frills, online fragrance boutique, that markets mens and womens fragrances that react with your body's chemistry, a marketing technique that they call "scent tailoring."    This method of marketing fragrances is another great example of the "low-overhead, high quality products" business model that relies on eliminating the middleman and keeping product marketing costs very low or eliminating them entirely.   This business model reduces capital investment and business risk by outsourcing R&D, production, marketing and distribution of the product.  Commodity essentially becomes a marketing organization with very few employees.    It does make the job of developing the company's brand image much slower, since it relies on public relations and word-of-mouth, and getting the word out by bloggers like yours truly.  For non-shoppers like me this is a God send since there is no added pressure of going to a shopping model, having to sniff through dozens of different fragrances, and worrying about which fragrance to select and how much to spend. Commodity eliminates all of that drama, and making shopping for fragrances very simple.

Courtesy of an article dated March 13, 2013 appearing in Fast Company Design

GILLETTE FORCED TO SHAVE PRICES ON ITS FUSION PROGLIDE RAZORS, AS SCHICK AND DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB STEAL MARKET SHARE

CATEGORY LEADER SWITCHES TO VALUE MESSAGING AFTER SHICK AND DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB STEAL MARKET SHARE

For a generation, Gillette has been among the most profitable packaged-goods brands, with regular price hikes and market shares north of 80% in the lucrative replacement-blades market.

But as challenges mount from traditional and new rivals and share starts to drop, the Procter & Gamble brand has been shifting its focus toward value messaging.

One of the rivals is Schick Hydro, launched two years ago, about the same time as Gillette's latest system, Fusion ProGlide. In recent months Hydro has added a sharper price edge to digital and direct-mail ads, and has made a superiority claim that would once have seemed unthinkable for a Schick brand heavily outsold by Gillette.

 

A mailer for Schick Hydro 5 states that it's "Preferred over Fusion ProGlide at a better price," a claim that according to the fine print is based on 52-week Nielsen scanner data and surveys of men considering overall performance and price. (A P&G spokesman said Gillette systems continue to win in numerous internal and external surveys and ratings of razor performance.)

 

That was followed by a guerrilla challenge from venture-capital-backed Dollar Shave Club, whose viral video drew more than 4 million views its first month.  Club founder and co-CEO Michael Dubin asks in the video. 

"Do you like spending $20 a month on brand-name razors?"

He adds that "$19 goes to Roger Federer" -- a swipe at the tennis great, who's had viral-video fame himself as a Gillette pitchman.

 

The direct-response Dollar Shave Club offers twin-blade razors for $1 a month ($3, including shipping and handling), or four- and six-blade models for $6 to $9, shipping and handling included.

Mr. Dubin is a former NBC page, MSNBC news writer, improv comedian and producer of custom video content for advertisers at Time Inc. He got the idea for Dollar Shave Club in 2010, after complaining about the high cost of razors to friend and co-founder Mark Levine, who had experience getting products made in China.

DSC built its concept last year at Science, the Los Angeles digital incubator headed by former MySpace CEO Mike Jones. In December and January the club won $1.1 million in backing from venture-capital firms including Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz and Forerunner Partners.

Though Mr. Dubin would not disclose the number of DSC subscribers, it has already surpassed 2012 projections with the 12,000 who joined in the first 48 hours after the video launch. Producing the video cost about $4,500.

Gillette is responding by giving more attention to value, starting with ads last month from BBDO, New York, that show a man using a single Fusion ProGlide cartridge during a five-week trip around the world.

Still in development are plans for marketing support for Gillette's Mach 3 system, against which Schick has made its greatest inroads, said P&G spokesman Damon Jones.

Mr. Jones said. 

"You can get Gillette quality at great value no matter how much you want to spend.  We haven't talked about value as much as we'd like. That's where Schick and Dollar Shave Club are coming at us. We know we have to be much more competitive in that space."

But that comes at a cost, particularly the expense of bolstering a legacy system such as Mach 3, historically a low-maintenance business that delivered a tidy profit, said Deutsche Bank analyst Bill Schmitz.

Gillette's share of the $820 million replacement-blades market slipped 2.2 points last year, to 80.8%, according to SymphonyIRI data from Deutsche Bank, after holding stable at about 83% since 2004. But Gillette, which probably commands 90% to 95% of category profit, may have no choice but to give margin back to defend turf, Mr. Schmitz said.

The male-grooming business delivered a 20.3% profit margin last year, six points higher than P&G as a whole. Gillette razors are even more profitable, as lower-margin Braun shave-preparation, soap and deodorant products pulled down performance.

Despite the more aggressive value focus in general, Mr. Jones said, the new high-end ProGlide Styler trimmer-razor has done well and helped expand Gillette's profit pool.

COMMENTARY:   Gillette Fusion ProGlide is perfect example of an increasing returns business model.  They give away the razor handle for free, but charge you a fortune for the blades. It's a great shave, but the blades just cost too much.  Most stores sell the blades in special security dispensors and I have seen the razor handles and blades locked glass display cases because they are considered too valuable and can be easily shoplifted if display on regular counter shelves.   I do love the Shick Hydro 5 prices, though.  That Dolar Shave Club commercial is fucking hillarious, and I think it might be the first one to use the "F" word.  I don't think it will get pass the FCC censors, and ever appear on television, but it has over 4 million views on YouTube, so fuck yeah!! Send me those fucking razors.     

Courtesy of an article dated April 9, 2012 apparing in Advertising Age