Tuesday 2 January 2018

Practical work - Research

The problem with selling scents in recipients (that don't have the goal of aromatising, like perfumes or candles) is that it can be misunderstood as buying something similar to air, which would be understandibly considered a con.

Nonetheless, it’s a disruption in a time where nostalgia is very trendy in films, fashion, music and other forms of creativity. It’s not a product anyone would expect.

Market Analysis

The choice of buying air essence can be thought as easily replaced by buying candles or frangances of other types. The difference is that the air is unique, from a unique moment and unique place. Different factors can be added, like unique personality, unique person, etc.

It’s about smells that can’t be replicated or manufactured. They have to be captured. A good analogy to this would be to compare this market with photography. Illustration can provide a different perception of the reality or a very similar one, but photography it’s what captures a particular moment and immortalises it. The main difference is that everyone can immortalise a sight, but it hasn’t been the same for smells.

There’s a gap in the market to be filled and Essence wants to be the one to tell the world this is possible upto the point where the origin of the word “essence” becomes confusing for not knowing if it comes from the name of the company or from something else.

Portfolio Definition

Every product is limited edition, as an essence can be captured in a certain place as many times as needed but not the same time.

- Essence from places
- Essence from events
- Essence from people
- Essence from objects
- Customised essence collection

Concept definition

-The concept and other parts were defined through the process called 'Core', which is explained in the essay-.

Essence provides encapsulated scents to perceptive costumers in an adventurous environment with a premium voice helping them feel in control.



Atributes

The same perfume smells differently on different people. So uniqueness is one very important attribute in Essence.

- Capsules with liquified aromas
- Mask device to inhale the scent
- A trigger for a required state of mind

Benefits

- It brings back memories, it’s a way of time-travelling
- Relieve, satiation
- Control over emotions

Values

- Emotional
- Ephemeral
- Ethereal, not easily accessible

Mission and why/how/what

The mission is to expand what can be done with odours. Essence  doesn’t want to create new odours or memories, but to bring back the ones customers have.

The extension of the empowering this technology provides to humans is why Essence is so committed. Memories through smells make consumers be in control of their emotions for a specific purpose.

For example, a boxer before a combat might get into a deep state of concentration by smelling the gym he used to train at when he was a child. This smell might be very important and inspirational for him, acting as a trigger for a certain set of desired emotions and mindset.

They capture scents as a natural result of chasing this vision of triggering emotions for specific purposes.

Personality and positioning

Essence is a premium and science based company with a perceptive and nostalgic personality.

If it were a person, it would be known for knowing what to do and when. It’s predictable, but unquestionable. It would spare no expense with what’s important, but knows very well how to handle money. It would drive a Tesla, have an iPhone X, wear a suit and would be covered in tattoos. A person with an interesting background, young but knowledgeable full of stories.

Signifiers

In order to identify what signifiers this new brand is going to present, other brands with similar characteristics are going to be deconstructed to compare the similarities between them. The analysis will focus on the visual identity displayed on their websites based on the feedback received in the tutorials and feedback sessions.

The focus is on companies that deal with luxurious products and/or products that are generally considered the best in technology.



The icon of this company is only typographically based, a logotype that uses a transitional sans-serif typeface, and like the rest of the brand presented on their website, the text is normally black on a white background. There are other colour combinations as the logotype is designed to allow that kind of flexibility. The minimalism and lack of ornament is noticeable accross the brand, using sans geometric typefaces for text and a selection of greys for the brand for the products and photographs to stand out. This provides a feeling of premium-ness, exclusivity and luxury.

Imagery primary relies on golden colours that inspire warmness and wealth. The general layout is presented in a coherent and easily understandable grid.




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Similar to Dior’s, Gucci’s logotype uses a transitional sans-serif typeface with a more contemporary approach, as the serifs are reduced, with less importance and aiming to a more sans look. The main difference is that Dior's logotype is not all written in capital letters. The brand is also very minimalist with the only addition with a golden colour to their own scale of greys and browns to convey luxury and warmness.

The imagery is more precise and has more importance than in Dior’s. Purple colour is the one with protagonism.



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Apple’s logo has trascended in such way that doesn’t need the text to go along with it in order to be recognised. Nevertheless, the similarities with the brands analysed before are quite obvious. They use transional sans-serif type of typography (Helvetica, for example) and another palette of grey colours with very detailed close-ups of floating products. This is to show the attention to detail and care they put into creating every piece, emphasising the design.



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Tesla shows panoramic imagery of their products in natural environments, such as mountains, sunsets, etc. They probably do this to signify how important it is for them to take care of the environment, as their cars are electric. Products are also shown floating, like in Apple.

Their logotype shows letters that seem to be inspired in Chinese calligraphy, but cleaner and symmetric.

They use, in opposition to the other brands, black for the background and white for the text, although the cleanliness is constant here as well.




Scale of semantic difference



It’s difficult to find companies with developed and positioned brands that do the same as Essence. For this scale it’s been used considered companies like the ones that were previously analysed.

One of the main differences it’s that Essence is more emotional and sensitive, whereas companies like Apple, Tesla or Dior are more cold and distant.  Also, these companies focus on how they push the boundaries of technology, similar to what Essence does.

Enjoying these essences is part of a more private, safe and intimate ritual, whereas using the products the other companies sell it’s for a more social aspect. For example, someone that buys clothes from Gucci most likely will fulfill a social aspect with them. Finally, the Essences are not exactly an everyday product, but the capsules can be similar to Nespresso’s capsules: they are both premium and consumed on a daily basis.

Examples of target Audience

1.- Donovan, 25. New York, USA.



Origins: Born and raised in New York City in a working class family and neighbourhood. Single. He says he has achieved everything thanks to the support of his mother.

Career: He’s been boxing since the age of 5 and everyone around him always knew he was going to be the next big boxer. He has been very disciplined with his career and has achieved more than he ever imagined. His salary varies, but it can be said that he will be a millionaire soon.

Family: He doesn’t plan to have start a new family and for now he takes care of his mother and siblings, paying for their houses, studies, etc.

Hobbies: He is someone that enjoys fashion and likes to wear high class suits. Clothing brands are always getting in touch with him for advertising their products. He is very curious and likes to dive into the things he couldn’t in the past for not having money, like playing golf, learning how to drive a helicopter, etc.

Personality: Donovan is full of humanity and he is always trying to find new ways to deliver the happiness he’s got from the world. He is a very positive individual that is always trying to encourage younger generations to respect their parents, be thankful and work hard. He inspires many people and he is inspired by his family.


Consumes: Donovan is a simple man, but that doesn’t mean he stops himself for enjoying what he has achieved. Luxurious clothes, restaurants, hotels, cars, etc are part of how he likes to spend his time. He also donates great amounts of money to charity.


2.- Yu Yan, 45. Zengchong, China.


Origins: Yu Yan is from Zengchong, a rural village in China popular for its uniqueness. She was raised with 3 other siblings. Their family is poor in comparison with a family in Shanghai, but they are in a very good position in the economy of the village.

Career: She studied English Philology thanks to her father savings, as he didn’t learn almost any English at school and she wanted to be able to leave the country and live somewhere else. She now lives in the UK and works as a translator.

Family: She is married to an English man and has 2 children. She wants their children to speak Chinese and English equally fine, but she doesn’t want them to go to live in China as she considers the life in the UK is much better.

Hobbies: Her main hobby is to do all kinds of sports, she is very active. She also likes to meditation and travelling, and is always looking for new breathtaking places to visit. Whenever she can, she visits Zengchong, but it’s very difficult for her as it is an expensive travel with many complications.

Personality: Yu Yan is proud of what she has achieved in her life and wouldn’t change it for anything, but she usually feels homesick and is constantly speaking about how beautiful and simple her life used to be in her hometown. She is kind, active and clever.

Consumes: She is not a person that wastes her money, but she doesn’t mind spend good money in food at the Chinese market. Not only because she likes the food there, but because it keeps her memories alive.

Concept Board

Concept definition

Essence provides encapsulated scents to perceptive costumers in an adventurous environment with a premium voice helping them feel in control.

Atributes

The same perfume smells differently on different people. So uniqueness is one very important attribute in Essence.

- Capsules with liquified aromas
- Mask device to inhale the scent
- A trigger for a required state of mind

Benefits

- It brings back memories, it’s a way of time-travelling
- Relieve, satiation
- Control over emotions

Values

- Emotional
- Ephemeral
- Ethereal, not easily accessible

Mission

- To reach new levels of experience with odours.

- Empower users.

- Make emotions serve us.

Personality and postitioning

- Premium and science based
- Perceptive and motivational
- Emotional and private


Creative Strategy

Project Objective

To create the visual identity of Essence based on its personality:

- Premium and science based
- Perceptive and motivational
- Emotional and private

The identity must reflect the perceptiveness and adventurousness of its users. Also, it’s important to represent a sens of control in a luxurious tone and the power of travelling in time through memories. It’s a unique way to access that part of the brain, so it has to look exclusive and not easily accessible. It has to be a way of empowering.

Target Audience

- Gender: N/A
- Geographic area: International
- Habitat: Home
- Age: 20-90
- Social class: Mid
- Channel: In situ
- Psycho-graphic profile: people that finds moments of their past inspiring, that are curious about the smell of an event they couldn’t attend to. 
- Leisure: Sports, activity, travelling, creating new memories, events, etc
- Motivations: Being nice to others, be a better person, pride on their story 
- Frequence of use: low-mid. At least 1 a month.

Creative axes

- Premium
- Motivational
- Emotional
- Private
- Perceptive
- Science based

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