Insight
Scent influences how people perceive products, remember brands and make purchasing decisions.
While olfactive strategy has long been established in the fine fragrance industry, its strategic principles had rarely been applied to the beauty and personal care industry.
Instead, scent was typically introduced late in product development, with decisions driven by trends, creative opinion and personal preference rather than business strategy.
As a result, one of the beauty industry's most influential business assets remained largely untapped.
Opportunity
The beauty industry was undervaluing one of its most powerful business assets.
The opportunity was to educate organisations to stop treating scent as simply a creative decision and start treating it as a strategic business asset.
Objectives
Establish Olfactive Strategy within the beauty and personal care industry.
Position scent as a strategic business asset rather than a creative decision.
Educate organisations on the strategic role and business value of scent.
Begin changing industry thinking and decision-making.
Strategic Response
The challenge was never convincing organisations that scent mattered. Most already believed it did.
The real challenge was getting them to stop treating it as an afterthought, something added at the end, a "nice to have", and start seeing it as something that could create significant business value when considered from the beginning.
Once they saw scent differently, they could start using it differently.
The Idea
We believed scent was one of the beauty industry's most valuable assets. Its value wasn't missing. It was hidden.
Its influence could be seen everywhere in product perception, customer experience, preference and brand differentiation, yet its contribution to business performance was rarely recognised.
Our role wasn't to invent value.
It was to reveal the value of scent as a business asset.
At the heart of the platform was The Invisible Asset, positioning scent as one of a business's most overlooked assets. The beam of light became the visual expression of the strategy. By shining a light on scent, we revealed its hidden value, encouraging organisations to focus on it, understand its potential and act on it.
As the thinking evolved, so did the positioning. We moved from "Where Scent Meets Strategy" to "Reveal the Value of Scent", shifting the focus from describing what IOI does to expressing the value it creates.
We introduced Olfactive Strategy as the framework for defining and revealing the business value of scent.
At the heart of the methodology was a simple distinction:
Fragrance is what brands create. Scent is what people experience.
That distinction fundamentally changed the conversation.
Instead of asking:
What should scent smell like?
we encouraged organisations to ask:
What should scent achieve?
This simple shift reframed fragrance from a creative output to a strategic business decision.
We created sales tools, strategic presentations and LinkedIn content to educate organisations, challenge established behaviours and encourage earlier, more strategic decision-making around scent.
Outcome
Credibility
IOI established its founder as a recognised thought leader on the strategic role of scent within the beauty and personal care industry.
Language
By introducing Olfactive Strategy and creating a shared language around scent, the business shifted the conversation from fragrance selection to business objectives.
Mindset
Through strategic positioning and education, organisations were encouraged to rethink the role of scent, recognising it as a strategic business asset rather than simply a creative decision.
Decision-making
The work began repositioning scent from a "nice to have" added at the end of product development to a business lever capable of driving business performance when considered early in the innovation process.
What This Taught Me
When we shift how we see something, we shift how we value it.
Marion Peylet
Insight
Scent influences how people perceive products, remember brands and make purchasing decisions.
While olfactive strategy has long been established in the fine fragrance industry, its strategic principles had rarely been applied to the beauty and personal care industry.
Instead, scent was typically introduced late in product development, with decisions driven by trends, creative opinion and personal preference rather than business strategy.
As a result, one of the beauty industry's most influential business assets remained largely untapped.
Opportunity
The beauty industry was undervaluing one of its most powerful business assets.
The opportunity was to educate organisations to stop treating scent as simply a creative decision and start treating it as a strategic business asset.
Objectives
Establish Olfactive Strategy within the beauty and personal care industry.
Position scent as a strategic business asset rather than a creative decision.
Educate organisations on the strategic role and business value of scent.
Begin changing industry thinking and decision-making.
Strategic Response
The challenge was never convincing organisations that scent mattered. Most already believed it did.
The real challenge was getting them to stop treating it as an afterthought, something added at the end, a "nice to have", and start seeing it as something that could create significant business value when considered from the beginning.
Once they saw scent differently, they could start using it differently.
The Idea
We believed scent was one of the beauty industry's most valuable assets. Its value wasn't missing. It was hidden.
Its influence could be seen everywhere in product perception, customer experience, preference and brand differentiation, yet its contribution to business performance was rarely recognised.
Our role wasn't to invent value.
It was to reveal the value of scent as a business asset.
At the heart of the platform was The Invisible Asset, positioning scent as one of a business's most overlooked assets. The beam of light became the visual expression of the strategy. By shining a light on scent, we revealed its hidden value, encouraging organisations to focus on it, understand its potential and act on it.
As the thinking evolved, so did the positioning. We moved from "Where Scent Meets Strategy" to "Reveal the Value of Scent", shifting the focus from describing what IOI does to expressing the value it creates.
We introduced Olfactive Strategy as the framework for defining and revealing the business value of scent.
At the heart of the methodology was a simple distinction:
Fragrance is what brands create. Scent is what people experience.
That distinction fundamentally changed the conversation.
Instead of asking:
What should scent smell like?
we encouraged organisations to ask:
What should scent achieve?
This simple shift reframed fragrance from a creative output to a strategic business decision.
We created sales tools, strategic presentations and LinkedIn content to educate organisations, challenge established behaviours and encourage earlier, more strategic decision-making around scent.
Outcome
Credibility
IOI established its founder as a recognised thought leader on the strategic role of scent within the beauty and personal care industry.
Language
By introducing Olfactive Strategy and creating a shared language around scent, the business shifted the conversation from fragrance selection to business objectives.
Mindset
Through strategic positioning and education, organisations were encouraged to rethink the role of scent, recognising it as a strategic business asset rather than simply a creative decision.
Decision-making
The work began repositioning scent from a "nice to have" added at the end of product development to a business lever capable of driving business performance when considered early in the innovation process.
What This Taught Me
When we shift how we see something, we shift how we value it.
Marion Peylet
