IFRA North America Working To Promote The “Unknown” Industry In 2013

International Fragrance Association of North America hopes to bring the fragrance industry out of the shadows with initiatives including a new documentary – “The Story of Fragrances” – designed to enlighten consumers to the intricacies of scent making and remind viewers of the important role that fragrance plays in their lives. IFRA NA Communications Director Elena Solovyov and Executive Director Jennifer Abril discuss in an interview with “The Rose Sheet.”

In December, the International Fragrance Association of North America released "The Story of Fragrances," a documentary providing an inside peek at the perfumery industry, in its latest bid to raise public awareness of the passion that goes into scent making, the ubiquity of fragrance in consumers’ lives and the challenges currently facing the business.

In the film, viewable on YouTube, perfumers including International Flavors & Fragrances’ Carlos Benaim, creator of Polo by Ralph Lauren and [Avon Products Inc.]’s Christian Lacroix Nuit,and DreamAir LLC President Christophe Laudamiel, co-author with Benaim on Polo Blue by Ralph Lauren and curator of the New York branch of the Osmothèque perfume conservatory, discuss the inspiration and artistry behind their winning scents and other fragrance creations.

Benaim recalls the crafting of Polo as an “arduous process” that took “at least a year [and] hundreds of experiments.” Ultimately, however, “the result was unbelievable in the sense that it affected generations of young people,” he says.

Other industry insiders offer insight into the complex world of fragrance design and the science that makes it possible, illuminating the artistic process and the challenges involved in bringing a fragrance to market.

The narrative serves as a platform in IFRA’s crusade to “have the world appreciate the magic, science and art that go into making scents,” according to Communications Director Elena Solovyov.

Currently, the process is little understood, the film suggests.

Benaim states: “People don’t realize the art behind the product, not only the result but the effort that goes into making it and the people who are making it, who dedicate their lives [to synthesizing] those creations that make everyone feel great and bring memories to people and make them feel happy.”

By bringing the fragrance industry out of the shadows and promoting its work behind the scenes, IFRA and its members stand to gain more than recognition. In a Dec. 19 interview, Solovyov and IFRA North America Executive Director Jennifer Abril spoke with “The Rose Sheet” about the importance of education at a time when the market is being threatened by the specter of potentially debilitating regulations.

“The Rose Sheet”: What challenges does the fragrance industry face at present?

Solovyov: The biggest challenge that we have is that we’re unknown. That’s why it’s so important for us to tell our story. We’re putting out materials, we’re engaging stakeholders, we’re engaging in social media, we’re engaging policymakers, we’re engaging regulators and we’re engaging perfume enthusiasts. We just need to tell our story.

RS: How successful was IFRA in telling that story in 2012? What were the group’s biggest accomplishments?

Abril: 2012 was a busy year for us. We made great progress in our communications and government affairs programs. We launched a documentary about our industry that shows insight into some of the creative experts. It’s really the first time that anything has been done that showcases perfumery in that light.

We held an event in September at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington D.C. Christophe Laudamiel has access to some of the formulas of fascinating, iconic and historic scents that have been used over time. He brought sort of the equivalent of a wine tasting – a scent tasting, which included the scent that Napoleon wore. That was really exciting. We had a member of Congress kick off the event.

We have done quite a lot of outreach on policy matters. We’re making additional connections, improving the relationships we already have and growing our presence and industry footprint on the Hill. In conjunction with that, we’ve conducted our socioeconomic analysis. What we wanted to do is analyze the contribution of the fragrance industry and fragrances to the U.S. economy and also to branded products. It’s making sure there’s a real awareness and appreciation for the importance that fragrance plays to the brand and to consumers as an extension. That has yielded a number of different supporting messages that we’re able to take to the Hill.

[Editor’s note: For its research needs, IFRA teamed with the Huggard Consulting Group, which works with industries ranging from chemicals and metals to pharmaceuticals and food to counter entities that have proven “adept at creating a narrative for industry which sets it at a disadvantage when it comes to policy making and regulation” (Also see "WPC Report: Fragrance Industry Reps Lament Shrinking Ingredient Palette" - HBW Insight, 25 Jun, 2012.).]

RS: With regard to the documentary, “The Story of Fragrances,” why does IFRA believe it’s important for perfumers to talk about their work?

Solovyov: The film is a glimpse into something people don’t stop to think about. It’s an unusual step for this industry – the film is unusually revealing about the interworking of the industry that nobody thinks about.

Abril: One of my favorite analogies that one of my board members makes is that he refers to this industry as a ghostwriting industry. It [the documentary] gives you a glimpse into the expertise or value that someone who operates as a ghostwriter provides. We were in the business of sort of not being known and were looking to highlight some of the masters of this industry and reveal the passion and love for the work that they have. It’s truly inspiring.

RS: How else did IFRA work to educate consumers and influence public opinion in 2012?

Abril: We wanted to make sure we continued to grow our social-media presence. There are a lot of conversations taking place about fragrance in social-media arenas. We have our “Making Scents” platform, which is the name we engage [with] under Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube. We want to make sure we’re engaging in the areas where conversation is taking place around fragrance and ensure that there’s balance and we can integrate industry’s point of view into those conversations. We want to make sure we’ve built the trust with the community that’s talking about fragrance to be able to be accepted, appreciated and brought into that conversation.

RS: You alluded to IFRA’s animated “Making Scents” videos, which provide an overview of the scent-making process and underscore the importance of trade secrets in the fragrance sector. Are consumers beginning to appreciate why requiring full ingredient disclosure for fragrance compounds could undermine the integrity of the art and jeopardize the fragrance business?

Abril: I think that consumers appreciate that but still like the idea of having some way to be able to do additional research on the products that they wish to. So we’re continuing to look at opportunities for ways to communicate to the public without revealing any of our members’ intellectual property. There are a number of ways, especially as technology grows, to take advantage of new uses and new distribution mechanisms to continue to communicate with customers without revealing our formulas. We’re continuing to look at what the possibilities are. People have talked about smart labels and applications for use on smart phones. So you empower the customer to take some ownership and control over what they wish to see and not see.

RS: In the interest of transparency, IFRA includes on its website a list of more than 3,000 fragrance materials that have been reported by industry members as used in fragrance compounds. Some companies also are beginning to publish their own in-house lists…

Abril: On the household side, there have been a number of sub-palettes that some companies have put out. SC Johnson and P&G have begun to put out company palettes. We’re evolving the way we talk to the customer about the ingredients in our products. Taking that, evolving it and trying to look at technology to do more consumer communications – those are some of the things we’re starting to look toward.

RS: What are IFRA’s goals for 2013?

Abril: From a government-affairs point of view, we’re working on our strategic advocacy. We will continue in 2013 to facilitate tours of fragrance houses. We’ve had members of Congress and the media come to our facilities. We’ve opened them up for the first time really. We’ll continue to do that as part of our strategic advocacy. In 2013 will be our fourth fly-in, which is a lobby day on Capitol Hill. We had a larger event in May of this year and then a smaller, similar event in September. We’ll be doing that again.

We’re looking at the possibility of putting on an Expo similar to the European event. That is a bit of a complicated matter. There are a number of rules governing what can and can’t be done in Capitol Hill buildings. We’re looking to engage in another “meet the perfumer” sort of event so we can continue to emphasize the perfumery aspect of what we do.

[Editor’s note: At the European Parliament’s meeting in Brussels, Belgium Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2012, IFRA engaged policymakers with fragrance samples tied to events and cultural phenomena in recent European history and gave presentations to drive home the complexity of fragrance recipes and the need to protect trade secrets (Also see "IFRA Holds Exhibition To Educate Parliament On Fragrance, Trade Secrets" - HBW Insight, 20 Feb, 2012.).]

On the regulatory side, we work with FDA and EPA because our ingredients end up in products regulated by both those agencies. There are states – New York and California in particular – that we have some ongoing dialogue with. We have a very robust compliance assistance program for our members. Relationship-building is a big issue for us with our allied trade. Then there are NGOs and other industry coalitions we’re involved in. We’ll continue to promote our film and manage our social media platform.

We also have an industry-affairs department within our trade association. That’s really membership growth and recruitment we’re going to be working on there. That also encompasses educational meetings and events, webinars we’re working on for next year and our traditional annual events that we put on.

We’re looking at all those opportunities and putting plans in place to really expand and grow our footprint.