In November last year we announced a strategic investment to scale up our in-house fragrance design and creation capabilities across our global portfolio.
This supports our strategy to accelerate growth by giving us greater control of the design and refinement of our fragrances, a key component of product formulation and consumer preference.
At the heart of this move is a new £80 million investment in the UK which includes plans to build a new state-of-the-art facility at Port Sunlight, develop leading-edge digital capabilities, and recruit – and partner with – the very best fragrance talent and expertise. We spoke to Vivek to find out what’s involved.
- Firstly, Vivek, why is fragrance so important?
Fragrance plays a critical role in elevating the consumer experience and performance of everyday products, from shampoos and conditioners to skin moisturisers, body washes and deodorants, and in laundry and home cleaning.
Fragrance-led innovations combine cutting-edge science, captivating sensorials and trending aesthetics to create unmissably superior consumer experiences that build desire at scale and unlock value.
- What do you mean by unlocking desire at scale?
Fragrance is a key element within the product mix which appeals to both the emotional and rational parts of our brains. Emotionally, it drives a consumer’s affinity and loyalty to a product or evokes a memory. Rationally, it’s a cue of performance.
For example, Persil laundry liquid may remind people of their childhood if their parents used this product. So when they smell their clothes, they’re instantly transported back in time (emotional cue). At the same time, the smell says to them that their clothes are clean (rational cue).
- And how does fragrance unlock value?
Value comes in two forms. First, using fragrance to drive product innovation and premiumisation, and therefore growth. A good example is our Lynx fine fragrance range: a collection that smells as good as the finest fragrances, neutralising body odour while keeping users smelling fresh.
And second, we’re establishing an end-to-end fragrance supply chain which includes everything from ingredient-buying to in-house creation. In doing so, we’ll be best positioned to leverage our scale to unlock value by creating unmissably superior fragrances at best-in-class cost.
- What exactly does this latest investment involve?
We’re building a new state-of-the-art facility at Port Sunlight in the UK. This will be home to an innovation lab and compounding facility where new fragrances will be designed and blended, and evaluation booths where products are meticulously tested to assess performance and preference.
The site will be digitally enabled, with robotics to blend fragrance oils and real-time data capture, enabling digital modelling, analytics and the use of AI to drive fragrance development.
One of the main benefits of new approach is that we can design fragrances to work with our product chassis – the foundation of the formulation – right from the start. This allows us to move swiftly from formulation to design, manufacture and then launch.
- Will we still work with fragrance house partners?
We’ve always taken pride in our triumvirate of expertise: consumer, brand and science. Building our in-house fragrance expertise and capabilities means we’ll be better positioned to collaborate with, and leverage the expertise of, our fragrance house partners. Our long-term partnerships with the fragrance houses remain critical.
- What sort of expertise will we have in the team?
The team will centre around industry-leading perfumers with cross-category expertise from fragrance houses around the world.
It will also include evaluators, who are trained to assess fragrances, and ingredient technologists who will work on our long-term technology programme to deliver pioneering innovations.
- What most excites you about this initiative?
At Unilever we are focused on creating desire at scale, and what we are building through our fragrance house is a key enabler of this agenda. I’m very proud to be leading the team at such an exciting time and look forward to the benefits we’ll bring to the company and our consumers.