Fragrance innovations with ‘teen appeal’

There is an opportunity for new scent textures and formats for the body and home with teens and young adults as the target audience. The global fragrance market has seen signs of stagnation over the past five years, but has been revived by the introduction of these new textures and formats. With a current market size of over $32 billion, encouraging continued innovation has the potential to increase the growth of the category.

New fragrance formats introduced in 2018

Click-pen format

(France) Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium Click & Go Click-on Pen features a precise brush applicator that simply delivers the perfect amount of perfume, designed to travel with the user.

Jelly-inspired texture 

(Italy) Kiko Jelly Jungle Shimmery Jelly Fragrance offers sparkling notes of tiare and neroli that can be applied to the décolleté and wrists.

Wand applicator

(Mexico) CF Colorfun Pocket Cologne with Applicator for Woman features a stick wand to dab perfume onto the body, rather than the traditional spray.

Transformative textures

The skincare market can provide a source of inspiration for fragrances. To make a functional category like fragrances more appealing to today’s younger, social media-savvy generation, visual effects such as glitter are gaining momentum.

There is also space for transformative perfumes, which can offer a visual effect or transformation when applied to the skin. For example, fragrances that transform from cream to powder or milk to oil, present a new opportunity to boost excitement in usage.

Generation Z, dubbed the AVID consumer by Mintel, is looking for beauty products to be fun and exciting, with multisensory stimulus identified as a way beauty brands can stand out with younger consumers in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

Broaden fragrance routines

The expansion of sensory experiences presents an opportunity to promote fragrance routines among teens, promoting different textures as for specific occasions, times or body parts.

In 2018, Givaudan Active Beauty launched the ‘fragrance on the move’ concept, a collection of four products that sit between cosmetics and fragrance that offer beauty benefits as well as scent. The collection is described as a sensory experience and includes the Sensation Leg Mist, which features a cooling sensation.

Fragrance routines can be encouraged with connecting packaging. For example, a main spray bottle packaged with a detachable, portable solid variant can encourage on-the-go touch-up application.

Home fragrance

Young adults are more likely to feel that fragrance has an impact on their mood, making them an important consumer group for home fragrances, as well as personal scents.

Young consumers in the US show more interest than their older counterparts in using perfumed candles. This signifies a greater marketplace for innovative home perfumes among this age group.

Home fragrance innovations with ‘teen appeal’

Scented dolls

(US) Jason Wu Beauty Scented Doll and Eau de Parfum Set is designed to offer a unique scent delivery system, as well as being a collectible item. The doll combines fashion and scent design.

Ceramic pencils

(UK) Anya Hindmarch Pencil Pot Diffuser features a fun new design, with ceramic pencils replacing traditional reed diffusers.

App-controlled

(UK) Rituals Perfume Genie is an app-controlled electronic home diffuser, which allows users to scent their home according to their schedule.

Expand bedroom-centric design

The home fragrance market can be expanded by teen-centered innovation. The US holds the biggest opportunity, as it currently accounts for over half of the global aircare market.

Visual innovation can also be expanded to home fragrance products, with new and teen-centric design. Shifting focus towards the bedroom and clothes will appeal to a young audience who do not necessarily have space for themselves.

Products that fragrance both the individual and the room, such as an attachment to emit fragrance from a hairdryer, will have a multifunctional appeal.