The Pygmalion myth · Brotherhood Of Scent

The Pygmalion myth

“I have been invited by one of the foremost producers of fine perfumes to gain an insight into market trends. Although I never try to analyze the market, drawing information from the street and the Métro as to which perfumes are worn, I am curious to see this study. The presentation about trends is based around a classification of perfumes. Images of the bottles are projected on to a screen while test blotters impregnated with each perfume are passed beneath our noses. I’m shocked, saddened and disgusted. Too many perfumes are alike, merely variations of models that sell well.

The choice of perfumes depends on marketing directors; they make a selection that is then tested on consumers alongside one or two perfumes already on the market. These act as benchmarks, and facilitate a comparative analysis of preferences.

This sort of procedure dates back to the 1970s when the commercialization of perfumes ceased to be governed by a company chairman’s choice and was entrusted to a marketing team, who first assessed ‘market needs.’ Today product managers or project managers not only advise perfumers about what to make, they also want to choose the people who will execute their concepts. By choosing young perfumers with whom they can identify, they turn themselves into Pygmalion’s. Convinced they have ‘good noses’ while paradoxically relying on market trials, they exhaust the abilities of these young creators by asking for more and more daily samples and not respecting the time needed for evaluation and reflection.

I like to think that every perfumer considers his or her work an art, and that a desire to create constitutes the motive for this work, because the perfumer is the first to appreciate the emotional investment he or she has put into the project. Unless freely chosen, collaborations with other perfumers can only do the utmost harm to a project. Even if the exchange itself is beneficial, the accumulation of ideas is an utter negation of any creative process. Dividing up the personal investment in order to lighten the emotional load that goes into a project means misunderstanding the techniques used and developed by a perfumer in response to a commission. This sort of attitude and process cannot fail to engender frustrations which will later become difficult to manage.”

Excerpt From

The Diary of a Nose

By Jean-Claude Ellena

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