Fragrance Insider: Colorful Characters – Bold and Playful Expression Challenges

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Coloring Outside the Lines

In a society often obsessed with uniformity, there has emerged a new group of consumers, one with a powerful drive for freedom, individuality and self-expression.

These consumers want to break free from all labels, rules and restrictions to challenge convention and conformity. Their desire to eliminate monotony and express themselves has fueled resurgence in creative fragrance design and multi-sensory composition.

This metamorphosis and the awakening of the consumer spirit have given birth to a bold new movement which embraces colorful characters and audacious, playful expression. Consumers, hungry for new experiences, are attracted to bright colors and enjoy experimenting with non-traditional pattern combinations as well as new materials.

In Living Color

Ultimately, consumers want to live their lives “in color” further driving this trend towards more vivid, happier tones, diverse color patterns and extreme textures.

Marketers across a wide spectrum of industries, including creative fragrance design, have heeded the consumer call for versatility and vibrancy by offering a variety of color choices and injecting bursts of color into otherwise neutral pieces. Compositions are designed to “pop”, ignite the senses and exude an air of whimsy.

Color Your World

Colorful characters are showing up everywhere. At one time these playful, bold hues were prevalent solely in the “artsy, creative” industries and playful had the stigma of being silly. Today, however, brilliant hues have gone mainstream and playful is no longer deemed silly. Rather, playful and fun are now seen to be professional and more importantly, on trend and in line with the needs and wants of consumers.

Subsequently, marketers in fashion, fragrance and beauty are bringing a playful energy (along with a sense of optimism and joy, excitement and intrigue) to their professional lines:

• Vibrant colors are the punctuating pieces in fashion and home décor.
• Vivid colors and unconventional mix and match options in fashion and color cosmetics allow for more interesting and impactful self-expression.
• Graphic packaging with lively colors makes fragrance and beauty products stand out.
• Marketers are challenging preconceived perceptions of scent and instituting innovative new strategies for repositioning fragrance as an art form.

True Colors

Art and self-expression are key components of this interactive trend which has reawakened the consumer’s sense of fun and imagination and introduced them to a host of colorful characters. This engaging, kaleidoscopic storyline is destined to continue capturing the attention and interest of consumers who are seeking provocative new ways to express their true, olfactive colors.