Abstract:

Our research, carried out in the US in 1984 one year before its launch in France, was to determine whether the POISON project was an ugly duckling made of conflicting elements or a winner with a future on the American market, in which case we were to identify the most promising scent among competing submissions. The method we used is a precise, highly structured, intensive and creative one. Our approach is a fine-tuned version of what ESOMAR refers to as "new qualitative" research, designed specifically for up-market fragrance projects. It is an appropriate counterpart to Dior's innovative conceptual marketing. This most carefully designed and implemented method is based on: - extremely precise recruitment criteria and over-recruitment by 100% to allow for face-to-face screening by the group moderator; - multiple angles of investigation: individual and group situations, rational and emotional reactions; - minute examination of likes, dislikes and imagery in light of each respondent's personal frame of reference and vocabulary rather than imposing a benchmark; - interpretation beyond face-value reactions; - predominance in analysis of coherence over preference Our analysis allowed us to conclude that beyond violent face-value rejection of the name and the concept there was a fascination by the universal archetype of alchemy, which was strongly and clearly expressed by the name, the box and the bottle, and that among the scents tested, the least-liked one was preferable because, among other indicators of potential success, its imagery was compatible with the POISON concept.