Abstract:

This paper outlines how the Sandpiper Database and Fragrance Evaluation System can be utilised to assist the marketer and perfumer in understanding consumer preference for fragrances internationally and in creating distinctive fragrances with high levels of consumer appeal. Innovation and creativity in fragrance development are often thwarted by the inability of conventional research solutions to provide sensitive and actionable information. Sandpiper have developed a palette of reference fragrances that represent the likely fragrance areas for cosmetics, toiletries and household product fields. Additionally, Sandpiper have established a unique set of attributes that differentiate fragrances internationally. These attributes were arrived at using qualitative and quantitative techniques to generate descriptors and then refined to the optimum set of attributes internationally. The paper includes a case history that illustrates how the Sandpiper database and evaluation system was used to identify a major new fragrance opportunity in the UK hairspray market that was not being exploited by any of the major brands. The Sandpiper system has been used extensively in Europe, USA and Japan by multinational clients to identify new fragrance opportunities and develop fragrances to exploit those opportunities.