FRAGRANCE DEVELOPER

Discover how the course is structured, what you'll create throughout the programme, and how fragrance development concepts connect to real-world products and brands. Share your chosen fragrance and begin exploring what makes a scent meaningful.

• Instructor introduction
• Course & assignments overview
• Discussion: Talk about your selected fragrance

Explore how the fragrance industry operates, from market segments and consumer preferences to retail strategies and brand positioning. Examine the evolution of perfumery and how successful brands adapt to changing consumer tastes.

• Overview of perfume & fragrance
• Market overview
• Retail and distribution channels
• Consumer olfactive preferences & market shifts
• Historical evolution of perfumery
• Case study: Jo Malone’s growth from niche to global

Learn how scent is perceived, how perfumers develop their olfactory skills, and how fragrance materials are classified and produced. Build foundational fragrance vocabulary through guided smelling exercises and hands-on analysis.

• How we smell & perceive odour
• The jobs of fragrance developer
• How professional perfumers train their nose
• Accords & extraction methods
• Natural vs. synthetic materials
• Workshop: Guided smelling exercises with kit samples
• Exercise: Classify raw materials into fragrance families

Discover how top notes shape a fragrance's first impression and explore the fundamentals of accord construction. Apply formulation principles while comparing how different ingredient ratios influence a scent's character.

• Top notes in practice
• Illustration of the FF market / accords
• Building accords from kit materials
• Using formulation guidelines
• Workshop: Compare 3 variations of the same accord

Assignment #1: Signature Fragrance Concept
Develop the foundation of your fragrance product by defining its audience, scent direction, fragrance family, olfactive pyramid, and emotional inspiration. This concept will serve as the basis for your final brand project.

Explore the role of heart and base notes in fragrance development while learning how longevity, sillage, and balance influence performance. Build layered accords and evaluate how a fragrance evolves over time.

• Heart notes and base notes
• Longevity, sillage, and balance in compositions
• Demo: Blending a three-layer accord
• Workshop: Create a top, 1 heart, 1 base (mix)

Learn how fragrance brands identify emerging trends, evaluate products, and translate consumer insights into successful fragrance concepts. Analyse market successes and failures while exploring the forces shaping today's industry.

• How to smell the market?
• Evaluation & description
• Key consumer trends
• Consumer testing & where to find consumer insights
• Case study: Successful vs. failed fragrance launches
• Discussion: Compare two kit samples against market trends

Learn how professional fragrance briefs are structured and how creative direction, market positioning, and technical constraints shape fragrance development. Translate brand ideas into clear, commercially viable fragrance direction.

• What goes into a fragrance brief
• Technical and safety constraints
• Competitive positioning
• Professional fragrance brief
• Case study: From brief to final product

Discover how to translate formulation principles into practice by building your first fragrance concepts. Experiment with balance, structure, and ingredient interaction through guided blending.

• Formulation principles
• How ingredients impact overall composition
• Workshop: Guided blending session with kits

Assignment #2: Fragrance Brief & Initial Formula
Create a professional fragrance brief and define your market positioning, pricing tier, and creative direction. Develop an initial formula using your kit and evaluate alignment between concept and composition.

Refine fragrance compositions through structured evaluation, focusing on balance, stability, and performance. Explore how professional labs assess and evolve fragrance formulations over time.

• Refining blends
• Longevity & stability considerations
• How stability and ageing are tested in labs
• Regulatory affairs
• Demo: Showing evaluation of a refined blend

Explore how fragrance brands build identity through storytelling, emotional positioning, and cohesive visual language. Define how scent, narrative, and design work together to form a brand world.

• Brand mission, vision, and values
• Emotional storytelling
• Communicating through story
• Target consumer and market positioning
• Case study: Storytelling done right vs. storytelling that failed

Discover how packaging shapes perception, communicates brand identity, and influences purchase decisions. Analyse design systems across luxury, niche, and commercial fragrance brands.

• Bottle design trends and the psychology of shapes
• Packaging elements
• Colour psychology and typography
• Legal & regulatory requirements
• Sustainability in packaging
• Case study: Packaging strategies from Byredo & Diptyque & Aesop

Assignment #3: Brand Identity & Packaging Strategy
Develop the visual and emotional identity of your fragrance brand through storytelling, packaging direction, and positioning strategy. Create a mood board or visual presentation that communicates your fragrance’s personality, target audience, packaging concept, and overall brand world.

Learn how fragrance brands build visibility through digital, influencer, and experiential marketing. Compare modern social-first strategies with traditional brand-building approaches.

• Digital vs. traditional strategies
• Influencers, social media, and events
• Approaching social-first campaigns
• Case study: Influencer-driven launch and traditional brands strategies

Explore how fragrance launches are planned and executed through press, partnerships, and strategic communications. Understand how brands build anticipation and credibility in the market.

• Writing press releases
• Partnerships and collaborations
• Launch event planning
• Case study: Examples of press kits and event plans

Learn how fragrance products are priced, positioned, and distributed across global markets. Build an understanding of cost structures, logistics, and scaling strategies.

• Cost of goods breakdown
• Pricing models and competitor mapping
• Scaling production & demand forecasting
• Logistics, warehousing, shipping
• International expansion considerations
• Negotiation tactics

Assignment #4: Go-to-Market & Launch Strategy
Create a launch strategy for your fragrance brand, including pricing, distribution, marketing approach, partnerships, and promotional planning. Explain how your fragrance would successfully enter the market and connect with its intended audience across retail, digital, and social channels.

Explore the business foundations required to scale a fragrance brand from concept to production. Learn how manufacturers, contracts, finance, and compliance shape real-world growth.

• Working with manufacturers & suppliers
• Timelines, MOQs, contracts
• Regulatory considerations for scaling
• Business structures, accounting, and finance essentials
• Risk management & insurance

Final Project: Fragrance Brand Launch Pitch
Create a complete fragrance brand launch presentation that combines your fragrance concept, formulation direction, brand identity, packaging strategy, pricing model, marketing plan, and launch approach into one cohesive pitch.

Discover how innovation, sustainability, and technology are reshaping the fragrance industry and what this means for future careers. Reflect on your learning journey, final project, and the evolving opportunities within fragrance and beauty.

• AI-driven fragrance design
• Sustainable innovations
• Other innovations
• Career pathways in fragrance
• Career portfolio guidance
• Final Q&A & course wrap-up