Originality, Imitation and Flankers — Creativity Behind Perfumes in Antiquity

In 2019 the global fragrance market was valued at around USD 32 billion. Even though the outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted and negatively impacted many business sectors, the fragrance and beauty industry has demonstrated a great deal of resilience. Positively, the pandemic has accelerated e-commerce and digital research growth, which have enabled many customers to explore new scents and try new products. Sales of favourite and staple fragrances have remained unaffected; however, new fragrance launches have fallen.

Fragrance consultations have moved from in-store to online so that customers could continue benefiting from premium services such as customised products and product packaging, fragrance blending on demand and product diversification based on customer needs. Trendy names of new products and brands, innovative products in the luxury category, collaboration with celebrities, and stepping away from mass perfume production have primarily driven the growth.

“Perfume is a work of art made to be experienced through all senses”

It would be easy to assume that current trends, customers’ behaviour, and preferences only reflect modern markets’ complexities. However, in ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt, customers, traders and manufacturers were faced with similar challenges. Coming up with original and memorable names for products, sourcing high-quality novelty materials, creating…