Fragrance Seminar for Young Managers

The Fragrance Foundation's fourth annual management training seminar goes global.

Michael Edwards, international fragrance expert and author of 'Fragrances of the World', introduced the fourth Fragrance Foundation Management Training Seminar, which took place at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London last November.  Over 60 middle and senior managers from leading brand owners, distributors, fragrance creators, media owners and industry suppliers attended.  The day was a great success.

"The feedback we have had has again been fantastic," said Janine Roxborough Bunce, who is the Executive Director of The Fragrance Foundation.  "The delegates said 'the mix of subjects was useful, interesting, varied and enjoyable'.  The seminar is an excellent meeting platform for delegates to discuss fragrance industry issues."

Informative Presentations

There were 12 presentations throughout the day and Peter Norman , Chairman of The Fragrance Foundation, hosted the event with authority and charm.  The day opened with a presentation on the evolution of fragrance given by Michael Edwards.  Michael was followed by the latest market trends and figures presented by Sitanta Ni Mathghamhna of Euromonitor International and then Tony Measom, General Manager, Aramis & Designer Fragrances, discussed the business of fragrance marketing.  After a reviving cup of coffee, Sophie Pearce of Pragma Consulting gave the delegates a fascinating in-depth review of retail redefinition; Duncan Chater from Men's Health magazine profiled grooming and the new male consumer and then Emily Fleuriot of Creative Content Solutions, talked about PR and the successful management of company websites.

The afternoon session opened with John Ayres from Pandora presenting the Prism Principle, a new way of looking at trends in the fragrance industry.  Then came a panel discussion on the future of fragrance chaired by Michael Edwards.  The panel included Will Andrews from P&G; John Bailey, the founder of Perfumers' Guild; Yves de Chiris of IFRA; Martin Holme from Givaudan; beauty journalist Anna-Marie Solowij and Grant Osborne of Basenotes.net.  This lively discussion was followed by a talk from Victoria Christian, the daughter of perfumer and designer Clive Christian, about working 'up close and personal' with her talented father.  Lesley Exley from leading head hunters Exley Hervey, described the best way to manage a career in the fragrance and beauty industry.  Will Andrews, Chairman of the Fragrance Foundation Associate Committee detailed some of his group's latest activities.  Janine Roxborough Bunce closed the day with futurologist Richard Watson's views on the next 50 years.

"The Fragrance Foundation plans to continue with these annual management training seminars as they are proving very popular.  Subjects that will be covered in the future involve consumer behaviour and shopping habits; brand heritage; niche perfumery; internet retailing; fragrance creation; new raw materials and what makes a successful fragrance launch," said Peter Norman.

The next Fragrance Foundation Management Training Seminar will be in October 2009.  Please email info@fragrancefoundation.org.uk if you are interested in attending.