Cherry, Cherry everywhere (nor any drop to drink)!

At first, there was no cherry. 

I swear. 

Of the cherry tree we only had the flower, called 'Sàkura', a very delicate element of Japanese culture that has inspired dozens of ethereal, poetic perfumes.

One of the first successful fragrances suggesting cherry as fruit was Cartier's “Delices” (2006), signed by Cristine Nagel, a Master Perfumer capable of transforming sugary notes into sparkles of pure light (see Fendi's legendary Theorema). Despite the success of “Delices”, the cherry did not immediately become a trend.

Over the past twenty years, the R&D laboratories of essence companies have explored all possible shades of sugariness (from praline to marshmallow, from caramel to pistachio, dates, macarons, cappuccinos and so on) and finally discovered new fruity notes... and voilà, cherry again!

Around 2018-2022, a bunch of artistic perfumery fragrances brought the new note to the forefront (Red D'Amour by L. Mazzone, Tom Ford Lost Cherry, Latte di Cherry by New Notes), and made it so trendy that it infected the traditional perfumery of the big brands.

Today cherry is everywhere, as focus of rather simple fragrances, devoid of nuance and three-dimensionality. Although some may also be pleasant, you can tell they're made specifically to ride the current trend.

And that's exactly the point I want to focus on: perfumery brands invest enormous amounts of money to standardize their products with those of their competitors. 

Even if the advertising emphasizes concepts such as distinction, luxury, originality, uniqueness, the products are almost indistinguishable. 

This happens for many reasons; however the management is on average devoid of both olfactory culture and vision; perfumes are merely products, serving as a launching pad for more prestigious brands and multi-zero careers.

Furthermore, in most companies there is no figure to protect the brand's heritage, its values, its CULTURAL positioning within society. No one who, as the Perfumeur Maison once did, is able to position the developing project within the brand's value history. 

There is no idea that every launch is an expression of a corporate culture, vision and values, enveloping the product at all levels; THIS is what makes it unique, different from all the others. 

Intangible assets that create exclusivity cannot be bought.

But they can be built over time. 

Of course, you can also keep on launching products that consumers will replace every season and that, in the long run, will weaken the strength of the brand...