In Conversation _ The future of home fragrance UK
OUR FOUNDER, RECENTLY SPOKE WITH BEAUTY & WELLNESS TREND WRITER MAYA REGAN, from trends intelligence agency Stylus, about the future of scent and home fragrance for their recent report Elevating Home Fragrance Experiences.
With the home fragrance market soaring, the timely conversation uncovered the connection between the key scent trends that Stylus experts are tracking, and why our brand's primary marketing strategy (to sell daydreams - not the scent notes) is resonating with consumers. Read the full interview below.
MAYA : How did the concept of 'dream therapy' inspire you to start a candle business?
MIKE : Before I started DAYDREAMIN’ I found that a lot of candle brands focused on creating scents that tap into our brains limbic system. Creating evocative scents that act as a form of memory retrieval. That transport us to a certain time and place.
When looking into this more, I found that scent not only awakens our memory bank but has the potential to be a powerful trigger for our brains ‘daydream mode’. Scent is scientifically-proven to activate our inner subconscious and imagination, and daydreams themselves are scientifically proven to produce healthy amounts of dopamine and oxytocin in the brain. But nobody was tapping into this through scent. This was the light bulb moment for me, and that’s how we became the first brand in the world to develop scent-inspired daydreams.
MAYA : A key theme we are exploring (in our report) is the idea of home fragrances being developed with more meaningful ideas and storylines behind them. Do you think this might be a tactic to elevate the candle experience?
MIKE : Absolutely. The candle market is so saturated. There are so many (literally) vanilla brands – without any clear differentiation. We live in a media rich world, so having a compelling narrative to buy into is everything for today's consumers.
Marry this with shifts we're seeing things like ‘psychedelic wellness’ and the ‘emotion economy’, our primary marketing strategy has been to focus on selling daydreams - not the scent notes themselves. It’s something that seems to be working for us as we have a conversion rate that is over double the industry standard, and we are in the top 10% of stores on Shopify in our category – and we’ve only been going for 9 months.
MAYA : Tell us more about your latest candle collection additions, what are you trying to evoke with these home fragrances and storylines?
MIKE : All our lives were put on hold for over two years. Off the back of the pandemic people are now rejoicing in a renewed sense of freedom. This is something we looked to mirror in our new additions to our Lucid Dreams candle collection, creating a new range of scents for ‘life-seekers’ - people who are seeking to get back out in the world with a vengeance. Indulging in activities they might not have done pre-pandemic and ticking off their bucket lists in order to feel alive again.
MAYA : Why do you think people are drawn to the transportive power of scent?
MIKE : I think the ability to be taken out of your reality in a time when there is so much uncertainty and anxiety in the world is appealing to consumers of all ages. It’s a key driver of things like the Metaverse and psychedelics but also a leading factor in the future of scent.
Our motivations for buying a scented candle now goes way beyond just making our homes smells nice - it's a key part of our daily wellness rituals. So if you had to choose between a standard 'Vanilla' scented candle or a 'STORM CHASER' scented candle, you're gonna choose the home fragrance that's going to add some va-va-voom to your everyday.
"DAYDREAMIN's primary marketing strategy is to sell daydreams rather than scent notes. This offers consumers greater scope to connect with the candle experience on a deeper, more meaningful level." - Maya Regan, Stylus
If you like what you've read here, you can read STYLUS' full report on 'Elevating Home Fragrance' featuring numerous industry perspective here.
Happy DAYDREAMIN' 💙