What Russian women want from their fragrance…

By Andrew MCDOUGALL

- Last updated on GMT

Orilflame 'Power' fragrance Russian ad from 2013, endorsed by TV presenter Tina Kandelaki
Orilflame 'Power' fragrance Russian ad from 2013, endorsed by TV presenter Tina Kandelaki

Related tags Gender

Russian women want to express their aspired gender identity with fragrance tones that convey power and strength alongside femininity as they strive to excel professionally.

Fragrance firms would do well to follow this trend and formulate scents for it as more and more Russian women focus on their career and traditional stereotypes evolve, changing consumer behaviour, according to Canadean.

“Women’s attention is no longer only centred on family, but divided between home, professional and personal achievements,”​ says Veronika Zhupanova, analyst at the market research company.

“This means that women will look for fragrances that communicate a story beyond pure femininity and convey characteristics that were previously seen as exclusively masculine, such as power and stamina.”

Characteristics

Canadean’s latest report finds that Russian women will look for these new gender characteristics in both fragrance formulations and packaging, meaning that fragrance notes previously associated with men, such as wood and leather, will be successful in the female fragrance market in Russia.

The same can be said when it comes to packaging as modern designs with clear lines as opposed to overly feminised and decorative packaging are also tipped to be a hit.

However, as image is strongly associated with status in Russia, fragrances should look like premium products, says Canadean.

Sizing

According to the researcher, Russian women apply fragrances 19.4 billion times per year, almost twice as much as men who apply fragrances 10.3 billion times.

This means that to fit into modern women’s busy lifestyles, manufacturers have to launch travel-size fragrances.

“Travel-sized packaging allows Russian working women to refresh their scents during busy days, after a shower in the gym or before after-work social events,”​ says Zhupanova.

“This is especially important for big urban areas, where consumers often don’t have time to go home after work and reapply their fragrances.”

Resonate

Another bit of advice offered by Canadean is for manufacturers to create stories behind products which are inspired by role models that consumers have access to via web-sites or promotional materials, as Russian women appear to resonate with these.

An example is Oriflame's 'Power' fragrance which is marketed towards the ‘passionate, driven and charismatic’ woman who ‘always gets what she wants.’

The bottle is designed to resemble ‘the beauty of a crystal chess piece’ and ‘serves to reinforce the symbolism of a woman at the very top of her game,’ while the ‘seductive’ scent underlines her femininity.

It is also endorsed by a famous presenter on Russian TV, Tina Kandelaki, who is a professional female figure.

Related topics Market Trends Fragrance

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