Number of visitors far exceeds expectations for a new scent experience made possible through co-creation with SCENTMATIC
2022.09.14Shiseido Global Innovation Center is leading an open innovation program called "fibona." “Co-Creation with Startups,” one of the activities of the program, aims to create innovation by fusing the novel ideas and innovative technologies of startup companies with the knowledge, technologies, and services of Shiseido's unique research.
One of the companies selected by fibona for its November 2021 startup selection was SCENTMATIC, Inc. SCENTMATIC provides a service called "KAORIUM," an AI system that can translate scents into language and at the same time select scents from words.
Through co-creation with fibona, a new fragrance system equipped with Shiseido fragrances was installed on the first floor of the Shiseido Global Innovation Center (S/PARK) located in Minato-Mirai, Yokohama, from July 2022. KAORIUM's booth has attracted a much larger number of visitors than expected.
KAORIUM, developed by SCENTMATIC, is “a scent and word translating system.”
In fact, when customers smell multiple fragrances and choose their favorite, their impression of the fragrance is visualized in words such as "refreshing," "clear," "lustrous," "fresh," and so on. Through this experience, "fragrance," which had been vague and difficult to grasp, is defined by words.
Conversely, it is also possible to search for a favorite scent using a keyword as a starting point. It is a unique AI tool that can mutually convert "scent→words" and "words→scent.”
By selecting your favorite scent from multiple options over several rounds, the AI will guide you to your ideal scent.
What kind of new fragrance experience is KAORIUM creating? What new value will be created through co-creation with Shiseido, which launched Hanatsubaki, said to be the first perfume created by a Japanese brand?
Interview with Toshiharu Kurisu and Shin Watanabe of SCENTMATIC, and Yuri Koshima and Ken Shoji of the Brand Value Development Institute, who lead the co-creation project.
To create "affluence" rather than "convenience”
──First of all, I would like to ask you two from SCENTMATIC. Could you introduce yourselves and give us some background on the development of KAORIUM?
Kurisu:
My name is Kurisu, and I’m the president of SCENTMATIC, Inc. In my previous job at a telecommunications company, I was in charge of planning and developing new services for smartphones. In my previous job, I was in charge of developing services that could provide "convenience" to consumers.
Then, in 2015, I was transferred to a venture capital (investment company) in Silicon Valley, where I was involved in connecting local startups with my company. At that time, I realized that I wanted to do a job that would create "affluence" rather than "convenience.”
When I thought about what is "richness," which is something that brings the zero to the positive, it is something not "convenience," which is something that brings the negative closer to zero, I ultimately arrived at "fragrance.” After thinking about what I could do by combining "fragrance," which can help enrich our lives, with the AI assets I have cultivated, I decided to leave my job and launch SCENTMATIC in 2019.
Watanabe:
My name is Watanabe, and I am the project manager for the co-creation with fibona. I joined SCENTMATIC in 2020. Since then, I have seen KAORIUM expand into various areas.
──How did you find out about KAORIUM, Ms. Koshima and Mr. Shoji, (members involved in fragrance development at Shiseido's research institute)?
Koshima:
I knew about SCENTMATIC even before this collaboration began. I myself am involved in research to communicate the value of fragrance, and when I experienced KAORIUM at the NOSE SHOP (a select shop featuring perfumes from around the world) in 2021, I thought it was amazing. I was struck by how well they were able to verbalize and value something invisible, such as fragrance.
Now, as a member of fibona and a fragrance researcher, I am working with SCENTMATIC through KAORIUM to create experiences that communicate the value of fragrance and analyze the data that emerges from these experiences.
Shoji:
I have been involved in fragrance research for just under 30 years since I joined the company, and have also conducted research on classifying and expressing fragrances with words that describe emotions and sensations.
When I heard about KAORIUM from Ms. Koshima, I was very interested in it as a language-based scent research tool. The original idea is similar to our own research, but I found KAORIUM to be a very appealing tool that incorporates AI and very innovative ideas in terms of hardware.
Sympathizing with a challenging attitude of a large company
──What was the motivation for SCENTMATIC to apply for fibona's startup selection in 2021?
Kurisu:
At the time, KAORIUM was already highly acclaimed in various fields, but we were convinced that it had the potential to be used in a much wider range of applications. However, it was difficult for a small company like ours to create a big stir. Given this situation, I had a hunch that we would be able to create great synergy with Shiseido, whose sensibilities toward fragrance are close to our own.
Watanabe:
I feel that it is very meaningful for a venture company such as ours to work with a large partner like Shiseido. Of course, we would not only benefit from the partnership, but we believe that there must be unique experiences and proposals on how to use the data that only we can provide, so if there is an opportunity for collaboration, we would definitely want to take it.
There are very few large companies in Japan that are continuously implementing open innovation projects. Venture businesses like ours have no choice but to take on new challenges on a daily basis, but Shiseido continues to implement challenging measures such as fibona even though it is a large company. This attitude resonated with me, and the fact that Ms. Koshima knew about KAORIUM even before the startup screening was held made me feel strongly that she is always on the lookout for new ideas.
Koshima:
SCENTMATIC does not create fragrances, but rather tracks how customers perceive fragrances, converts it into data, and provides it to customers through KAORIUM. I think that is the unique charm of KAORIUM.
The announcement of the event created a buzz and the number of visitors greatly exceeded expectations
──How did you feel about the co-creation between SCENTMATIC and fibona?
Kurisu:
Since we are co-creating with researchers who are developing fragrances, we are receiving a variety of insights from them. Through communication, we’ve realized that fragrances are so meticulously crafted.
At the same time, we reaffirmed that fragrance is an area where value is difficult to convey. No matter how much meticulous calculation and passion goes into the development of a product, customers sometimes end up just saying, "That smells good.” That is why I believe there must be something KAORIUM can do.
Koshima:
I agree. How to communicate the value of fragrance, which is invisible and difficult to promote like cosmetics, is something we also feel is a challenge.
As part of our approach to finding a means of communicating this message, we planned an event for KAORIUM, which is equipped with Shiseido's fragrance, at S/PARK starting in July, and were surprised by the unprecedented response we received.
──What kind of response have you received? What kind of people have been experiencing it?
Koshima:
We decided to make this a three-month limited event, but to our surprise, we received two-thirds of the targeted number of visitors within the first week of the event. We had never imagined that a media article introducing the event would generate so much buzz on Twitter.
Shoji:
There were not only women, but also couples and men. At first, we were very sorry that some customers had to give up because of the long wait time.
Koshima:
A gentleman in his 70s also came out of his way to experience the event. Listening to the real comments of people of various ages and genders, I think that people can like more than one kind of fragrance. It is a truly valuable experience for us researchers to hear directly from people who say things like, "Normally, I like this kind of fragrance, but I'm in the mood for this other type of fragrance after exercise.”
──Will the real input of customers be used in future development?
Koshima:
This co-creation event has two objectives from a research perspective. The first is to provide insights for our researchers to understand more clearly how customers perceive fragrances.
The second is to consider how to utilize the data obtained from the in-depth study of customers' sensitivities for the next step. What do we find when we look at fragrance from various perspectives, such as "gorgeous" and "soft"? As "preferences" becomes increasingly diverse, what kind of fragrances do customers like and what kind of fragrances leave a lasting impression? We intend to confirm this through analysis of the data we have collected.
Watanabe:
This time, KAORIUM is equipped with Shiseido's fragrances, and I could feel the strong commitment of the fragrance developers.
For example, it is not just "lavender," but the name of the fragrance is like a poem, long and packed with information. Due to system limitations, we could not include all the words, but I realized that one of KAORIUM's roles is to convey what we have stripped away as an experience.
Koshima:
What surprised me was that the customers' sensitivity to fragrance increased as they experienced KAORIUM. By actually smelling the fragrances and seeing the words, their sensitivity to fragrance was raised to a higher level. The vague impression of a fragrance becomes clearer and clearer. I saw such a scene many times.
Shoji:
I understand how you feel. At first, I was also afraid that some people might say, "I compared four different scents, but I can't tell the difference," but most of them chose their preferred scent after understanding the differences. Moreover, many of them seemed to really enjoy choosing.
We are proceeding with interactive communication, and during this process, we sometimes receive comments such as, "even though we use the same word like 'gorgeous', we choose different fragrances. These comments made us feel that we were able to introduce fragrances by impressive and realistic way.
Reconsidering the value of fragrance more than 100 years after the release of the Hanatsubaki fragrance
──Finally, please tell us what you would like to do in the future through co-creation and what are your goals, if any?
Watanabe:
SCENTMATIC's vision is to "create a future where people can experience the world's abundance of fragrances as a daily form of enrichment.” We are still at the stage of delivering new value to limited groups such as "perfume lovers" and "sake lovers," but eventually we hope to make it available to everyone.
As a step toward this goal, we would like to target people who are interested in "beauty" through Shiseido to further broaden our base.
Kurisu:
Comparing the fragrance market alone, the scale is completely different between Japan and other countries. Overseas, by far, the domain is wider and the scale is larger.
We have already conducted user tests on the English prototype of KAORIUM with native English speakers, and it has received a very high evaluation with an average score of 9.4 out of 10 points. In the near future, through co-creation with Shiseido, I would be happy if we could bring more joy and richness of fragrance to people overseas.
Koshima:
For our part, we would like to take on the challenge of eventually giving form to Shiseido's products. In addition, we would like to deliver not only products, but also information and experiences about the value of fragrance that we have not been able to fully convey until now. We will continue to work hard so that our co-creation efforts, which are only possible because Shiseido is a company that has led Japan's fragrance culture, can take shape.
Shoji:
The first perfume produced by Japanese hands is said to be Hanatsubaki, launched by Shiseido in 1917.
At that time, perfume was something that expressing ourselves, but about 100 years have passed since then, and recently, the value of fragrances that offer a relaxing effect seems to be increasing.
Through this co-creation, I was also able to reaffirm the strong expectations customers have for fragrance. From this point on, I would like to firmly link fragrance and value together and deliver that value to our customers.
Outline of KAORIUM Experience Service
■Period: from July 14, 2022 (Thursday) to October 14, 2022 (Friday)
■Time: 12:00 to 18:00 *Service is suspended on Wednesdays and Sundays
■Location: Shiseido Global Innovation Center (S/PARK), 1F MAP
■Trial fee: Free
（text: Hanae Abe edit: Kaori Sasagawa）
Project
Co-creation with startups
Activity