Olfactive branding — that is, the creation of custom scents to enhance a brand’s image and mission — might at first seem like a newfangled marketing trend.
But for twin sisters Dawn and Samantha Goldworm, 35, the concept made perfect sense as a business venture.
In 2009, the siblings co-founded 12.29, a custom scent company serving retail stores, hotels, events like Art Basel and fashion brands including Zac Posen and Jason Wu.
“Scents make people have a fuller, more emotionally engaging experience,” notes Samantha, who worked in consumer insights for Lancôme and American Express and now handles 12.29’s client relations, suppliers and
marketing.
Dawn is the nose behind the operation, having spent a decade in the fragrance industry, designing perfumes for the likes of Lady Gaga and Kate Moss. These days, she’s in charge of crafting the Flatiron-based company’s bespoke potions and new line of scented candles. The Goldworms’ only other full-time employee is younger brother Aaron, who covers sales and finance — and shares the twins’ Dec. 29th
birthday.
The scent-savvy sisters sat down with @work at the Quin, a new Midtown hotel for which they created a blend of vetyver, cassis, clean linens and fresh pepper, to talk branding brawn, fashionable fragrances and what it’s like toiling with one’s twin.
First, Dawn, how did you end up in the fragrance world?
Dawn Goldworm: While I was an undergrad at NYU, I interned at Avon and got on well with the fragrance director. After I graduated, I moved to London to work in the art world but realized it wasn’t for me. That’s when the fragrance director of Avon called me about a position and sent me to get my nose tested. It’s not something you can study for — you either have the ability to learn how to do this, or you don’t. It turned out that I have a good nose and good olfactive memory. I started at Avon and fell in love with it.
How did you segue into branded scent?
DG: I was getting my MBA at NYU, and my thesis was olfactive branding. A friend owned a boutique in Paris, and I went to him and said, “I have this crazy idea that scent can make the brand experience so much fuller.” We ended up scenting his shop [with a leather-based eau de
Cologne].
Samantha Goldworm: Customers would come into the store and say, “Oh, I love the way it smells in here.” People felt good in the space, they were hanging out longer and they wanted to bring [the scent] home with them — which was the best feedback we could have.
Soon after, you were hired to scent your first fashion show. What was that like?
SG: We created scent for Rodarte’s Spring 2010 show that was based around a burning campfire — there were smoke machines, so people just thought the smoke smelled. With the scent, the lighting, the music and the texture [of the clothes], you really got this total experience. That was our “aha” moment.
How exactly do you translate a brand into an aroma?
DG: During the initial creative process, we don’t talk about scent at all. We just talk about everything that makes up the brand: the target market, the brand heritage and history, and how [our clients] want their clients and consumers to feel. Then I work with a fragrance house in Paris to put the scent together. It takes anywhere from two to four months to create a scent, and we go through many different modifications before we show the client a few [options].
And then how do you install the winning potion into a client’s space?
SG: It’s really easy. It’s usually diffused through their HVAC system [via] a technology that atomizes oil into gas. The air system sucks it up and distributes it evenly throughout a space. You can adjust the scent level to a very specific degree. For instance, some clients want it to be in your face — like at a nightclub or some fashion shows, [where they] want it to make a big impact.
Was it difficult to convince more buttoned-up clients to sign on?
SG: Fashion and art [brands] are willing to go out there and use a new tool, whereas someone established like a bank or a hotel is a little more nervous about putting something out there that’s going to affect the consumer in such a big way. I think we needed the credibility of such niche, luxury players to show bigger corporations that this works, people love it and it really creates this emotional bond with your consumers.
And what about working so closely with your sibling?
DG: Some days it’s awesome — and then some days, when we’re not on the same page, it’s tricky.
SG: When we started the company, we made a conscious decision to treat our relationship like a business relationship — especially in meetings!
What’s it like working at the forefront of a new market?
SG: You have to kind of realize you don’t really know what you’re doing, and you don’t have anyone to call. Every day we fail at something. And then, maybe once a week, you have a small success, and sometimes you have bigger successes. But at the end of the day, we both get to do what we love to do, and we get to do it together.