In the last of my very s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d-out posts (let’s call it maximising opportunity) on the Meet The Creators event held by Skins, South Africa’s leading niche retailer, these are my impressions.
Some trivial, some pseudo-profound, some about the state of niche.
+ Influencers are a headache for event organisers. But when some of them command the attention of almost one million followers, the show must go on… only when they arrive.
+ Social media has changed the world of perfume irrevocably, for better and for worse.
+ Niche is as much about commerce as it is about creativity.
+ While brands might be about niche and luxury, there’s nothing glamorous about putting in the hours, days, months and years to make a success of them.
+ Selling and living your brand is a full-time job. It takes immense self-confidence and patience to sell your brand for the umpteenth time.
+ Getting the balance between control freakery (ie, planning by researching the various brands and preparing questions) and spontaneity is a fine art that I’m yet to master.
+ It’s all about the extrait and increasingly the hair spray.
(*Apologies to Nick Cave.)
(**It’s taking me a long time to get going this year.)
January always feels like the longest month of the year, so you’ve got a long runway! That last point I’ve found to be true as well – extraits and hair mists (sprays)! Hope you find lots more perfumed inspiration this year as I enjoy the output! 😊
Hey Rich. Happy New Year! You’ve hit the nail on the head with all your points. And I’m in the same boat as you, slow to power up for 2025. But as Nose Prose points out there’s plenty of time ahead.