DAY 2: Givaudan and Marina Maher Communications
Givaudan Offices
Fantastic Fantasy - a trend board
Our meeting in the conference room at Givaudan
On the second day FIDM’s New York Beauty Study Tour, our first stop was at Givaudan, the world’s largest company in the flavor and fragrance industry. We met with Kate and Melissa who both work in the marketing department. They discussed their focuses in fine perfume, personal care, and finding new scent molecules. Innovation and trends are very important to the business; they are always looking for the next best thing whether it is a new smell, or a new trend. The company puts a lot of time and focus on researching and discovering new scents never been used in perfumery. They have a team that goes on ScentTrek’s, which allow Fragrance Research scientists to travel on expeditions to try to capture rare scents from plants and flowers. Givaudan also spends time doing consumer research. I’ve always found a great deal of interest in consumer research so I really enjoyed the presentation.
Givaudan has created some of the most recognized classics to the hottest new fragrances on the market. Some of their work includes classics such as L’Air du Temps by Nina Ricci, Opium by Yves Saint Laurent, Obsession by Calvin Klein, and best sellers like J’Dore by Christian Dior, Armani Code by Georgio Armani, and 2010 FiFi award winner Lola by Marc Jacobs.
FIDM's Beauty Majors at Marina Maher Communications Offices
Our next stop of the day was at Marina Maher Communications, a PR agency that works with various beauty brands. We met with Kate, Jessie, and Marissa who told us a bit about the kind of work they do. MMC has hosted many special events and promotions for brands like CoverGirl, Aussie, and Herbal Essences just to name a few. How’d you like to say you host events as your day job?
They shared with us some of their most recent and successful collaborations. MMC just worked with Pat McGrath and CoverGirl for LeSportsac. They also worked with CoverGirl’s Lash Blast Length and Nylon Magazine a few months back for a design contest (Congrats to winner Lauren Okura for her cutesy tube design!). Last year, MMC worked with Bebe and did a special promotion for CoverGirl’s Outlast Lipstain and gave them out free as a gift with purchase.
Visiting both companies was a both a fun and a learning experience. There’s so much more to the beauty industry than just what you see on the store shelves. On a side note, it’s really interesting to see how different offices run from one company to another. It’s like stepping into a different world every time, no two are exactly alike.
