An internal mandate turns the idea into a decision that management, brand, product and sales teams can work with. It need not answer everything in advance. It should show which assumptions apply, who will test them and who decides when priorities conflict.

Distinguish buyer, wearer and occasion

“Our existing customers” is too broad to be a useful target group. Who should buy the perfume? Who will wear it? In what situation will it be chosen? For a gift, buyer and wearer may be different people. Someone discovering the brand through the fragrance may not know the rest of its range at all.

Describe one primary group and a specific buying occasion. Use feedback already available from sales and customer service instead of relying solely on an imagined persona. Where evidence is missing, state the assumption: “We believe that …”. It then becomes a question you can test through conversations, sample evaluations or a limited product trial.

A line may reach other people later. For the first decision, a clear starting point helps: For whom should the first product be especially convincing?

Define the role in your product range

A branded fragrance can serve different purposes. It might support itself as a product in its own right, complement purchases in an existing channel, introduce new people to the brand or test whether a new category fits the brand at all. These roles are not interchangeable.

A team expecting a standalone revenue stream needs different assumptions about quantity, distribution and success from one planning a limited test. If the goal is an entry point to the brand, the fragrance must make sense to people outside the current customer base. If it is mainly meant to complement existing products, ask where customers would encounter it.

Write down one primary role and, at most, one secondary role. “Increase awareness, loyalty and revenue” may sound attractive, but it gives a project team no priority. At the start, it matters more to know which result should become visible first.

Consider sales channels early

A product for your own online shop demands a different form of presentation and discovery from a fragrance sold in physical retail. Where can people smell it? Who will explain it? What materials and samples does the chosen channel need? Who gathers feedback from sales?

The channel is therefore not a packaging question for later. It affects which target group you can reach, how the product is presented and which costs belong in the subsequent calculation. The mandate should name a preferred launch channel and mark others as options. A list of every conceivable channel is not yet a launch plan.

Name opportunities and risks concretely

A short assessment helps before the brand commits money and attention. Four questions are enough to begin:

  1. What does the brand bring? For example, a clear point of view, existing customer contact or a suitable sales channel.
  2. What is missing? Perhaps knowledge of the target group’s fragrance preferences, a project lead or a workable budget.
  3. What opportunity should the fragrance create? A new product, an introduction for other customers or another reason to engage with the brand.
  4. What could weaken the project? Unclear positioning, too many competing internal preferences, components beyond the available budget or a channel where customers cannot test the scent.

This is not a forecast. It is a set of assumptions that can be tested and prioritised. An openly stated weakness is easier to address than an unspoken promise.

Record responsibility and approval

A fragrance line brings together brand management, product design, purchasing, sales and possibly external partners. More people involved do not automatically improve the result. What matters is clarity about their roles.

Name someone who gathers information and feedback, and the person or group giving final approval. Record when sales and management have a say and which questions require input from development partners. Agreed criteria are particularly helpful when evaluating samples; otherwise, individual taste can compete with the brand task.

The fragrance brief and template later show how an agreed task becomes describable fragrance and product criteria. The internal mandate comes first: it clarifies who sets that task and why the brand is pursuing it.

A project outline for the internal decision

The following prompts are enough for a first working version. Open points are acceptable if each has an owner and a date for the next decision.

QuestionWorking answer
For whom?Primary buyer and wearer groups, buying occasion, available evidence and untested assumptions.
For what purpose?One main role for the perfume in the product range; optionally one secondary role.
Where?Preferred launch channel and how people can discover the scent there.
How will we assess the launch?Observable customer response, sales, feedback on brand fit and criteria for continuing.
Who decides?Project lead, involved teams, final approval and how conflicting feedback will be resolved.
What remains open?Budget, quantity, target price and timing, each with an owner and next step.

A sound mandate does not end with “yes to perfume”. It states for whom and for what purpose the brand wants to start a fragrance. Next comes the feasibility check: do quantity, target price, budget, timing and channel fit together? Only then can the brand idea become a robust fragrance brief.

Olfaktorische Welten supports individual perfume projects from the brief and fragrance development through coordination of manufacturing, filling and packaging. Manufacturing takes place in Germany with partners selected for each project. To discuss your plans, send your project outline to team@olfaktorische-welten.com.