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The bottles bear metal caps and the shape of an Omani dagger for the traditional rectangle bottles (for unisex and men’s fragrances), all decorated with a single Swarovski crystal (or more for those craving a limited-edition bottle). The caps on the women’s fragrance bottles started out in the shape of a classical pointed mosque dome before transitioning into its current rounded shape echoing the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in Oman. “The visual identity clearly reveals our house’s and Oman’s ethos behind the choices of colors, materials, shapes, typography and other details: warmth, generosity, solarity, open privacy, abundance, natural richness, and more,” Salmon comments. “Even if these artistic choices are built on a rather simple and straightforward palette that comes from the observation of life, architecture, art and nature in Oman, their sequence at Amouage is unique and can make a strong impression as opposed to when they exist separately.” These values are r reflected in the ample concentrations of the formulations, the contrasts within the perfume compositions, and the vast array of genres and creative interpretations in the Amouage portfolio.
It’s not just inside the bottle where the magic happens. Amouage’s retail presence is an equal display of beauty, currently available across 80 countries, 12 stand-alone boutiques, and 1,000 retail outlets. Parsiegla states that 80% of sales are still in physical stores . In a time where most brands might be shunning physical retail for the ease of online, the company opened its luxurious flagship boutique in Muscat at the Mall of Oman. “We had lots of debates around that. We see ourselves as an experience business. The more senses you have in an experience, the more touch points, the better. Whereas retail in the past was much more transactional, now it is about an immersion place into the brand itself,” he says.
Created in collaboration with Héroïne design agency, the space was inspired by an eclipse in the Omani desert. At the center of the store is a white orb, split through in the middle with a gold-leaf interior housing its Attar line. The structure sits in the middle of the store like the sculptural spaceship in Denis Villeneuve’s Arrivalan unknown but captivating entity luring in the passerby. Travertine battlements line each side of the store, housing screens that display the work of digital artists. For the store opening, the artwork was “Eclipse” by French director Thomas Vanz, an exploration of the intersectional dynamics between scent, light, and music, backed by an original soundtrack courtesy of Belgian music producer Copal. The screens also change in correspondence to the fragrances that customers are sampling, echoing a synaesthesiac approach to scent discovery. “Amouage is not about being literal. As a creative director, I like to leave room for interpretation rather than forcing personal ideas onto our clientele,” Salmon notes.
The fragrance sampling process has also received an upgrade from standard practices. Instead of paper blotters, curious noses dip a Qalam—a feather pen historically used in Islamic calligraphy to register the country’s gold trade records—into the Attar bottles to then transfer to their pulse points. Parsiegla states the intent is not just to showcase the brand’s vision and offer an immersion into its product offerings, but also to act as a hub for the Amouage community and events. Equally, the company’s Visitor’s Centre takes attendees inside the world of fragrance making, from its perfumes and candles to bath products, while showcasing the history of the brand. The hospitality is paying off, with its own retail operations growing by 33% over the last year.
The company is passionate about having this immersion not just at a retail level, but online as well. Award-winning fragrance writer Dariush Alavi penned a fable entitled The Fullness of Paradise for readers to dive into on the brand’s online presence. “It’s very important to be multisensorial, experiential, and doing that in a modern way. For us, this means working with the creative collective, that is for us a very important element to drive the desirability,” Parsiegla said. Another example: the brand partnered with online content creator The Tingle Perfumer on a 52-minute ASMR journey into Amouage’s fragrance creation process, racking up nearly 1.4 million views on YouTube. Parsiegla adds: “It’s very important to be credible, relevant, and at the same time also educational, especially in our field where we have a lot of connoisseurs and experts. It’s moving to a much more transparent and conversational dialogue.” As for its marketing strategy, again, high value creation is taking priority over mass coverage, with the company using earned instead of paid influencer strategies. Its e-commerce growth is up 43% this year, and it is ranked as a top 10 brand on Tmall since launch ing with the online giant in August 2021.
Despite its royal lineage and immersion in Omani history, Parsiegla is opposed to letting Amouage get too comfortable. “We do not want to be a heritage brand, which gets dusted and ends up in a museum. For us, it’s all about taking our vision and bringing it to the next generation, modernizing it. That’s where we see such a great reaction from the consumers around the world because there is depth and richness in the brand, but it’s done in a very contemporary undertaking,” he proclaims. Salmon and Parsiegla are currently working on packaging and sample kit redesigns, including a more abstract painterly approach to its boxing components, and opening spaces in cities such as Milan, Shanghai, and New York. With 2023 marking Amouage’s 40th anniversary, the brand is sure to commemorate the occasion in trademark opulence.
Most recently, the company signed a partnership with Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Tourism to develop a UNESCO World Heritage site called Wadi Dawkah, which will house hundreds of frankincense trees across 5 kilometers in Sultanate of Oman in the Southern Governate of Dhofar, ensuring its impact goes beyond the product. “Thanks to this exceptional arrangement, this is an opportunity to create a compelling tourism and cultural destination and drive the international promotion of the unique treasures of the Dhofar region,” comments Sayyid Khalid bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Amouage. “Respecting nature means protecting the ecosystems that have gifted us, and by doing so we ensure that generations to come can continue to enjoy and experience the beauty of our fragrances.”
Growth figures, revenue, and sales figures are of course vital parts of the industry’s operations, but the worldwide adoration and love for the house of Amouage among its customers is the result of an elusive formula that many struggle to define. It’s the type of connoisseurship that truly treasures fragrance and the hands that make it, for the noses that treasure the ritual of scent. And even in the world of high-end luxury fragrance, that’s something you can’t put a price on.
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