The partnership is a move to fulfil one aspect of the company’s five-year plan: “Digital scent technology is a component of our Vision 2020 strategy,” explains Nicolas Mirzayantz, group president of fragrances at IFF, in a press release.
Olfactory technology
What tech startup Vapor Communications brings to the partnership is the oChip, which is “a scent cartridge that embeds in electronic devices, clothing, furniture and other objects to deliver personal scent experiences much as an audio headset delivers sound,” according to the press item.
And the eventual goal of the project is to provide consumers with mobile scent technology.
Perfume pairing
The match seems to be a good one, with both companies glad for the other’s expertise and foresight. "We are thrilled to partner with IFF, a global leader in fragrance technology and vision, to bring our technology to consumers around the world,” says David Edwards, founder and CEO of Vapor Communications. “With the experience and depth of IFF, and the technology of Vapor Communications, we intend to bring the power of scent to digital communications.”
And IFF had the long-term in mind when choosing a digital scent tech partner: "We believe the future of scent is in the digital world,” says Nicolas Mirzayantz, group president of fragrances.
“The technologies developed by Vapor Communications will play an important role in our larger digital scent journey and build on IFF’s legacy of pioneering firsts," he adds.
Marketing machine
In the fragrance and beauty industry, digital scent could open up a lot of options for marketing perfume in store and online. And while “plans are currently underway for the first consumer product from IFF and Vapor in the first half of 2016,” there is no indication that these developing technologies will be commonplace anytime soon.
Vapor Communications, nonetheless,“intends to bring scent messaging into contemporary living wherever scent matters, for health and memory, self-expression and entertainment, travel and the marketing of aromatic content online.”
The two companies will be pooling their knowhow over the next six months with the promise that, “the products resulting from this partnership will offer consumers greater control over the scent in their immediate environment.”