PODCAST – Brave, bold, local: Founder of Oo La Lab on what it will take for Asian fragrance brands to go global

The fragrance market has changed radically in the last decade. The importance of individuality and self-expression has driven consumers towards smaller private labels, allowing them to steal away market share from the big flashy brands and their blockbuster perfumes.

In recent years, we have seen a wave of niche fragrance brands from the Asian region. Aided by social media and e-commerce, these labels have been able to hurtle across the lowered barriers and stake their flag in the market.

The growth of Asian fragrance labels, Terry believes, is tied to the “growing fascination around the hyperlocal​”.

“This could be around local stories, local cultural nuances, but also not to forget, local ingredients, and local flavours.”​

Recently, the Singapore-based brand successfully expanded into the Middle East, which gave it valuable insight into taking a local brand to the global stage.

“You won't know until you go and often you learn a lot more by just keeping your mouth closed and just listening and seeing. I think that's really the spirit that we went with to just try to take something from a different angle,” ​said Terry.

“Having brought our own kind of unique passion and spin on things. I'm pleased to say that I think we've found our sense of belonging but there's still growth and there's still work to do.”​

Terry said that he was optimistic about the future for Asian brands to make their market internationally.

“I think that's a massive space that belongs to those that will be bold, and that have managed to tell interesting stories that resonate with people,” ​said Terry.

However, there are still some hurdles facing niche players, namely things like logistics and sampling.

“The barriers have lowered for people to buy things… but I think there's nothing like getting a sample of a product into somebody's hand… to really drive that kind of credibility and recognition. While there's definitely a lot of potential for Asian brands, those challenges kind of remain, which is how to move beyond those kinds of physical geographical boundaries.”​

To learn more about Dan and Oo La Lab, check out our episode above or on Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple Podcasts and more.