Every year top hotels, luxury travel advisors, and international media contacts are welcomed to Cannes for the flagship International Luxury Travel Market – introducing global travel buyers to a curated selection of luxury travel experiences.
This is the event where luxury travel trends are forged and partnerships are secured, allowing the increasingly discerning traveller a truly unforgettable experience for their next holiday. As part of the recent 2017 Cannes ILTM, AccorHotels co-ordinated a range of luxury brand events inviting international travel advisors and journalists to exclusive multi-sensory experiences for their upscale brands including Raffles, Fairmont, Swissotel, MGallery and Sofitel.
As the global scent vendor for all AccorHotel luxury upscale brands, Air Aroma had the incredible opportunity to participate in the brand event for Sofitel, celebrating the stylish and sophisticated Essence de Sofitel signature fragrance. The Sofitel Experience was centred around the brand’s renowned French heritage and explored the signature scent Essence de Sofitel with an in-depth fragrance workshop together with Air Aroma led by perfumer Lucien Ferrero. Guests were invited to the private villa Château Saint Georges in Grasse, the perfume capital of the world. Set amongst the charming Provençal hillside overlooking local perfumeries and flower fields, the 19th century villa oozed the classical French elegance so renowned with the Sofitel brand. Built by 4th generation perfumer Leon Chiris, the villa is steeped with heritage and set the tone for further olfactive exploration.
Air Aroma explained the unique signature scent development process, revealing core inspirations and visions for the scent based on the Sofitel branding including information such as the guest experience, target audience, and interior aesthetic which helped to shape the final Essence de Sofitel fragrance. The French perfumer behind the Essence de Sofitel scent, Lucien Ferrero provided a rare insight into the mind of a perfumer, discussing his creative process when creating a new fragrance and guided attendees through an interactive olfactory experience with the ability to customize the Essence de Sofitel fragrance. With the raw ingredients sourced from his garden, Ferrero passed around the crushed lemon leaves, a branch of lentisque and pure patchouli oil explaining his initial concepts for Essence de Sofitel inspired by scents which surrounded his Côte d’Azur home. Ferrero went on to describe dominant top, middle and base notes within the scent connecting them to emotions and characteristics which relate back to the Sofitel scent brief and blend modern sophistication with an elegant French twist. Borrowing from this concept, attendees were able to personalise their own version of Essence de Sofitel with access to raw essential oil ingredients by increasing the sparkling freshness from Bergamot, enhancing the intoxicating femininity with Jasmine, or pushing the sensuality and smoothness with Sandalwood.
With Essence de Sofitel candles lightly perfuming the villa, Air Aroma explained the close collaboration with Sofitel marketing teams to establish a sophisticated identity for the scent, designing the logo, name, packaging and product range. The beautiful retail range epitomizes the style and class of the brand with a candle and 2 sizes of room mists, all are available for purchase on the So Boutique and individual Sofitel hotels globally. To promote the overall scent strategy a line of internal use products includes a grand 1.5kg scented candle, housekeeping sprays and turn-down French Lavender pillow mists. To support the launch of the signature scent, Air Aroma together with Sofitel developed a sumptuous exploratory Fragrance Case. Designed to match the luxurious aesthetic of Sofitel, the Fragrance Case concept provides guests the ability to experiment with the core ingredients of the scent and learn about Essence de Sofitel and the perfumer Lucien Ferrero. Implemented in 25 flagship hotels globally, the Fragrance Case assist with the fragrance ritual, curiosity and storytelling to enhance the guest experience.
Ending the day with a celebratory cocktails and delicious French cuisine in the gold gilded halls overlooking the Grasse countryside, the Essence de Sofitel fragrance emulates the true representation of French joie de vivre, a magnifique experience.