exit niche
Today I wish you a lovely weekend. Enjoy !
Yesterday, I met with a PR professional. Keeping an eye on what someone once told me: “PR is an excellent way to spend a lot of money with zero effect. But it can be a key factor for success if done right.” OK: I guess the challenge is to do it right. Like everywhere.
Although, you can do things right, perfectly right, and at the same time do it all wrong. Like Apple with the Newton many years ago. A great tool, never owned by myself, but by a friend. Its basics were done right, great technology, but it was too early for this product. People did not understand it.
So we, the PR guru and me, met for a first discussion of values and visions. Public Relations has a somewhat negative image because PR is about communication, and when people communicate they often do net tell the truth at 100%. This is the case in private life and it is true in business. Thus, values are important for me.
In my particular case, I consider it an experiment. I like the idea of communication a bit more aggressively in a variety of media.
Kind of shaking things up a little bit. Exiting niche if you want, because niche is getting bigger, and bigger, and greyer, and growing faster than mainstream and a trap for folks being real. As niche has nothing to do with niche these days. You can expect a bit more thoughts in the next weeks…
Picture: gravel, little natural works of the elements, seen 2008 at the pacific coast.
January 30th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Dear Andy,
It’s a lovely weekend here. Amsterdam under the white snow and full of Sunlight on the transparent blue sky. Wonderful! I hope it’s also nice in Zürich.
Well, curiosity, flexibility and playfulness are great factors keeping things moving. What should I say? Play, try, experiment and of course you’ll make some mistakes, but finally you’ll find your own way within a new area like PR and communication. Your values is a core, so keep it and play with the rest :o) I wish you good luck.
And… exiting the niche? Is that what your really want to say? I don’t believe it. I guess you mean something like “entering the nicher niche”, a new and very close area where perfumes are made with love and care by hands in a classic way, but with surprising modern nuances. Or am I wrong? :o)
Have a nice day, Andy!
January 30th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
AromaX, to quote Roy Orbison, “You`ve Got It!“(Roy FINALLY just received his star on Hollywood`s Walk of Fame, placed in front of the Capital Records building.His pretty widow and 3 sons attended. AP news online has an article w/pic!) Andy, as long as you know the trap is there, you won`t fall in; you know this very well. And w/ the heart and soul that you put into everything you think and do, no PR firm will be able to fake you out!! :-0 :-) Tauer Perfumes equals The REAL THING in Niche, vs all the others w/ phoney claims/ads who just jump onto the bandwagon to rip people off. Jen - education is word-of-mouth,the blog-o-sphere, and via The Fragrance Foundation, for now.The need for $$$$ to educate/promote gets in the way, yes? MOST people read/comprehend pretty well, and will go online to look up what they don`t get, yes? Therefore, I return to The Non-Blonde`s post about this, and needing a stiff drink of absinthe laced w/ oakmoss! :-) :-) Also, anyone wishing to post a ? at the SS for the 2nd interview w/ the IFRA can use a moniker for their personal discression!
January 30th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
The mere fact that you are thinking about such things indicates to me you will be able to navigate the edge of the chasm…However, I have seen quite a few people take a passion, turn it into a business, and lose the joy. Don’t lose the joy!
January 30th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Hey - the Varsaw perfumery Galilu just received a great article on the Scented Salamander! :-)
January 31st, 2010 at 2:03 am
As always, an interesting week for me to catch up on. My working week leaves me exhausted by week-end, but with that comes a week-end with free time to lounge in front of the computer.
I am enjoying all the IFRA brou-haha - we will see how it all shakes out. But it is true when people say that the allergic reactions to peanuts and such far outweigh a bit of a rash from oakmoss. A label seems appropriate. Even hair dye requires a patch test.
Ahhh, my cat is walking on the keyboard - msut be dinnertime!
January 31st, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Hi Andy, I agree with the others; since you are already aware of the pitfalls, you won’t fall into the chasm. And like Julie says, it’s mostly about making sure you don’t lose the joy! :) Tama, I hope your kitty is enjoying his/her dinner now. And Linda, I totally get what you are saying–I wish these big companies would give the folks more credit when it comes to making decisions–if you are allergic to oakmoss (or peanuts) you’ll avoid oakmoss (or peanuts), but why should others who like oakmoss (or peanuts) suffer? Happy Sunday all!
January 31st, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Good evening to you all from Zurich under thick white cover.
Actually, to wrap it all up: I do not fear loosing my JOY at all, in the contrary. I got big the last few weeks. I did not have as much time in 2009 to think about many aspects of perfumery as I wished, and the last one, two months were filled with thinking about what is happening around me.
I think niche is not what describes what I do. And nicher niche uses a term that has become obsolete: niche. I do not want to reference to niche.
I do perfumery in a different way, not niche. not nicher niche. I am doing things differently.
I thank you AromaX for bringing this up in all clarity: This was the purpose of this post: PR is about communication, and I want to communicate what makes me different.
Enjoy the last hours of your Sunday!
February 1st, 2010 at 1:54 am
the photo reminds me of a film” la strada” by fellini.. natural, beautiful. walked along the beach yesterday, picked up some seashells~
“experiment ” is good, we are always open to challenge. hope you the best!
February 5th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Andy,
I think you took the photograph in Cambria, CA (Moonstone Beach?). My husband and I stopped there on our drive down the coast in ‘06. I collected a handful of those beautiful little pebbles in a jar for my souvenir…
Cheers!
February 6th, 2010 at 7:42 am
Hmm, AnnYM, I think it was close to San Diego. Yes, I checked it: It IS close to San Diego that I took the picture. A nice place, too!
February 8th, 2010 at 2:36 am
Andy, I think I understand what you mean about the meaninglessness of “niche.” It is indeed a very gray category these days. I don’t know if this will help at all, but when I explain to non-perfume obsessed friends what kind of thing perfumers like you and Vero, and Roxana and a few others do I describe you as an “independent perfumers,” by which I mean, perfumers who produce, fund and distribute their own perfumes as opposed to working for a house, small or large (niche or designer or what have you…). Another English word that might be useful here is “artisan,” which, at least in the U.S., has come to mean products made in small batches, often by hand, and thus still closely associated with the maker and the maker’s mind/story/artistry.
Good luck with thinking all of this through. It’s a very interesting time to be doing what you’re doing!