Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are impacting every major industry, with food, sports, and music leading the way.
However, even on a smaller scale, NFTs are making inroads into other industries, such as perfumery.
First to embrace NFTs in the perfume industry is Scents of Wood, a fragrance company that launched in September 2020 and recently introduced the first-ever fragrance subscription available exclusively through NFTs.
A total of 2,222 NFTs were released by the company, each of which guarantees the holder active involvement in the manufacturing process, as well as access to Scents of Wood workshops, and conferences on NFTs and fragrances.
In the following interview, we talk with Tristan Croise and Fabrice Croise, co-founders of Scents of Wood, about their NFT initiative and what lies ahead.
1) For how long have you worked in the perfume industry?
Fabrice: my entire career, so for 28 years, in various positions. As a fragrance developer, as a strategist, as a creative director, as a founder.
2) How did you first get interested in NFTs?
Fabrice: by listening to Tristan talk about them.
Tristan: … I first got involved in NFTs watching some friends of mine race horses on the blockchain. Initially, I viewed it as mostly an extension of video games with a bit more financial incentive but quickly realized that what I was seeing was just the tip of the iceberg of utilities.
3) How did you come up with the idea that NFTs may enhance the perfume-buying experience?
Tristan: As I learned more and more about NFTs and saw all the different ways they could be used, I realized that the concept of owning one’s subscription was something that could have huge implications in the development of the technology. There was also no such thing as subscription NFTs at the time, and given that Scents of Wood is a brand that has a history of leading innovation in its space it made perfect sense for them to jump to the next step of involving blockchain technology in existing brands.
4) What made you decide to create an NFT subscription model rather than “just” accompany each fragrance with an NFT?
Tristan: For people in the fragrance industry who have never used or maybe even heard of NFTs, it’s quite a steep learning curve. We decided to do one NFT for the whole subscription such that it becomes easier to teach people about the technology as well as integrating it into our systems. Also, it perfectly fits the model of our subscription with the one token representing ownership of all the products Scents of Wood is going to release for this collection. Plus, the token is reusable and very low maintenance for people who aren’t necessarily interested in learning all about Web3.
5) What is the main reason for anyone to purchase Scents of Wood NFTs?
Tristan: First and foremost, to gain access to the fragrances! These scents that we are creating for the NFT subscription will never be sold online or in stores, and are exclusively accessible to NFT holders. But if award-winning and extremely rare fragrances weren’t enough, we will also be providing many other kinds of utility, like meetups with perfumers and invitations to conferences on both sides of the spectrum (as in fragrance and NFT sides) among many others.
6) What blockchain did you choose to mint your NFTs on? Why?
Tristan: We chose to use the Ethereum blockchain, as it is the most secure network that exists. It is also the biggest and has the most expansive network of tools for first-time NFT project creators like us to get acclimated. Plus, as a brand focused on trees and wood, we do possess a deep love of the environment. Post merge, Ethereum decreased its energy consumption by 99.98%, which eliminated the environmental concerns of using the Ethereum blockchain and made it a valid environmentally friendly solution for us.
7) What was the reaction of your existing clients to the NFT project? Did the launch bring you any new customers?
Fabrice: We will soon be able to answer that question. However, what we can already say is that the interest of the fragrance community is real. We receive DMs every day asking for details and clarification and that reinforces our conviction that this project is firstly about education. Even before building a community, raising funds, allocating them, and creating new scents, this is about education. Educating the fragrance community about Web3 and the Web3 community about fragrances.
8) Scents of Wood is the world’s first perfume company to launch an NFT-based fragrance subscription model. Do you see your company gaining additional recognition in the NFT or metaverse space in the next three to five years? Do you have any futuristic vision at the moment?
Fabrice: We do. And for the moment, we’ll keep it to ourselves. But it’s pretty cool!
9) If you could see the future, and taking into account the full development of smell-based technologies, would you envision the perfume industry completely mixing with metaverse and NFT technologies?
Fabrice: Absolutely not. An essential part of venturing into Web3 is staying realistic as to what Web3 can and cannot do. Avatars will never smell good.
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