Phuong Dang | By Mnemosyne

Case Study

Storytelling (web, film, and print) for a fragrance startup, plus the delivery of creative tools and services to help bring product line to the luxury market

Client:
Phuong Dang Perfumes

Phuong Dang Perfumes (PDP) was created by artist Phuong Dang, in collaboration with famed French perfumers Bertrand Duchaufor and Marina Jung Allegret, with its first ten perfumes and ten candles. The Singapore and NYC based startup came to By Mnemosyne (By "M") at the end of December 2015, with only a logo, perfumes still under formulation, packaging designed, but still in prototype mode, and no retail distributor.

With By “M” creative and strategic services, by April 2016, the company secured its first major retailer, officially launched in the fall of 2016, and was nominated for a FiFi Award by the prestigious Fragrance Foundation in its first year.

Background

Scope of services

Market research
Art Direction/ Film Production
Business Consulting
Collateral Design
Creative Strategy
Photography License Management
PR Agency Scout
Retailer Pitch Deck
Website Design

Results

After a successful pitch meeting, the company secured its first retail, exclusive distribution with Barneys New York nationwide. PDP officially launched to the market in Sept. 2016. The collection is now carried in other international luxury department stores outside of the US, with new fragrances.
Within its first year, the company was featured in WWD, Harper's Bazaar, Oprah Magazine, Town & Country, Girl Boss, and InStyle Magazine to name a few publications.
In March 2017, one of the perfumes, 'Untamed Oud," was nominated for 'Indie Fragrance of the Year" by the Fragrance Foundation Awards

Before founding her fragrance startup, Phuong Dang, a Vietnam-born artist based in Singapore, began her creative journey as an international makeup artist, turned former creative director for Elite Model Agency Worldwide, turned Master of Fine Arts graduate from Goldsmiths University of London, where she studied painting. She has since exhibited her sculptural paintings around the world. Her art is owned by private, corporate, and hotel collections.

Mastery of creating scent compositions is both a form of art and science. Inspired by PDP’s founder’s story, and after a creative, scientific, and market exploration of the fragrance industry, By "M" was inspired and presented a few creative and strategic concepts to PDP, for the creation and rendition of their brand's narrative and identity. Fusing a few elements of the selected concept platforms, the brand story came to render itself around a story of “Liquid Emotion.”

Imagery was key for the creative strategy of telling a story for each of the scents as well. During By "M"s time period of work with PDP, there were ten perfumes and ten candles, each of which required a diligent process of curating the perfect images to tell each scent story.

Using the arts as metaphors for scientific & emotional expression

By "M" scouted underwater film artist Christy Lee Rogers, and sought out the mystical electronic duo, Beacon, (whose music inspired the PDP team), to form a satellite team with By “M,” to create a bespoke sensorial short piece, Liquid Emotion, for PDP.

By "M"'s idea for the brand piece was to utilize film and music to communicate the brand's story of "liquid emotion" distilled into olfactory art. Sound and visuals were used as a metaphor to solve the creative challenge of conveying narratives about the sense of scent and spectrum of emotions.