CPL Aromas
A new brand, vision and website for a global fragrance house
CPL Aromas, the world’s largest fragrance-only fragrance house, is home to some of the world’s leading perfumers and trusted by the world’s top brands to translate their creative vision into the finest fragrances available.
With a strategic ambition to win more fine fragrance business, the family-owned company commissioned a rebrand.
A fashion-forward identity
The new identity, which borrows from the language of premium brands, uses well-spaced, geometric European letterforms to create a contemporary logo whilst retaining the CPL purple as a nod to the businesses’ rich heritage.
The project included the commission of award-winning, fashion photographer John Ross to capture a bespoke set of images. Statuesque models interact with smoke, oils, synthetics, powders and flowers – ingredients used in the creation of fine fragrances – to express fashion and fragrance going hand-in-hand.
This theme was pushed further by overlaying colour gradients onto the images, using synaesthesia to visualise fragrance within the shots.
Premium packaging
The rebrand saw Industry design a premium set of packaging for CPL Aromas. As one of the brand’s most important customer touchpoints, a rigorous design, material and functionality testing process was undertaken to come up with the finished article.
The solution - rolled out on everything from bags and sample packaging to perfume and candle boxes - pairs contemporary design and luxury materials to push CPL into an instantly upmarket space.
Ignite the imagination
The multifaceted brand programme was crafted around the proposition ‘we create fragrances that ignite the imagination’. Positioning CPL Aromas as a leader and not a follower, the proposition also expresses the power of fragrance to inspire creativity and imbue emotions in those that experience them.
The developed solution encapsulates the spirit of CPL Aromas, highlighting the businesses’ undeterred fragrance-only commitment and the uniquely, advantageous position they own operating at the intersection between fashion and fragrance. The rebrand has pushed CPL into a premium space that reflects the true worth and outstanding artistry and craft of the fragrance house.
Digital transformation
The brand programme included a radical digital transformation. A new fully-responsive website was developed to showcase CPL Aromas, including their pioneering aroma technologies and rich heritage. The latest in content best practice was applied, promoting CPL’s inspirational CSR activity and unrivalled fragrance and fashion insights.
As a well-known and attractive employer, CPL Aromas also needed a new way to manage their global recruitment efforts, moving away from manual email applications to something befitting their size and scale. A bespoke careers portal was developed, augmenting internal processes with a digital hub to manage the full recruitment cycle in one place.
In addition to the company’s external website, an online brand hub was created to empower CPL’s brand champions to roll-out the brand globally. The hub houses all CPL Aromas brand assets, allowing easy access to relevant logos, images, videos and documents through a highly visual and intuitive user interface.
"The rebrand is based on a core creative thought which is expressed in our new strapline: ‘We create fragrances that ignite the imagination’. The rebrand has successfully helped align us with the fashion world which is so important to the business of creating fine fragrance. The team, led by Sholto Lindsay-Smith and James Packer of Industry, invested heavily in getting to know the business and helped us to bring alive our vision.
Together we took some bold steps including commissioning fashion photographer John Ross to take some astonishing images which capture the essence of what we are about"
Francis Pickthall, Marketing & Brand Director of CPL Aromas