The entrance to The Sensorium™
THE SCENTSATIONAL WORLD OF THE SENSORIUM™
Sephora and Firmenich wanted to reignite the love of fragrance by creating The Sensorium™, a multi-sensory journey that is the first of its kind open to the public. This exhibit explores the emotion and instinct of scent through interactive experiences, compelling film, story-telling and three-dimensional art. It opened to the public on October 7 for a limited time in New York City’s Meatpacking District.
“Our goal is to have Sephora’s consumers understand fragrance on a whole new level with The Sensorium™. It’s all about emotion and memory,” shared Sharon Rothstein, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Sephora. “We have been blown away by Firmenich’s work on what fragrance means. The Perfumer is a modern-day wizard who conjures up emotions with molecules. They are a hybrid of a biochemist and a fine artist trained in the esoteric knowledge of crafting perfume.”
“We hope that consumers will learn about the rich history of fragrance and fall in love with the dream,” affirmed Debra Butler, Vice President of Creative Marketing for Firmenich. “Firmenich has a rich history of inspiring industry partners with the magic inside fragrance through The Sensorium™. We are thrilled by the opportunity to work with Sephora to share The Sensorium™ dream with the people in a way that will educate about scent as well as illuminate its emotional impact on our lives.”
The Sensorium™ Lucid Dreams from the Sensory World is an interactive 4-D Scentsory exhibit. The visitor to the exhibit embarks on a journey of six encounters beginning with the backstory of creation and design revealing how we think, experience and interact with scent. Guests are then guided to imagine life without scent through real-life testimonials from people who have lost their sense of smell. Next, visitors are reborn into a world of scent that connects everyday actions and memories to scents that are integral yet often overlooked in their lives. An exposure to a factory of creation allows the guest to discover how molecules and extractions blend together to form a finished fragrance that evokes a unique emotion. At the end of the journey, visitors are seated at a Fragrance Bar where they engage in smelling unbranded scents to discover their preferences based on emotion instead of marketing messages or bottle appearance.
Firmenich’s Armand de Villoutreys, President of the Perfumery Division, maintains “The Sensorium™ is a fantastic effort and shows fragrance creativity in a new way. It will contribute to the rejuvenation and reconnection of the consumer with fragrance, and we are very proud of our partnership with Sephora.”
Allison Slater, Vice President of Retail Marketing for Sephora, stressed that “we must continue to get out the message about perfume. We want consumers to understand that fragrance is not just sex in a bottle.”
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| Visitors to The Sensorium™ exhibit are reborn into a world of scent. | Firmenich’s Debra Butler, 30 Rock’s Jane Krakowski and Sephora’s Sharon Rothstein |
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