Fragrance houses and designer brands are going back to the drawing board to rework their marketing and communication approaches in order to adapt to this radically different consumer.

“This new generation learns visually. They aren’t readers. Their search engine is YouTube, not Google. They use TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to learn new skills. Print ads won’t reach them. Facebook and Google won’t reach them. Fragrance and fashion brands need to focus on sustainability and create inspirational rather than aspirational marketing,” said Cole.

— Read more in Gen Zs love expensive perfume. The curious phenomenon of a small luxury in bad times at National Post.

Coty CEO Sue Nabi told Yahoo that Gen Z are using fragrances on their clothes and outfits, in addition to their skin. “They spray much more, and it’s shortening the life span of the usage of the product,” she said. “That’s what explains this boom, both in volume and in value behind this market.” Coty, which raised its annual sales outlook last week, is launching more fragrances to meet demand. In April, it announced what it calls “the first globally distributed fragrance manufactured using alcohol from 100% recycled carbon emissions.”

—Read more in ‘A category our consumers are asking for’: Why more brands are getting into fragrances at ModernRetail.

Fragrance usage in the US is up slightly this year, compared to 2022. The age group leading the boom? Gen Z consumers.

In fact, Gen Z’s usage has expanded significantly, up five percentage points to 83%, according to findings from Circana’s Fragrance Consumer Report 2023.

Compared to total fragrance wearers, Gen Z over-indexes when it comes to myriad factors. For one, consumers aged 13 through 26 rank highest when it comes to heavy usage, or wearing fragrance at least three times a week, and are now more engaged with the category than Millennials.

— Read more in Gen Z Is Sweet On Smelling Good at Happi.

Yet, when it comes to home fragrance, some of the bloom is off the rose. In fact, home fragrances sales last year fell for the first time in the past decade, according to Kline. Consumers pulled back on home fragrance purchases because they spent less time, well, at home.

— Read more in Of Hearth & Health: The Home Fragrance Market at Happi.