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Trying to get your hands on some pertinent and timely fragrance data left collectors and the media rummaging through every attainable magazine interview; traipsing to the local library for books and international magazine coverage, beauty television guest spots and newspaper sources. Somewhere in some back office, fragrance marketers were sniffing the potential of the internet which held the promise of lower advertising costs and reaching a wider consumer base but finding a website devoted solely to perfume was a challenge...

The pickings of fragrance websites were slim. One could read some great fragrance articles on Jasmin.com (now a sex show website), Todd Bennett AKA The Cologne Guy and Perfume2000.com, (a comprehensive fragrance site mainly for industry people with a budget for a subscription.) The term “blogging” was just a few keystrokes away but the perfume media landscape needed some serious excavation and development.

It was surprising to see the internet lacking so greatly in this area until I discovered a fledgling website called Basenotes. One could find the latest fragrance launches, tips, interesting articles and opinions and I had to contact the owner, Grant Osborne to compliment him on his innovation. It was obvious that this was going to be the wave of the future in perfume proliferation. The site was mainly a Grooming/Fragrance website with a clever Faq column answering all the fragrance questions in a fun and informative way. Grant’s approach was so unique and useful that in eight short years, Basenotes was to become one of the most prolific and respected fragrance websites in the world!

Osborne’s roots started behind the fragrance counter at Boots, the UK’s answer to Sephora and the prototype for many pharmacies selling perfumes with their self-serve displays around the world. Osborne’s passion and talents for fragrances coupled with the knowledge of heavy players in the perfume industry and great editorial and computer skills led to the inevitable.

After some hounding and persistence, I was finally able to finally interview the modest owner behind the scenes for a revealing look at his views and website:

MB: Hello Grant, I have so many questions to ask you so I will start at the beginning. I am curious to know when was your first exposure to fragrance? How old were you?

GO: I think I was about seven. An uncle gave me an old bottle of aftershave that he didn't use any more. I've no idea what it was, May have been something from Shulton. I didn't think much of it at the time. I used to get it out of my socks drawer every now and again for a sniff. I would sometimes daub a bit on which made me feel like a grown up.

MB: When did you actually start collecting and wearing fragrances?

GO: Not until I started selling it really. Until then, it was just something I wore going out in the evening. Until I started selling it, when I went out, my big decision was: Jazz – Yves Saint Laurent or XS – Paco Rabanne. Must have had a thing for the Fougère family I guess!

MB: Can you share your background working with fragrances? Did you receive any formal training in the field or was it more learn by smell?

GO: I spent several years behind a men's fragrance counter at the UK store Boots. Before I started working there, my experience with fragrance was minimal, but working day-in, day-out with the fragrance public is a great way to learn.

Boots also had a great training programme. It involved a weeks’ intensive course, regular newsletters and training materials as well as 2-3 day courses in November to train on all of the products for the Christmas rush. The training was offered by experts from each of the fragrance houses. I was lucky enough to be trained on Guerlain products by Roja Dove when he was still at Guerlain.

MB: Do you recall which fragrances were launched when you first started working? Which ones impressed you?

GO: Looking back, the men's fragrances launched when I was working were: 212 Men – Carolina Herrera, Chanel’s Allure Homme, Armand Basi Homme, Body Kouros, Contradiction Men, D&G Masculine, Hugo Dark Blue, Paul Smith Men, Pi by Givenchy, Romance for Men, Rush (Gucci) for Men, Tempore Uomo, Time for Peace for Him, Tommy Freedom, Very Valentino pour Homme. XS Extreme and Yohji Homme!!!

Now we see that many launches every week!

One of the new launches from my time in retail, I still have soft spots for 212, Tempore and Paul Smith. But my favourites were probably Body Kouros, Yohji and Time for Peace.

MB: How exactly did Basenotes come into being? Was there a specific incident that triggered the birth of the site?

GO: When I first started in fragrance retail, it coincided with the time I first went on the internet. I wanted to research and gather information on the latest perfumer launches and any other data out there. There was one site called The Cologne Guy, which was pretty good but it was a few years out of date. Because I was always a bit geeky and into computers growing up, I thought I'd have a go at creating an innovative fragrance website.

MB: The name Basenotes is either one-third of a fragrance pyramid or musical term, how did you come up with the name?

GO: I was trying to be conceptual and think of an original domain name for the site, I think at one point, the best I could think of was mmmsmellsnice.com - so I'm glad I didn't stick with that one. In the end I started looking at fragrance industry terms, and I liked the 'top notes,'heart notes','base notes' descriptions. I liked the way that the word notes could also be interpreted as written notes.

In the end, topnotes.com, headnotes.com, and heartnotes.com were taken, so I was left with basenotes.com, which I registered in November 1999. At the time, it cost me about £60.

MB: Did you have to have computer knowledge on running a website?

GO: When I first started, you would need to know - at the very least - html, how to upload files and utilize graphics software. In the past eight years, I had no idea how much I would have to learn about computer sciences to keep up with the sheer volume of newcomers and new additions I have added to the site.

Today, it is so much easier for anyone without massive computer knowledge to make a blog, which means that fragrance enthusiasts don't have to be a big geek to share their thoughts with other people. In my case, the code is ever evolving because the site has grown to proportions unimagined when I first started.

MB: Which earlier interviews or site development do you feel helped to put Basenotes on the fragrance map?

GO: Well, the first interview I did was with you! If I recall you emailed me and introduced yourself. We then did our interview. Because of that initial introduction we kept in touch over the years, which resulted in you writing two award winning articles for the site, as well as wonderful interviews with many perfumers for the insightful Scent Treks series.

I also interviewed Fragrance Author/Expert Michael Edwards near the start of the site. Somehow Michael Edwards had learned about my site before it had even launched and agreed to be interviewed. This helped my site be seen as something important, due to Michael's respect within the industry. I had the good fortune to meet with him for the first time on one evening about 5 years ago, and found him to be an incredibly kind and generous man. He truly is an asset to the industry.

MB: How have you developed Basenotes over the years? Can you explain the different aspects to the website?

GO: When the site was launched in 2000, it listed about 700 fragrances (there are now 12,000+) and when I say listed, I mean literally-listed. You couldn't do database searches for certain notes or perfumers, you just had to look in a list of fragrances in alphabetical lists.

The other part of the site was the message board, which started with about five people talking about fragrances has evolved into to what is possibly the largest English language fragrance-dedicated discussion site in the world.

Since it’s inception, I have tried to add new features regularly to the site. Members can now add reviews of fragrances, maintain an online fragrance wardrobe as well as have their own blogs and space to store pictures of their collections. We also have paid subscribers as well, who get a few extra features.

MB: What has been the biggest challenges for you?

GO: Two main things. First trying to get the industry to take a web site seriously. It's taken eight years, but the fragrance industry and international media now take us very seriously.

Secondly, the constant learning of new computer-based things to ensure the website keeps running.

MB: What changes have you seen in terms of new fragrance launches over the years?

GO: When the site started, a summer fragrance wasn't really heard of. One or two companies had them. Now everyone does it, with a slightly different version every year. Also a new launch from a major fragrance house would happen once every couple of years. Now it is every couple of months.

Celebrities have also made a comeback in the time we've been online, but on the other side of the coin, we've seen a huge increase in niche and independent perfumeries, who have flourished partly due to the word-of-mouth nature of the internet and sites like Basenotes.

MB: Which interviews has Basenotes published that you are most proud of?

GO: As well as the two mentioned earlier, I'm proud of many of our interviews. Highlights for me include The "Les Christophs" interview where we won a Best Media Editorial Award at the Canadian Fragrance Awards for the second year running (The first with “Scentimental France” in 2007)

“Les Christophs” was a two-part story where we not only interview the Perfumers, but also review their coffret. In fact, we were one of the rare few anywhere, to actually review each and every scent! We had three nominations in this category this year and I would like to submit more for say the Jasmin Awards as well as other Awards. I am extremely proud of the coverage and names we have been able to attract on the site. To me, winning an official Award from a Fragrance Industry event makes us legitimate and with two under our belt, I feel we are well on our way.

I also liked our interview with the new in-House Perfumer Thierry Wasser on his arrival at Guerlain, Liz Upton's Christopher Brosius interview and the interview with Chandler Burr about his New York Times column, which we published on the very same day his column was announced to the press.

We are also running an interview with top Global Perfumers and are nearing the 50 mark, another huge inroad considering most are quite conservative with the media. I feel it certainly lends great credibility to what we stand for.

MB: Do you feel winning these awards have made any impact on the site at all? Do they lend any kind of status to the site’s profile internationally?

GO: Yes, I think the main difference is that it has helped to get the site taken seriously. We're pretty well known by the industry in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia now, and with the recent Men’s Vogue recommendation that Basenotes is one of the top 50 best websites, the word is starting to spread.

MB: Speaking of the fragrance media, can you share which international media have included your website in a fragrance-related story?

GO: Yes, we were mentioned in a few when we first started (FHM, Men's Health and a few Industry titles), and since then we've been written about or mentioned in Women' Wear Daily, The New York Times (several times), The Times (UK), The Guardian (UK), Allure, The Daily Mail (UK) The Evening Standard (UK), Elle (US), MSNBC, The National Post Newspaper (Canada), The American Society of Perfumers etc. There's probably numerous other mentions that we never even get to hear about.

MB: Has the Basenotes visitor profile changed as well since it’s inception? What, in your opinion, is the biggest difference today?

GO: When the site first started, it was a site purely devoted to men's fragrance, so it was mostly guys on the site. Since 2004, we started coverage of all fragrances, for men and women, and since then, our female readership has been growing -- though we do tend to be perceived as a 'men's' site in some quarters.

MB: How many hits does Basenotes receive in a month?

GO: In the average month there are 300,000 unique visits to the site and 2 - 3 million pages are viewed.This usually doubles in December.

MB: Many assume that Basenotes is a blogging site, can you confirm or correct this?

GO: It's difficult to describe Basenotes. It is not a blog (though we do provide an area where members can create their own blogs), but it isn't easy to categorize what it is as people use it for different purposes. For some people it is an online magazine, where they can read articles and interviews about fragrances; for others it is a reference guide, where they can use the directory to find out facts about different fragrances; for others it's a message board where they can post their thoughts of the day on certain fragrances and make friends; for others, it's a buyers guide where they can read the 40,000 visitor reviews on fragrances we have before they decide what to buy. Regardless of how people see it, most people say that they have spent a lot more on fragrance since they found the website

MB: Other websites have copied your formula – does this make you happy or does it perturb you?

GO: It makes me think I'm doing something right! Firmenich's Osmoz relaunched their site earlier in the year to feature consumer reviews, a wardrobe-type feature, and message boards, which was flattering I guess, and there are one or two out there who do something similar us as well but I take great pride with the knowledge that we are one of the very first on the net, to have spun off so many different rich areas of fragrance knowledge and research, hopefully, in an innovative way.

MB: Would you like to expand Basenotes even further?

GO: There are so many things I'd like to do with the site, but much of it involves time and/or money. We have an incredible amount of data on the site. There are 40,000 user reviews and thousands of user-wardrobes (which detail what people own, would like, have tried). There's so much fascinating data for marketers, advertisers, retail buyers and Fragrance and Flavor Houses where they could research spending habits, recommendations, find trends, etc - so that would be nice to look into.

I believe the site can lend itself to many people, in the Fragrance Industry, Journalists, collectors and Marketers. My readers are committed to the pursuit and knowledge of perfumes. Some of their research rivals or even surpasses that of qualified journalists.

MB: Do you feel your internal Basenotes Fragrance Awards may impact sales or marketing within the industry?

GO: I'm not sure. Again, these are starting to be taken seriously now. We're taking votes from the public again very soon. These will be the ninth awards. It was nice to see the FiFI’s this year had one award voted for by the public -- maybe we inspired them!

We also get receive requests from a lot of companies asking us how they can get their product into the Awards? The answer to that is simple really; make a fragrance people like and they will vote for it! Mariah Carey won best celebrity fragrance last year, and The Basenotes Fragrance Award was mentioned on her official website. Hopefully in a few years time we can have an official ceremony and give out crystal flacons to the winners!

MB: Your website is Global – how many countries are represented by your viewers? Can you name some countries that surprised you?

GO: We have readers and posters from all over the world! It's probably easier to name the countries that don't visit us!

I think it fair to say, approximately fifty percent of our visitors are from the US. The rest of the top ten (in order) are: UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, France, Poland and Sweden. Of course burgeoning fragrance consumers in countries like Russia and India are also very keen observers and participants on Basenotes now.

Looking at the stats from last year, we received visitors from nearly every country (including 5 from Greenland!). The only countries that didn’t receive high traffic volume from, were a couple in Africa. It is fascinating to see what is hot in one country and then see something totally different in others. What is nice is that we have them all under the Basenotes umbrella.

MB: How do you see the internet as a participant in future fragrance sales?

GO: I think for one, it has increased the exposure of small brands like Ormonde Jayne, Andy Tauer, LesNez and Ineke. One thing these brands do, is embrace is the internet, and they do get involved with the blogs and websites. One suggestion for the big brands is take a note from the small brands: ie Not everyone can get to their nearest Macy's, Selfridges or specialist perfumery to buy the latest scent, but would be willing to buy it from you on the Internet. BUT, most people don't want to buy unsniffed. What people like Ineke and Penhaligons do is offer reasonably priced sampler sets from their website (some even take the cost off the sampler set off the next full purchase).

The fact of the matter is some fragrance consumers are willing to BUY samples that you give away for free in the shop. I guess I am suggesting why not offer a reasonable priced sampler kit on the website for a few dollars. Customers can try then in their own home -- and wear them in the situations that they would normally wear them in.

When the consumer is satisfied with the blend, longevity etc. the website could offer a money-off coupon which is sent with the samples (ensuring they buy from the vendor and not Super-Joes-Discount-Perfumes.com) and there you go. Brand new customer, and you have their name and address so you can send then detaisl of your next launch.

But, now the industry might be saying. “Yeah, but we're exclusive, we want our customer's to come in the shop and buy it there so they get the whole experience.” Well, people are busy these days, they don’t always have the time to come to the shop. Make it easy and convenient for them and they will buy. I honestly don’t believe all those limited edition flankers are the wave of the future. If you read our Basenotes posters who truly represent those die-hard fragrance fanatics who will go to most lengths to attain a particular bottle of scent, they can be used as the ultimate litmus test in what is hot and what is not.

The Basenotes reader and subscriber can be trailed on one end, from a vintage collector, to limited edition, niche, opposite gender, trend-chaser and everything else in between. I have been told that many Fragrance Marketers and Journalists use our site as their Bible and guidepost in tastes, trends and purchasing power.

MB: I believe you provided a perfume walking tour of London – wil you hold more of these?

GO: We had one last February, where we took about 20 people to four London perfumeries. Between us, several thousand pounds were spent and participants came from all over the UK and Europe. A family flew from Paris, and one of our board moderator's flew in from Helsinki. We would like to do another one next summer, I'm not sure when yet, but if any retailer wishes to get involved they can contact me.

MB: How would you like Basenotes to be perceived by fragrance lovers?

GO: As the best smelling site on the web!

About the author

Marian Bendeth is a Global Fragrance Expert based out of Toronto, Canada. SixthSen@aol.com. Marian has won three fragrance industry editorial awards for her writing.

All articles by Marian Bendeth

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