Scent of Distinction
The aim of Boadicea the Victorious is to bring outstanding, original fragrances to the discerning. Its combination of exotic and impeccably sourced international ingredients and its experienced and irrefutably British manufacturing bestows upon the brand an air of exclusivity and distinction. In this interview, we spend some time with Jeremy Taylor, Group Commercial Director to discuss the company’s rich heritage, distinct identity and international expansion.
Since its launch in 2008, Boadicea the Victorious has become a dramatic collection of opulent perfumes, imparting power and identity for those perfume lovers who chose to enter this uniquely forged world of dynamic olfaction. Creating perfumes that are statement scents, their collection is housed in flask-shaped flacons with a distinctive Celtic-style shield.
The business takes its inspiration and identity from the legendary Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni tribe who rebelled against the Roman army and gathered other tribes around her to protect their lands and customs.
Because of this, while they are a global brand with partners all over the world, their roots remain deep and they continue to produce their perfumes in the UK, using the finest natural ingredients that are sourced globally and responsibly.
“Our mission is to create contemporary and eternal scents for fragrance lovers across the world,” explains Jeremy Taylor, Group Commercial Director. “After sixteen years of innovating in the niche fragrance category, we are doubling down on our key point of difference, to continually deliver original fragrances for global audiences.”
The brand currently has around 350 points of sale across almost 40 countries and while they don’t trade from any of their own standalone stores at the moment, they have plans to open their own boutiques within the next five years. They believe this is pivotal to the growth of the brand as it will allow them and their customers to be 100 per cent immersed in the Boadicea the Victorious experience.
“Expanding into international markets will allow us to increase our reach and engage more luxury fragrance lovers to amplify the brand’s message and increase our visibility across the globe. We will continue to consistently land the brand’s point of difference in multiple markets around the world.”
Whilst the growth of their own physical stores is a priority, it will not deter from their partnerships with luxury retailers such as Harrods in the UK and Neiman Marcus in the US amongst others, as this is an essential element of their growth in order to bring the brand to fragrance lovers around the world.
“We are focused on creating head-turning fragrances and sometimes they become global trends. We led the way on oud and now it is everywhere and customers love it!.”
Already trading in the US, Taylor highlights this as a key focus market where they plan to build on the excellent partnership they have with Neiman Marcus as well as expanding the brand to new areas and points of sale across the US. He also name checks South America as a market with an increasing interest in luxury fragrance so is looking at opportunities to build on what they already have there. Finally, he mentions China, a market for which they have high hopes and which the team is currently immersed in creating a launch plan.
Operating across many different locations and regions, the business continually creates original fragrances for global consumers. They remain consistent in what they do and create perfumes that are different from their competitors. Their product has global appeal but how they activate and communicate it in different markets is what changes.
“We are focusing on how the consumer engages with brands in different markets. For example the way a French consumer and a Chinese consumer engage with the brand is different so we go to “their spaces” and understand what makes them tick. I do not believe it is a question of overcoming the challenges, but more a case of understanding behaviours and adapting the way we engage with our consumers,” comments Taylor.
As the conversation moves onto customer experience and engagement, we ask Taylor how they plan to deliver the bespoke experience associated with Boadicea the Victorious in new regions. In response to this he explains that when they activate new scents globally, they create activation assets for their partners to use as they wish. They work closely with them as they create their own experiences that they feel will resonate most with their own audiences. He explains that they work with them and guide them to ensure activations are on brand whilst allowing the local expertise of their global partners to shine and cater for the local consumer.
Whilst it remains important to celebrate the preferences of their global customers and that fragrances may be created with a local market tradition or taste in mind, Taylor notes that they have found, for example, that as a brand renowned for oud fragrances, over time as global demand grows for new tastes and accord, their ouds have become sought after across the globe.
“We are focused on creating head turning fragrances and sometimes they become global trends. We led the way on oud and now it is everywhere and customers love it!”
For Boadicea the Victorious, digital channels and platforms give them an unprecedented ability to connect with luxury fragrance lovers globally and they strive to engage with consumers by delivering them engaging content and experiences.
Within the realm of e-commerce, their key objective is to attract new customers to the label, encourage repeat purchase behaviour and scale their customers globally. However, it is imperative to the growth of the brand that they build rich purchase and behavioural data profiles across e-commerce and physical touch points in order to be able to continue to deliver what customers want.
“As we look forward, we will continue to do what we do well and remain open to our growing customer base around the world. At the same time though, we will remain consistent in our mission to create contemporary and eternal scents for fragrance lovers across the world,” Taylor concludes.
