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In November 2021, TOPHER joined hands with the global creative organization The Unreasonable to sincerely launch the "Extraordinary Women" podcast column, which outlines vivid "Extraordinary" women by talking to different female investors, entrepreneurs, designers, bloggers, cross-border artists, etc. From their growth stories, we can see the true "power" that belongs to women alone. In the tenth issue of
, TOPHER invited Alva, the founder of the fragrance brand "groundle". The audio content of this issue has now been launched on podcast platforms such as Soda, NetEase Cloud, Litchi FM, Xiaoyun, Himalaya and other podcast platforms.
Picture source: TOPHER
In early 2020, the domestic epidemic began, and many people fell into anxiety. At first, Alva was also worried about the health of her family, and even worried about whether the dogs at home would be pulled away... One day, Alva lit the candles at home. The moment the fire came out, four words flashed in her mind - "It will be beautiful." Seeing the fire and smelling the match, Alva instantly gained a kind of warmth and hope.
In June 2020, Alva and her partners talked about this. Based on each other's brand experience and understanding of the supply chain and market, they all felt that this was the best opportunity to open a new brand. Therefore, the naturalistic fragrance brand "groundle" was naturally established.
brand name comes from the combination of ground and candle, which means stepping on the ground and constantly exploring outward. This concept is also integrated into all products and every offline space. When people see "groundle", it is like opening a life magazine or conducting a travel exploration process. A bit romantic, a little warm, a little kind of friendly, this temperament is very similar to Alva.
The moment the candlelight ignites, the stars will flash on the earth. This romance may be what people are looking for now.
The following is the transcript of the conversation:
TOPHER: What was your workplace experience before starting a business?
Alva: I first entered the luxury goods industry and was responsible for marketing. From that time on, I had a systematic learning and practical process of the worldview and presentation method established by the brand. Luxury goods are not just about providing an expensive item, but more about presenting a life concept. Fragrance belongs to a major category of lifestyle brands, representing the lifestyle people want to achieve, and is very similar to luxury goods.
TOPHER: Whose people or things have inspired you in the past workplace?
Alva: The boss in the luxury goods industry can be said to be the "first person in public relations". I have always respected his affairs and communication methods, and I have learned a lot from it. Another one I met after entering the fragrance industry. He had a factory in the fragrance manufacturing industry very early. He brought me a lot of professional fragrance product production formula technology, industry knowledge, and the principles of doing business. When people work, they don’t think about business-level things. When they start a business, many seniors come to help with kindness, which makes me very grateful.
TOPHER: When did you start to get involved in the fragrance industry?
Alva: I have been very sensitive since I was a child, which may be a talent. The early experience of fragrance is similar to everyone. Because it is professional in interior design, I like to visit IKEA when I was studying. At that time, IKEA had just entered the country, and the design and color matching of the entire space were very attractive. At the same time, the fragrance of IKEA space was deeply engraved in my mind, and I realized that candles can also have a smell. In 2016, I and my friends created a domestic original fragrance brand, and since then I planted the seeds of my love.
TOPHER: Who is the target audience of "groundle"?
Alva: According to the data, consumers account for a relatively high proportion around the age of 25-36, are curious, are willing to taste new things, and have some aesthetic requirements for life. We have many repurchasers, and we will smell different smells every day according to our mood, and change our moods like changing clothes.
TOPHER: Where does the temperament of "groundle" come from?
Alva: brands, like people, also need to have personality traits. We can make exaggerated or gorgeous and cute brands, but we still hope that "groundle" will be more realistic, which is also the principle of steadfast work that I pursue. "groundle" is called Guanglan in Chinese. The meaning behind it is the place where light is, that is, the soil shining on the sunlight has its own exclusive smell. When choosing the texture of the container, use Jingdezhen Ceramic , and the packaging uses environmentally friendly materials, which all reflect the natural feeling.
TOPHER: You have a kind of aesthetic ability.
Alva: I hope people can feel that "groundle" is not just a candle, but a perception of olfactory aesthetics, which can open the heart of exploration and see more and better-looking things. I also hope that while improving my aesthetics, I can take everyone to slowly open up the aesthetics. This is what I want to do. Whether it is "groundle" or the previous fragrance brands, we will create some offline art installations, flashlights and art exhibitions. When you open the official website, the first thing you see is not a candle, but a olfactory map. This may be the accumulation of original interior design professional and workplace experience, as well as aesthetic accumulation.
TOPHER: Nowadays, people choose brands more from identity or interest and value recognition.
Alva: pair, we will discuss this issue at different stages, such as why do you buy it when you see "groundle"? There are many different aspects of the brand setting, such as sound, offline art installations, taste, etc. We hope that everyone can slowly discover the different characteristics of each side, and there is always something that can arouse everyone's interest. The difficulty is that the brand cannot hit everyone's hearts, and the fragrance is also the same. It itself is a very abstract and emotional product. Everyone must see it in different emotional states, hoping that no matter which side it is, it can stimulate the desire to buy.
TOPHER: Are you worried that the integrity of the brand will squeeze out the space for people to explore?
Alva: Everyone has their own memories and settings for the taste. We are just throwing the bricks and attracting the jade. Consumer feedback is often a little different from what we think, but they are all real. We hope to create a strong first impression for everyone. With guidance, consumers can continue to diverge and expand.
TOPHER: How do abstract concepts be transformed into actual products?
Alva: fragrance product can only smell it by the nose. No matter how beautiful it is, it is still an imagination if it is not smelled. Especially in the Internet era when we can’t smell the smell through the screen, we can use other perceptions to create a sense of atmosphere, such as hearing. Women are very emotional and delicate, and usually choose to quickly enter a new state.
When I started with flavor concepts and creativity, there was a picture. After I had the picture, I would imagine what would be like, what I could hear, and what I could see in this environment. I would also put the music in the product presentation to let everyone feel this atmosphere. For example, the smell of moss can be heard by insects and birds singing and the sound of wind blowing, and the picture presented is like the feeling of sunlight shining on the leaves.
My requirements will be more detailed. We have found many musicians, and many cooperations are natural. The musician is the band's lead singer and my friend. I am sure he can understand the emotions or pictures I want to express very well. At the beginning, use white noise and natural sound to express the flavor of spring and summer. In autumn and winter, there are more melodies based on white noise. Urban people work and study every day, but everyone has a little bit of a presumptuous heart, just like they want to skip classes when they go to school and want to escape from disco on campus. When we grow up, most people are rational. We hope to extract the romantic and unrestrained moments to immerse everyone in it, so we add a percussion to the sound of stepping on the fallen leaves.
TOPHER: What cities are currently on the olfactory sensory map of "groundle"?
Alva: We have arrived in 8 cities, one is Japanese Aomori , representing moss; Italian Ninfa (Giardino di Ninfa) is the smell of the romantic escaped floating soil rose in late autumn; Caribbean is rich in island cotton , so choose cotton there, which has the warmth of sunlight; Jordan Amman Dead Sea has a floating feeling, and the taste is comfortable and lazy; Granada, Spain has a lot of olive , so we made an olive flavor with sunlight; at the beginning of this year, we went to Valais, Switzerland to make giant lamb wool candles, which are the smell of white cedar, as a limited edition winter model; this spring and summer launch of powdered salt, which makes people feel in love when they smell it. There are many cities in the process of exploring, and you can look forward to it.
Due to the epidemic, people cannot travel. In the future, you can follow the "groundle" travel map guide to explore, which is an important gene of the brand. No matter how old you are, you need to see more and understand the world.
TOPHER: What is the process of the product "groundle"?
Alva: The path and logic of each brand are different. "groundle" is positioned on the ground, and the sense of smell will change due to temperature. The fragrance will set a new flavor in different seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. Usually, we will first look for what the substance can be made in the natural landscape, and then see where the relevant substances are abundant in the world. After setting up the concept and conducting a survey, we will locate several cities or places so that the general feeling of the fragrance will come out. Extract the keywords you want to express, and the visual of the entire picture will also be presented. The texts are submitted to fragrance companies at the same time, looking for perfumers from different countries around the world based on the concept to make the formula, just like formulas.
Usually we communicate with -pin scent , arrange it according to the molecular size of the aroma elements to form the top, middle and bottom notes. At the beginning, we will basically publish more than a dozen drafts, and we will make choices and modifications in these versions, so that we can only smell the final smell after repeated. Then enter the candle base making, as well as other product media, etc. The communication at each stage of the production process is very interesting, and the most interesting and painful thing is the early taste creativity.
TOPHER: How long does it take to create a fragrance?
Alva: at least 3 months from concept to production, because I want to put more time to give the early creativity. Only when the early logic is clear can the story be presented to consumers convincingly and they will have the desire to buy.
TOPHER: What is the biggest problem that "groundle" has encountered so far?
Alva: may be a balance between some of your own preferences and market preferences, taste, vision and text output... Every point needs to be balanced.
TOPHER: What is the next step for "groundle"?
Alva: Next, we need to take the step of only making indoor fragrances, and pet fragrances will be launched in November.
TOPHER: Why do you make pet fragrance?
Alva: I used to have two dogs. The efforts and love for pets are like family members. Especially during the epidemic, we are locked in the same space, have a common living environment, and will encounter problems such as not being able to take a bath. When we consider our own health, pets as life members also need to be considered. On another level, you can see that there are many stray cats and dogs on the road being abused or discarded by their owners. From the perspective of the brand, we hope that everyone can be more tolerant of small animals.
TOPHER: How do you understand "very female"?
Alva: I have reached this state normally and naturally, and I have not deliberately created it. It is very reasonable to slowly form a self-awareness along the way and then reflect it when building a brand.
Starting a business is really hard, but there are also lucky parts that can do what you do in your consciousness. Now, in addition to representing individuals, I also need to be responsible for the entire company.I have always told everyone that we are a ship, but now it may be a small boat. I hope that this ship can first see different scenery along the way in the sea channel and slowly turn into a big boat. Secondly, it should be safe, I am responsible for the guidance and everyone works together. In the past two years, I have become more and more aware that starting a business requires a certain degree of control.
TOPHER: Are you afraid of losing control?
Alva: I will, try to keep everything under control in the past two years. When you have some control, everything that happens is reasonable and I can handle it. At the same time, any decision or any choice is logical. At present, I also hope that the brand and team will have a more cohesion and sense of mission. Relatively speaking, this will be a protection mechanism, and these must be held in a stable and controllable state.
About "Extreme Women"
"Extreme Women" podcast column was sincerely launched by TOPHER and the global creative organization The Unreasonable. Through dialogues with different female investors, entrepreneurs, designers, bloggers, cross-border artists, etc., it outlines vivid "Extreme" women. From their perspective, we can see the true "power" of women alone. All podcast text version contents of
will be released simultaneously on TOPHER, Interface News, Tencent , NetEase, Sohu , Sina and other all-media platforms. Welcome to continue to pay attention. In addition, radio audio has now been launched on podcast platforms such as Soda, NetEase Cloud, Litchi FM, Xiaoyun, and Himalaya. Welcome to scan the QR code to listen to the full version of the conversation.
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