A Perfume Tour of Stockholm School of Economics
The tour starts with a brief introduction to the art of modern perfumery. In total, the tour will present nine different perfumes which enter into a dialogue with the building and various art classrooms and art pieces, i.e., the perfumes do not serve as scented illustrations of the former. These nine perfumes are distinctly different from each other, they belong to different perfume families and represent different eras of perfume history. For each perfume, the audience will be told the story of how they were developed/composed and offered some explanations as to why they are special and how they resonate with the art classroom or art piece in question. The audience will have the chance to smell the perfumes on blotters as we move along.
The kind of value creation emphasized in the Perfume Tour is one centered on composition: assembling a product based on exquisite skills, expert knowledge, the courage to transgress conventions. This is juxtaposed with the dominant value creation process in the perfume industry during the 80s, 90s, and 00s where perfume was often considered a beauty product and developed and tested in a similar way as a shampoo, i.e., with a functionality that can be constantly refined through consumer testing, rather than as a cultural product. Can this sort of value creation inspire other fields?
Engaging with your sense of smell also foster a different kind of knowledge. Many people are not used to putting smell into words. Thus, the tour ends with a small creative exercise.
Key takeaways:
- Experience SSE in a new way, with the sense of smell
- Learn about perfume
- Learn about composition as value creation
- Make sense of scent
Jenny Lantz is an Associate Professor at the Center for Arts, Business and Culture, specialized in organization and leadership. A significant portion of her research focuses on value creation and organizing in the cultural industries. She has written books on the film, fashion, and perfume industries (se one below). She recently wrote an essay on her favorit perfume, published in Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Read it here.
She also does research on organizational culture/inclusion, leadership and organizational change. She is also a Program Director in Executive Education.
