Could you introduce yourself in a few words?
After more than 15 years shaping international marketing at L’Oréal, Clarins, and Bvlgari, I felt the need to embark on a more personal journey. That is how Essenzia ByDao was born over a decade ago—a venture created to guide luxury, fragrance, and beauty brands in their dialogue with a new generation of Chinese consumers.
At Essenzia, we embrace an exclusive approach that blends strategic marketing with what I call an anthropology of taste: exploring how the sensibilities of young Chinese are formed. Since 2015, we have followed a dedicated panel through in-depth interviews, complemented by social listening, and enriched by an immersion into cultural, olfactory, and linguistic worlds.
It is a practice rooted in the field and nurtured over time, animated by a constant desire to weave together essence (the dynamics of identity-building), sense (flavors, scents, shapes, and colors), and Asia (its cultural codes and bridges). The seeds of Essenzia were already there—waiting to grow into a space where meaning, beauty, and culture converge.
What will be the highlights of the Smell Talks at the Paris–Shanghai Perfume Show?
A variety of smell talks designed to inform, provoke thought, inspire, and help us shed (some of?) our many preconceived ideas—opening the way to a different way of seeing and sensing the world. Expect joy and excitement at every turn!
From your perspective, what ambition could an event like this carry?
Taking the time for strategic and creative reflection at a moment when the fragrance market is vibrating and stepping into its 2.0 chapter. China is not only a growth driver; it is also set to become an ever-expanding source of inspiration.
Such an event can shine a light on new local voices—talented, ambitious, sometimes iconoclastic—voices we will listen to and sense. A growing number of them are preparing to go global in the near future. The Paris–Shanghai Perfume Show can help us dream, and on both sides, prepare for this new reality.
Join us on September 26 & 27 for our Smell Talks—whether in person or via livestream.
