Already back in Paris and here I am to talk about the first international show of the brand !
If you didn't know, I found myself involved in a crazy adventure. At the beginning of January, after a relaxing Sunday afternoon, someone on instagram came to me and offered me to be part of the Middle East Fragrance Exhibition in Dubai from January 23rd to 29th. I let you imagine my great surprise and I instantly took this opportunity, without really knowing what it implied...
A big thank you to Ali Nizzami without who, this whole experience of a lifetime would never have happened !
The beginning of the journey !
And yes, I'm talking about a journey, because in reality, I only had two short weeks to prepare. And there was a lot to prepare. Being an exhibitor in this type of show means imagining a booth, planning products, shipping them & managing transportation, creating content, communication, finding ideas to interact with visitors, planning brochures, but also knowing how to present the brand and the products, preparing an accommodation and organizing your stay on site, etc...
The craziest part of this whole story is that I didn't have a passport. And believe it or not, but by doing it in a hurry and waiting a short week, I received it on my birthday. Next time, I won't be fooled! A piece of advice, ask for a passport, even if you have absolutely no plans to travel, that will avoid this kind of situation.
Let's get started !
My flight leaves Paris Charles de Gaules in the evening at 11pm, and unfortunately, despite all the precautions I used to try to sleep during the flight, I arrived at Dubai International Airport at 9am without really getting any sleep. First thing! I was lucky enough to be hosted by my uncle, I took a shower and we went to the office to prepare the papers. With so little time of preparation, I forgot the essential: to take with me the business cards.
The first day, the first hour, everything is quiet and I think: "Nothing to worry about, the show has just opened". The reality is that even at the end of the day, there were not many people except for influencers and celebrities who were invited to promote the event. In fact, I was surprised by one of them, someone kind and genuine! I offered him one of the perfumes without even instinctively and it turned out that I later learned that he spoke kindly of the fragrance. That he greatly appreciated this fragrance that offered a fusion between a subtle and fresh scent from the European olfactory universe with stronger and more tenacious scents from the Middle East. It promised only good things for the future !
I was very well welcomed by the organizers and the shows of the exhibition were wonderful to see! Between music and dance, here is that the perfume invites us in these alleys to discover lots of olfactory universes in this show, located next to the City Walk of Dubai.
The days are coming together and we all have to stick together! It's hard, but I stayed positive and later offered my fellow friends to showcase their brands & products in little videos shared on the Instagram account. I won't lie to you, but this exceptional situation allowed us all to get closer and share some great moments. A show is also about discovering other cultures, but sharing the same passion which is perfume. And I was incredibly surprised by the originality, the creations and especially the authentic passion that emanates from these fantastic people. I will only mention a few of them: Mystery Modern Mark for his charming charisma, the founder of Jewel Essences for his passion through perfumes but also Catherine Omai for her courage and strength in facing this adventure! They are artists, creators who, like me, have a vision, stories and wish to share them with the world. I am very grateful to have been able to share all these moments with them !
An exhibition with exceptional meetings !
You know, it's funny, because I often imagine myself in certain situations to know what I would do or answer. Well, someone came to my booth with his assistant to make me an offer to buy my brand and my name. Never in a million years would I have imagined that this would happen and yet it was real. There is a sense of accomplishment and pride in these moments, but most importantly, you have to stay grounded and think it through. You may be surprised, but I haven't forwarded this proposal yet. For me this name is a part of my soul, it's more than a simple perfume brand, it's values, creations, ideas! To sell something so symbolic is not easy, even if it propels you to the forefront of the international scene and all that follows. Am I missing something ?
I met a lot of distributors, marketing agents as well as designers & journalists, I got a lot of compliments on the fragrance and everyone wishes me success in this business.
You know, I'm the kind of person who faces the problem by finding a solution, and so I came up with an idea to propose a mini-game to attract the curiosity of the visitors. And it worked! The game consisted in finding out which perfume I used to produce the posters used on the booth.
Marketing tip validated! Not only did I manage to get more visitors to my booth, but also to make them curious and establish a real relationship more than a simple sales approach.
And now I've managed to make the first two sales of the brand!
The last days were also surprising. I left with 14 perfumes, 10 of which were generously donated to influencers, and so 2 copies to perfume the visitors, 2 cellophanes ready for sale was like a sunbeam in this small gray cloud. The concrete proof that my creation is unique and that it attracts curiosity as well as seduces and pleases people.
Our little ending !
A beautiful adventure, full of surprises and above all a beautiful experience, despite the fact that I was not ready as I wished, it is on the job that I learned, that I succeeded in adapting myself to move forward, find solutions and start again ! Sometimes I wonder if I regret this madness, but the truth is, none of what I just told you would have happened otherwise !
I look forward to writing to you again!
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