The Fragrance Foundation Deutschland e.V. has been presenting the Duftstars awards since 1993. Originally an industry gathering for members and invited guests, the annual awards ceremony has gained in visibility in recent years – not least thanks to social media. At least for those with an interest in perfume. And there are now quite a few of them. In that respect, it seems only logical that the Fragrance Foundation has also been presenting a social media ‘Creator Award’ for several years now.

Fragrance influencers and content creators on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram have, through their social media presence, played a key role in driving significant sales growth over the past decade. This trend has been further accelerated by the pandemic. For when the in-person experience – consultations and in-store testing – was no longer possible, perfume was digitised and promoted online. Description replaced perception. Language replaced experience. TikTokers, in particular, tapped into a completely new target group: young people for whom fragrance suddenly became more than just a functional accessory. Perfume became a trendy lifestyle product; a game of performance, impact and social recognition. Across platforms, fragrance enthusiasts increasingly found their calling as sellers, consultants and friends all rolled into one, providing the right structure and language as so-called ‘talking heads’. ‘Top 10’, ‘Beast Mode’ and ‘Compliment Getter’ became a vocabulary that creates confidence – and speeds up purchasing decisions.

The term ‘talking head’ originally comes from the film industry and refers to a person speaking directly to the camera. Since then, millions of people have been sitting in front of their mobile phones and cameras day in, day out to talk about their collections, the fragrance of the day, new releases, wish lists or purchases. Whilst the format is not new, its dominance – particularly in the fragrance sector – certainly is. Talking heads are flooding feeds and have become the standard format on social media when it comes to presenting perfume. In the digital ecosystem, this is how content is disseminated, products are made visible, and information is presented in a way that engages the audience. The fragrance is explained; notes, longevity and sillage are discussed. Products are rated, categorised and recommended. At best, this provides guidance. At worst: misinformation and boredom. Creativity and expertise are welcome, but ultimately secondary. What matters is reach. In other words: fragrance influencers act as intermediaries between the brand, the perfume and the audience; they are opinion-makers, classifiers and, above all, multipliers. In this respect, the nominations for the Duftstars Creator Award 2026 paint a familiar picture – talking heads dominate here too.

Yet there is certainly another approach to content creation – one that explains less and visualises more. Here, scent is not analysed, but translated: into light, texture, rhythm, atmosphere and emotion. The focus is not on asking, ‘What smells of roses here?’, but rather, ‘How does this scent feel?’ In principle, this is not a new concept, but storytelling in the truest sense of the word. A legendary example is the 1990 advert for Égoïste. Directed by Jean-Paul Goude, windows at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes open simultaneously, women lean out and shout “Égoïste”. Not a word about longevity. Not a single note. No ranking. And yet you immediately grasp what it’s all about. Of course, you can also present a fragrance with less effort. The most popular method: the bottle, surrounded by carefully draped ingredients. Pretty to look at – but ultimately no more creative than simply listing the top, middle and base notes. Even the AI-generated visuals that have been increasingly emerging of late mostly work on the same principle. Fragrance notes are entered as prompts, and the result is a conveyor belt of images. Technically impressive at times – but often soulless, interchangeable and lacking in signature. Also popular: anything that flows. Honey pouring over bottles. Cream, caramel, syrupy substances of all kinds. The main thing is that it glistens and is sticky. An aesthetic that says more about textures than about scent. Or the mood videos: rapid cuts, flickering images, a visual overload in three seconds. More of an epilepsy trigger than an olfactory experience.

What links all these approaches is not so much their form as their shared aim: they seek to make scent visible, to explain it and to translate it. And in this respect, they are more alike than it might seem at first glance. Whether it’s a talking head, an artfully arranged flat lay or an AI-generated visual world – they all work towards the same goal: to convey a sensory experience that eludes the digital realm. You can describe a perfume. You can stage it, exaggerate it, imbue it with emotion. But so far, the act of smelling cannot be replaced.

Some brands are now taking a different, significantly more elaborate approach. Amouage, for example, unveils new fragrances through digital presentations or webinars. Participants receive samples in advance so that they can experience what is being described immediately. The visual presentation is complemented by the expertise of the perfumers involved and the Amouage team, whilst the actual act of smelling adds a personal, sensory dimension. Here, description and experience ideally coincide. This is highly effective – but also a service that involves considerable effort. For it works only under one condition: The fragrance must be physically present to add a third dimension to the online presentation – as a sensory experience. So far, this format has mostly been reserved for influencers and is generally accessible by invitation only. Nevertheless, this is a compelling model that could well be suitable for a mass audience. Under current conditions, however, it would be neither free nor freely available. Perhaps something to consider for the future.

For now, however, the talking heads are calling the shots. A glance at the fragrant ‘must-haves’ is enough. Depending on the current hype, the same old bottles keep popping up in our feeds. They stir up desires that reflect less individual taste than collective trends. For brands and retailers, this is a win. For the discerning fragrance aficionado, another question arises: how much individuality remains when everyone draws on the same references – and in the end, everything somehow smells a bit like Baccarat Rouge 540?

So the task, whether as a content creator or an influencer, can hardly be to explain something with supposed omniscience that ultimately cannot be explained. However, if one succeeds in using knowledge, attitude, personality and creativity to spark such an interest in a fragrance that people think: ‘That’s interesting, I’d like to smell that for myself’, then a great deal has already been achieved. Perhaps that is precisely the real yardstick. Because in the end, it is not about reach, vanity or success, but about building trust. For where everything is celebrated indiscriminately – whether for payment or in the hope of it – enthusiasm loses its value.