The Scent of a ....

For a guy like me, there is something special about the scent of a woman. Other guys must think so too, since the perfume industry is huge - with the top ten manufacturers raking in nearly $20 billion a year.

They have their stores in the ritziest, poshest places such as Fifth Avenue, New York, Saint Moritz, Paris, and London. I thought about how I might make a dollar or two - and having heard the mantra, "location, location, location" repeatedly, I first set out to find a site for my first store. What could be more propitious then this location? The intersection of Cone Street and Carnegie Way?



Next, being a crafty businessman, I decided I needed a catchy name for the product. A little bit of market research yielded names like "Guess", "Pleasures", "Imagine", and "Chanel No. 5".

I also found one named "Charlie", but I decided not to "stir that pot" anymore.

There was something about "Chanel No. 5" that resonated with me. I'm familiar with the scent, so floral - perhaps it has sandalwood or jasmine in it - in any event, I thought about the name I would use, walked some to clear my mind, even took long morning showers (which is where I do some of my best thinking), but I was completely stumped.

Well, there was much other work to be done - so I checked the supply chain and found I had all the product locked up, and in fact, the supply, never more than a puddle, was rapidly drying up. I looked into packaging - but without a name... the packaging had to wait.

And then in an instant, a flash of brilliance... why of course!! the name should be...

OCHA #4!!

Ocha - that mysterious word that means "Cherry Blossoms" in Japanese... Oh, the packaging would be marvelously simple! - inspired by a lady in Chicago - an orange cone shaped bottle with a stopper at the very tippy top.



The talc after bath powder would be white, but have an orange sheep applicator pad. Yes!

Now it was time for the test. A roving photojournalist volunteered to splash some OCHA #4 on herself and walk down the street to see if it turned the heads of the guys - hopefully for her, the good looking ones!

I had visions of being able to afford a private jet, drink Dom Perignon like it was water, and having to trouble myself with finding a tax shelter as she heard the patter of rubber soles pounding after her!

But to my dismay... she took this picture through the mirror of a parked car.



Oh well. I bet Geoffrey Beene and Yves Saint-Laurent had the same sort of troubles when they first started out too.