Ben Gorham, the founder of luxury brand Byredo, shares how he’s bottling up emotions and infusing them with authenticity to speak to younger consumers across Asia
For many brands, millennials and Gen Z have been notoriously difficult to connect with. Whether it’s the former’s frugality or the latter’s tech-savviness, there are definitive characteristics of each generation that pose new challenges for brands and marketers. But if there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s our ability to feel and the importance we place on our memories.
This concept of evoking a memory or emotion through products has guided Ben Gorham to build his luxury brand Byredo.
Gorham started the brand more than 15 years ago as a side project creating scented candles. After a chance meeting with renowned Swedish perfumer, Pierre Wulff, he became inspired to create his first fragrance based on scents from his childhood. He began with his olfactory memory of his father, who was out of the picture from when Gorham was six years old. He later turned this hobby into a business after discovering how powerful fragrances can be at breathing life into memories and emotions.
Now, with his unique approach to storytelling, Gorham has grown Byredo into a leading luxury brand that creates fragrances for men and women, as well as other products such as leather goods makeup and home accessories. The brand has a presence in over 40 markets worldwide.
As Byredo enters the metaverse and expands across Asia, we sit down with Gorham to understand the challenges of relating to young consumers in the region and what’s next for the brand.
Read more: Artificial Dust's Jerry Haha On Why Brands Overthink Gen Z