The Story of Feminista - the first political perfume
“Out beyond ideas of activism and charity there is a field – we meet you there…”
Feminista – a perfume and platform from Hero’s Journey Travel Agency and Geza Schön - designed to be the first political perfume in the world that advocates the disambiguation of feminism and strives to facilitate change in the fight for equality of all humans regardless of gender, sexual preference or heritage.
»WE ARE EVERYTHING BUT YOUR NEXT MARKETING CAMPAIGN«
A Perfume is one of the most powerful emotional products in the world. It delivers a sense of who we want to be in life or at a particular moment in time. Yet there has never been a perfume in history, with a story that is a game changer. We are breaking stereotypes and establishing a new norm, not as a marketing strategy but at the core of our philosophy and here is why:
We are dead serious.
We hired one of the best perfumers to create a scent as unique and versatile as
its users. Everything from the ingredients to the package design, to the choice of
a feminist typeface, is done with a whole lot of love and quite a bit of brain.
We haven’t made that shit up.
Feminista was inspired by Margarethe von Trotta’s script “Forget about Nick” in
which it plays a cameo role. From that time on it developed quite a life of its own.
From the idea to support intersectional feminism to being told by rooting retailers that this is the first fragrance to break all stereotypes in the beauty industry, to the striking realization that the project needed to be way more than just another campaign, the team worked relentlessly to create a truly new concept.
We haven’t even started yet.
We are committed to spending a percentage of the sales on developing innovative, new and exiting content and education formats, support good causes and develop and fund those people that carry an all-inclusive feminism into the world.
ABOUT ULRIKE HAGER
THE HEAD
Hager has been a brand consultant for Fortune 500 clients on board level for more than 20 years. Recently fed up with the way strategy gets in the way of creating true relevance and innovation, she left the consulting business and turned back to her roots of storytelling by founding Hero’s Journey Travel Agency together with Hartl and Telegdy. “The world of brand consulting hasn’t really changed in more than 20 years”, Hager says, “we still rely on strategies of the 80’s, completely ignoring that the world has dramatically changed. Strategy processes take way too long and forgo the notion that we live in one of the most fast paced environments ever. Brands fail to connect and become relevant on more than just a marketing level”, she says. “The truth is, that we need to understand that relevance is not just a marketing strategy, we have to take responsibility as a brand as a whole, not just for one advertising season” she concludes.
Feminista will be a brand designed to do just that. While at first the brand set out to change the still a bit outdated and angry stigma of feminism it became clear very soon, what power the product could have, if it were to take its mission seriously. “When learning which impact people did perceive of the brand, it was clear that we needed to take the responsibility seriously”, Hager said. You cannot claim to fight for equality with words and beautiful imagery alone, you have to stand up for what you believe with everything you do. “It is my personal dream, that one day the brand will have the power to not just support projects fighting for the same cause, but even develop some of our own”.
ABOUT HELMUT HARTL
THE HEART
Hartl founded Embassy of Dreams, Germany’s 10th biggest advertising film production company together with his Partner Stefan Telegdy 20 years ago. Since then the two of them have been successful in building a family of companies, amongst them: Heimatfilm in Cologne, one of Europe’s most renowned art house film productions, and Nerd Communications an innovation company based in Berlin. The team has one clear mission: ‘There will always be one project a year, where we are our own client for at least one of our companies.’ This year they have outdone themselves, together with their partner Ulrike Hager, by bringing Feminista to market, a product of Hero’s Journey Travel Agency, the newest addition to their family of companies.
Hartl, a feminist at heart, was immediately enticed by the idea of creating the worlds’ first political perfume. “Feminista is not just a perfume, but a platform to create change. We will support projects, that showcase new feminist content in an inclusive and forward thinking manner.” Hartl says. Therefore, it was a conscious decision to forgo the classical trade channels, despite the retailers’ enthusiasm to stock and market Feminista in their departments. “Feminista needs a stage to tell its story” Hartl adds; “it will be the first perfume not just of political nature, but it will revolt stereotypes that have dominated the perfume industry for centuries”. Unlike other fragrances, Feminista’s main ingredient is a concept, a vision and a belief for a society in which equality is a human right for everyone regardless of gender and sexual preference. This makes the product unique. With every spray comes a deep, meaningful and thought-provoking experience. “Since the perfume also funds projects supporting equality on all different kinds of levels, it might just be the best perfume buy in a lifetime - for yourself and for all others”, Hartl adds.