Our process
One partner. Every stage. ICON was built so that a brand owner does not have to assemble six suppliers and hope they agree - the same team writes the strategy, briefs the fragrance, manages the factory and gets the product onto a shelf.
01Stage 1 of 6
Before anything is made, we work out what deserves to exist.
Every engagement starts with the brief behind the brief: where a brand already has permission to play, who it is genuinely for, and what a fragrance or beauty range needs to do commercially before it does anything else. The output is a product and distribution strategy, not a mood board.
02Stage 2 of 6
The idea, the scent and the object are designed together.
Concept, olfactive direction, creative identity and packaging are developed as one piece of work rather than handed between agencies. ICON's founder brings a wealth of brand development and launch experience, so the fragrance brief is written by someone who will also have to sell what comes back.
03Stage 3 of 6
The unglamorous stage that decides whether a brand survives.
Formulation and reformulation, stability and safety testing, regulatory compliance and the sampling rounds that get a juice from close to right. This is where a beautiful idea either becomes a manufacturable product or quietly stops being one.
04Stage 4 of 6
Made properly, at the volume the plan actually needs.
Component sourcing, filling, finishing and quality control, with production planned against the launch rather than the other way round. Local supply chains are used where possible, with many ICON products expertly and proudly made in Great Britain.
05Stage 5 of 6
A product on a shelf is not a launch.
ICON supply a 360° marketing campaign and PR, point of sale material, retail listings, digital, and the warehousing and delivery underneath all of it. ICON's team also includes a training and education function, precisely because the person at the counter decides how a fragrance is sold.
06Stage 6 of 6
The first range is the beginning of the relationship.
Range extension, new territories and the long view on brand equity. ICON has traded in 18 countries across Asia, Europe, the USA, Canada, the Far East, the Middle East and Australia. The partnership model is built for brand owners looking to build equity for the long term.
ICON’s model prioritises product development and marketing support alongside the importance of public relations and education. The scope runs from the creation of product and distribution strategies, developing new products and point of sale material, warehousing and delivery, right through to selling to the consumer.
That is the whole point of the partnership: brand owners keep one relationship, one set of standards and one accountable team, from the first conversation to the reorder.
Wherever you are
An idea on a page, a concept in development, or a range ready to manufacture - the conversation starts the same way.
