THE LAUNCH OF THE NEW SENSUAL MEN’S FRAGRANCE COLONIA PURA NOT ONLY CONSTITUTED THE FIRST MILESTONE FOR LAURA BURDESE AS CEO OF THE ITALIAN COMPANY ACQUA DI PARMA, BUT ALSO PRESENTS THE NEW MALE IMAGE FOR THE BRAND.
Laura Burdese, you took over management as CEO of Acqua di Parma at the end of last autumn. Can you review the past few months in your new position?When I started at Acqua di Parma last year, it was clear that the brand was an uncut diamond, with a much broader potential. The main objective was to develop the brand further. To understand the history and heritage of the brand, I did a huge amount of research. Before we can see the future clearly in front of us, we have to travel back to the past. It’s the only way to determine the DNA of a brand and to bring it to the next level.
You are now starting a new chapter with the new fragrance Colonia Pura and are simultaneously presenting the new DNA of the brand…That’s right. During our research we discovered that while the brand is synonymous with strength, quality and heritage, it is perceived as somewhat cold in several countries. I asked myself how we could highlight the real values; our USP as an Italian brand, which reflects the cultivated style, the exquisite panache and the warmth of the Italian lifestyle.
How would you describe the translation into the new fragrance?
Describe the man. Colonia Pura resides in the classic Italian world, which combines cultured lifestyle, warm-heartedness and lightness. Its atmosphere is warm and sunny with light citrus fruits, from inviting nature with fascinating urban nuances. The fragrance lives from a minimalistic aesthetic, which is based on the concept of the purity of pleasure and was created for the man with style and manners.
In the new campaign you worked with real people for the first time …To touch emotions we decided to look for our ideal Acqua-di-Parma man. Not a man, who reflects the cliché of the perfect fragrance man but a natural, modern man, who works on himself to become an even better husband and father. In a way we looked for the perfect imperfect man and we found him. Showing him in his real environment with his children and his wife, is wonderfully authentic.
Which fragrances do you like the most?
One of my favourites is Colonia Quercia and I also love Pura, which could certainly also be seen as a unisex fragrance because of its light interpretation of freshness. And I also like Fico from the Blu-Mediterraneo collection.
You have just begun your journey – what do you dream of, when you think of the future of the brand?I dream that in a while, when people see our yellow they automatically think of Acqua di Parma, like Tiffany Blue, or the Hermes Orange or Cartier Red.
