Opinions on business that is very very similar to another one

[Nuno da Silva]

Hello,

I have an idea for a product business and have already secured trademark for my name, suppliers for what will be my perfume business, selling Eau de Parfum, Candles, Reed Diffusers, Shower Gels among other things.

This is a business on the idea and concept of creating perfumes based on cities, so for example one perfume would be called London, another Barcelona, etc...

I went quite deep into this regarding suppliers, trademarks, names, fragrances but on my research at a later stage I ended up finding another brand who does this already (and who started 5 years ago) they now have 10 perfumes with numerous cities and their business model and concept is exactly the same as mine, which is about the creation of perfumes based on cities and the celebration of exploration and new cultures.

In fact believe it or not I even thought of having vector maps of the cities on the packaging which he already has!!! I did not know about this brand until much much later, so none of what I came up with was based on them, which is really bizarre.

I don't think there is any issues with copyright or legal as I have the trademark for my own company name and naming cities as a perfume is fairly common, I had a quick look and found at least 5 perfumes called London for example. It is more about the way the business is set up and it’s concept that will look very similar to mine (or mine to his as I am starting later) so worried about people thinking I am copying it which I am not.

My question is should I now try to find another angle or is there space for different businesses to have the same ethos and concepts if that makes sense.

The product is obviously different such as bottle shape, brand colouring, so perhaps just a question of trying to go as far away as possible or just be myself and even if the concepts are the same there will always be differences.

Thank you for any opinion and please ask me any questions.

 

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[mamamargaux]

Hi Nuno
Congratulations on setting up your business. Reading your situation got me thinking of ways to differentiate yourself from your competition. I would suggest maybe put a tagline that is catchy enough to cover your products. And maybe if you promote your products on IG or online store, put a little story to get your customers enticed to try them out. I can email/private message you a tagline/slogan I have in mind. Goodluck.

 

[Nuno da Silva]

Hi Nuno
Congratulations on setting up your business. Reading your situation got me thinking of ways to differentiate yourself from your competition. I would suggest maybe put a tagline that is catchy enough to cover your products. And maybe if you promote your products on IG or online store, put a little story to get your customers enticed to try them out. I can email/private message you a tagline/slogan I have in mind. Goodluck.

Thank you for that @mamamargaux the worry is not so much about taglines, I already have a few. It’s more about the concept which bizarrely is exactly the same so don’t want to be seen as a copy though I’m perhaps worrying about something I perhaps shouldn’t.

I have also created a whole story behind the brand so again I have that.

Please feel free to send me your taglines/slogans

 

[savefox]

Just do countries instead of cities

 

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[Nuno da Silva]

Just do countries instead of cities

Thank you, I did think about that but very difficult to create a scent based on a country.

I did think about places or locations so for example for London I could choose Hampstead or Mayfair. However those are not as marketable as cities.

For example someone in Italy or Austria will probably know the name London but Mayfair or Hampstead probably not. It becomes more sellable if it’s cities most people know.

 

[savefox]

Thank you, I did think about that but very difficult to create a scent based on a country.

I did think about places or locations so for example for London I could choose Hampstead or Mayfair. However those are not as marketable as cities.

For example someone in Italy or Austria will probably know the name London but Mayfair or Hampstead probably not. It becomes more sellable if it’s cities most people know.

Italy would smell like pizza. Germany like beer. Vodka for Russia.

 

[Nuno da Silva]

Italy would smell like pizza. Germany like beer. Vodka for Russia.

Thank you, it is an idea but I have to say not sure if people want to be smelling like pizza or beer, but worth a thought as it would certainly be different.

Thank you

 

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