To celebrate its 70th anniversary in Uruguay, McCann Montevideo has created I CANN Eau de Créativité, a limited-edition fragrance meant to, well, boost creativity.
"In our research, we determined that creativity is completely emotional and with no logical process," explains Leándro Gómez, McCann Montevideo's CEO and general creative director. "We also learned that scents are a powerful medium to convey emotions—in fact, 75 percent of our emotions are connected to scents that immediately take us back to very specific moments of our lives."
Here's the introductory video, which is basically just the creative campaign, set to the music of "Faded" by Alan Walker. It's fair, but perhaps mean, to wonder whether the video itself represents the results you can expect from the fragrance.
The unisex fragrance includes "citric fruit notes," kind of like CK One for creatives, with clear instructions for application: It can't be opened until a big idea has been found.
This way, the perfume's (hopefully pleasant) smell will be associated with the peak creative moment, resulting in olfactory magic that's more Pavlovian than pheromone-based: If you associate the scent with creative success early on, it stands to reason that, later, when you need a boost, the scent alone may drive you to eureka.
Wearers must repeat this "proper application"—first the idea, then the scent—at least three times to successfully link the smell to the creative epiphany. (It's unclear whether the ideas have to be vetted for spritz-worthiness first. Probably best not to overthink it.)
As for its name, I CANN is meant to suggest that anyone can develop and express their creative power.
"What brands say is important, but more important is what they do. For this reason we wanted to create something special that would reflect McCann's mission: To make brands play a meaningful role in people's lives," Gómez continues.
The release of the perfume is just one of many internal boosts that McCann is effecting worldwide of late. Some continue down the path of fashion: McCann London released its own sneaker, inspired by its art deco-style building. Others are experimental—McCann Japan hired its first robot creative director this year. Still others are quite classic human plays: McCann New York hired fresh talent to bring both startup and production strength to its arsenal.
We'll see whose approach scores more Lions candy. Guess it never hurts to have an extra olfactory boost.
Below are shots of the print work, featuring McCann Montevideo creatives.
CREDITS
Agency: McCann Montevideo
Creative direction: Leandro Gómez Guerrero
Copywriters: Leandro Gómez Guerrero, José Majó
Art directors: Gerardo Podhajny, Michel Donatte
Project manager: Sabina Ricagni
Production: Natalia Azzato
Video Edditing: Franco Ricagni
Photographer: Punchi Barriola, MAGOYA