Like a little drop in the ocean, the whole thing started on the Instagram page at the peak of COVID-19 pandemic when he posted collections of his perfumes. That idea today has metamorphosed into a global fragrance brand called Seinde Signatures. Mr. Olufemi Olusola, the Chief Executive Officer, tells Charles Ajunwa and Sunday Ehigiator how he started, the difficulties he encountered, how he penetrated the cabal in fragrance industry, among others
Can you tell us more about Seinde Signatures?
It’s something that just happened and I never set-up myself to have a business called Seinde Signatures. But I have been collecting perfumes for a very long time. As a child I was used to collecting perfumes because it’s one of the things that makes me happy. During the pandemic we were free, there was nothing to do and everyone was at home. I woke up in the morning, had my shower, used my perfumes, dressed as if I was going to the office, went downstairs and stayed on my phone or computer. In the course of this, I opened an Instagram account, and I was able to see pages of some Fragheads, which are people that love perfumes. Then I didn’t even have the confidence to post my perfumes because I always felt that if I post my perfumes, it would be regarded as me just showing off. In fact, my wife told me at some point that my act of perfume collections was devilish because I sit down to take care of the bottles, clean and dust them every Sunday. At some point, I started giving them away just to satisfy my wife.
But when I started recollecting the perfumes again, I did everything to make sure my wife didn’t see it. I will buy a new perfume, I will remove it from the carton and hide it in my pocket. Gradually, I started growing back my collections again. So when I saw those pages during the pandemic, I showed them to my wife. I told her ‘you think I’m crazy, there are people crazier than I am and they even have more perfume collections than I have.’ That gave me the confidence to have a page on Instagram and I started posting my perfumes collections for people to see. Through posting my perfumes, people started following my account and the page actually gave me the opportunity to reach out to people, whereby I can also touch people’s lives, which I also love to do a lot. So the page offered me the freedom to help people. I don’t have to know you to give you money. In the process, one of the Fragheads whom I met online came to my house and he begged to see my collections. I asked my wife for permission to take him into our private room to look at my perfumes and she obliged me.
I did a live video of his visit and posted it on Instagram. When he left, my wife told me to carry my perfume downstairs if I would always be bringing people to our room to see perfumes. I had to bring all the perfumes downstairs and create shelves for them. So after posting my first live video, people started reaching out to me especially on their birthdays and before I knew it my house was always filled with visitors on Sundays and it became a Mecca of some sort. In fact, we started preparing food and drinks to entertain our guests as long as they kept coming. Later, I decided to get an office where we can make an area for them to come and see the perfumes.
We never intended to sell perfumes. People from different walks of life come here to see perfumes especially the ones they read from magazines because most of these perfumes are not sold in Nigeria. When they see that I have them, they really want to see them and experience the way they smell. So that was how it all started. So when I opened up this place, the Seinde Signatures Experience Studio, people book appointments and pay to come in and experience the fragrance. Before I knew what was happening, people were buying half bottle, quarter bottle and the people making the perfumes started contacting me. They send messages on my social media platform requesting to come to Nigeria through me.
You see, prior to my coming to the fragrance industry it was like a cabal. People that are selling perfumes are blocking everybody from doing it, it’s just them, and they just bring whatever they like. So it was like if you like it buy, if you don’t like it don’t buy it. For them, it was just business and not a passion. Of course, they couldn’t satisfy people like me and many others which forced us to start buying from abroad since the cabal here are only after the money they make. The big perfume manufacturers started to reach out to me to market their perfumes in Nigeria. And if you asked me in April 2021, if I would sell perfume, I would probably say no. I used to post on my page that I don’t sell perfumes but people continued demanding that we sell them. As a result of the demands from people, we created ‘Salone De Perfume’, which is another arm of Seinde Signatures to sell the perfumes. So that was how my passion for perfumes became a business and we have clocked one year already.
How has it been in the last one year?
Within the last one year, we were able to sign up exclusive deals. When these perfume manufacturers come to me, I negotiate exclusivity in Nigeria with them, if they agree to that, we sign legal documents to back it up. So within one year, we have signed about 17 who are exclusive to us. And some of the brands that I personally like which are really doing well and other people like too, I have collaborated with them to also have them in our stores. In all, we have about 32 brands that we are selling now.
How were you able to break through the cabal in the industry?
It was easy because the people in the industry were selling for money and I do not think they were actually listening to anybody. It was just about what they thought. When they have the deal they bring the perfume and dump it on you. If you want any other thing, go to London or America anyway. That was their approach to the business.
I have reached out to some of them prior to Seinde Signatures to do what we call ‘Fragheads Meet’, where we can call fragrance lovers to come to the store and experience what they have. You know there is a difference between a perfume lover and somebody that likes perfume. Someone that likes perfumes is okay with just one or two bottles of perfume, if you ask them to buy another, they tell you the one they have at home isn’t finished, or they tell you that they only use a certain brand. They just like perfumes. But a perfume lover can’t smell a fragrance and not want to have it. So you see them buying more constantly. They can be bought every week or monthly. A couple of them that followed me when I opened the page reached out to me from time to time so we found a way of meeting their needs.
So people like us that really love perfumes have no voice. It’s like somebody just brings one product for you and says this is what you must buy. So that’s why I call it a cabal. It’s like this is what you must buy, you can’t break it and you can’t do anything about it. But when we started it was a breath of fresh air for even the manufacturers that have been wanting to come into the country but have not been able to do so. A lot of Nigerians are making perfumes for example, it was a no go market for them. Take for example, Catherine Omai, the first African perfumer to be launched on the international market, they sell her products abroad for very exorbitant prices but you can’t get it in Nigeria because these people (cabals) will not even talk to her, talk less of sell her products. But for us lovers of perfumes, we don’t look at where the perfume comes from but the quality of what we are dealing with. Now that we are in the market, we have carried her along with many other brands. I am surprised that we have a lot of Nigerians in this space. One was even here recently with a brand launched in London, but all these things are not available in Nigeria because the cabals will not just talk to you. So it’s like what they want to sell is what everybody must buy.
Why is this so?
It’s all about money. I really don’t know why they structured their business like that. Over six people that I know sell perfumes before me were like that but now they are all changing and trying to look into the more quality fragrances. Of course, they have money and they are all changing now which I like. I like the fact that I can make them change. Before me they won’t buy it. They will go and buy the common ones, the ones they feel they can make more money on, disregarding the fact that there are thousands of people in the market that are looking for quality things. Now I know people that travel to London only to go and buy perfume and come back.
You started your business during the pandemic and EndSARS protest, how were you able to pull through?
One of the lessons I have learnt in life is to pick the positives from everything. The EndSARS protest at the Lekki Tollgate was right in front of me. I saw the protest everyday. In fact, I was at the office on October 20, 2020. I have my own views about the incident. The current generation go around with smart phones but are not informed at all. Though they have the instrument of information they go around with, they would rather believe in gossip without trying to research deeper. So most of them make their decisions based on what they hear around them; they believe in it and die for it. I have the ability to look at things beyond the surface and I was able to see positives in everything that happened. We paid for the studio during the pandemic lockdown and when we were renovating, they started the EndSARS protest. We didn’t let it deter us. This whole floor is now full but when I came it was empty. Now people are coming in and are getting attracted to our business. It’s like a new life coming up. For me, nothing can stop me except God himself.
What informed the name, Seinde Signatures?
Seinde is my name. Anyone that knows me knows my fragrance signature. If I come to your office, and even if I left the office hours after, people would still ask you, did Seinde come here? So people know me for that. Anywhere I go, I leave my fragrance signature. If I sit on a chair and someone comes to sit on it six hours after, they will still say this place smells nice. So that’s why we actually called it Seinde Signatures. It’s just my name and a signature I have built for myself over the years. And like I said, even as at the time we called it Seinde Signatures, it was not coined to be a business but a hobby.
What are you bringing to the market?
First of all the fragrance business in Nigeria is no longer the same because the people that are there are beginning to change their mindsets. They too have to improve their lot. They suddenly realised that they cannot be putting products that are not the A1 products in the market. They are changing because of our emergence. So we will continue to be innovative, we will continue to actually make people know the joy of smelling good. We have signed up so many brands and have a lot of them coming on board. The moment we mentioned that we were doing our first anniversary, a lot of them showed interest to come regardless of all the negative stereotypes they have heard about Nigeria – kidnapping, insecurity and all, they still want to come. They look at us and say, if I’m in this country and doing this, then it’s not as bad as it is painted.
So for me, it’s a breath of fresh air that at least for once, the attention this first anniversary has brought to Nigeria is really amazing. It has drawn the attention of the whole world to Nigeria, I mean the fragrance industry in the world. One of the people coming, Mr. Cologne 78 is a very well respected influencer in America. Every brand would give him their fragrance to review for them because once he talks about a product, they sell. He is a big fragrance influencer. This wouldn’t have happened two years down the line. They will not even talk to him. It’s like they have monopolised the industry to the extent that they determine what goes in or comes out. Now we have signed up a lot of Niche brands. The difference between the Niche and the mainstream is that the mainstream make use of chemicals, and mass produce all to maximise profits, while the Niche are smaller, they use organic material, go round the world looking for the best material to use. And they come up with materials from different things to create a perfume that tells a story not just the smell. They are perfumes that even when you get to London, you don’t often see them around. It’s not the one you just pick-up from anywhere or see at the duty free store at the airport. They are at a higher level than those they sell at the duty free stores.
The reason why we make sure we sign on with them, that we have to be the only one selling is to be able to control the prices. Right now, we sell at the price they sell abroad. If they are selling for $100, we are selling here the naira equivalent. So with that, it won’t be interesting for you anymore to want to travel overseas to go and buy perfume when you can get it cheaper here. So our goal is to actually give anybody a run for their money from any part of the world, that what you have overseas is the same thing you are going to get in our stores at the highest quality ever. We may not be appealing to the generality of the public but a few. Our product is not for everybody so to say but for people that know and want quality products. So it’s not about the money but the quality. Those in the business earlier brought in all sorts of things into the country and that’s why you see fake products everywhere. Some put things on their skin that would eventually become a problem to them.
Would you be going into local production in the near future?
To start with, currently we don’t have the intention of producing perfumes locally. The attention we have brought to Nigeria made the fragrance manufacturers globally understand that everything they need is available in Nigeria. So we have some of the perfumers now that are developing materials. One is making a library of distilled raw materials. They are distilling raw materials that they are selling to the international market that would in turn bring money to their pockets and the country.
My own idea about this is not what I want to give people but how I can better the whole fragrance industry because Nigeria is rich in resources and so many things. I have one perfume here that is made with Nigerian lemon grass. The lemon grace you will make in Kano for instance would smell different from the one in the South. It will smell differently because the weather has its own effect on both. The distilling company I mentioned would soon open, maybe in the next two months. We have thousands of raw materials. Do you know they make perfume from poo poo and practically everything. It’s just to find a method of distilling their smells. Most of the perfumes in France are made from flowers. They get those flowers, distill them and extract the scent from them to make the perfumes. We have all these as we do in Nigeria. So it’s possible that Seinde Signatures will venture into distilling of raw materials in the future but not into making perfumes. This is also because, I believe that if I bottle a perfume, I am bottling my best. And I have been into perfume for over 40 years and still can’t choose my best in perfumes. So my endless crave for a good smell would not allow me to find a perfect fragrance I can identify with. Hence, our attention would be focused more on the raw materials for perfumes than making perfumes.
Can’t these investors help facilitate that here?
I don’t think it is the right time yet. When we start doing the right thing, the investors would be interested in doing many things within the industry. But as it stands now, they are not interested. Unfortunately, even the economy of the country doesn’t encourage manufacturing, it only encourages importation. So when things start changing, in terms of economy it would definitely attract them more. I like what the government is doing in the area of infrastructural development because building of infrastructure would help everything to grow faster. For example, the train was dead, now it’s back up. So anybody that wants to ship anything to Kano wouldn’t need to go by road, you can do it by rail. So this reduces the loads of trailers on our roads. Of course, this would be difficult because people who already owned thousands of trailers on the road would revolt and try to frustrate the efforts of the government. It’s like trying to make sure that we have electricity, companies that are importing generators and diesel would sabotage it and cause problems. So these are things that we still have to deal with. But I think the infrastructural development agenda of this admission is a step in the right direction. We may not see it now, however, with time when this government is long gone, everyone will remember. I remember when Gen. Yakubu Gowon was building all the bridges in Lagos, 95 per cent of all the bridges we have now in Lagos were built by him. Apart from Gen. Babangida who built the Third Mainland Bridge, no other government has built any bridge again in Lagos. So I think the government is doing well in terms of infrastructural development which will make a lot of investors look into the country. Infrastructure encourages manufacturing.
There is fear about people developing cancer as a result of their exposure to fragrance, how would you react to this?
That is why our own kind of perfumes are better. Majority of the mainstream perfumes they sell out there are chemical formulated. The ones we sell are organic material. They are distilled from natural materials not mix-up chemicals in the lab to get the scent. That’s the difference between the mainstream perfumes they sell, and the Niche perfumes we sell. Before we came into the market, the market was proliferated with about 96 per cent of mainstream perfumes, but with our coming, we have reduced these numbers, and we hope to continue to do so. Our target is to force down mainstream products which are dangerous to health.
What should we expect from your first anniversary?
So some of our brands are coming, Daniel Josier would be coming from Spain. He is a perfumer with several years of experience. He has made perfumes for Louis Vuiton and so many big brands. They call him Nose. As in the nose that smells great things for people. We also have Mystery Modern Mark, who is of Nigerian descent. His father is from Oro in Kwara State but his mother is a Ghanaian. He is based in the Netherlands. They have four lines of products. We have Testament London also coming. He is a high end Niche brand in London. The founder is a Romanian guy based in London. We have Duft Bunker, he is more like our agent in Germany. He is a Nose and a musician as well. He consults for most of the high end fragrance industry in Germany. We have Glenn Davis, also known as Mr. Cologne, coming from America. We also have Joes Cent Me, he consults for thousands of perfumers worldwide, and he is coming from America. All these guys are surprised with the rate of development and how things have worked for us in spite of the way they talk about Nigeria amidst pandemic.
During conversations with these guys that are coming, we find out for the very first time that Seinde Signatures Experience Studio is the first perfume studio in the world. Nobody has actually done a Fragrance Museum or studio like this. And I found this out through a French magazine that came to interview me because they were surprised how I came up with this idea. So these guys that are coming also see it as the first in the world. They want to be here to also help their own brand. They are already telling me they want to shoot video inside the museum when they come.
We have arranged special programmes for them during our first anniversary in Lagos and Abuja. The first programme is ‘Taste of Nigerian Night’. I want them to eat Nigerian food. We have in place a Nigerian Chef that can give them a treat of local delicacies like our beans, pap, yam and others in little volume so they have a taste of our meal. The event isn’t open to the public because it’s just the first night for them to rest.
The next day we would be having a meet and greet. It is an event where they would be there and Nigerian fragrance lovers and perfumers can come and meet them, take pictures with them, talk to them, ask questions, share ideas and more. With this, they can actually help out local manufacturers to understand how the fragrance world works better. That will happen on a Saturday afternoon. Then in the evening, we would unwind with a private dinner where people who want to actually get close and personal with them can get to know them well.
On Sunday, is our anniversary proper. It’s strictly by invitation. We are going to launch three products on that day. We are launching three products because those are the three people coming. We could have launched our products at the same time and made them public. However, we will still display all our other products there. The three products we are launching are Testament, Modern Mystery Mark and Daniel Josier. The night is going to be a Gala Night, just like the International Gala night with a red carpet. Also because we have a lot of partners in Abuja, and customers as well, in order to facilitate their meeting with the international perfumers and fragrance influencers coming in, we planned another programme in Abuja on Monday. In the morning of that day, we would do fragrance craft where we would be inviting a lot of local perfumers to come and watch those people create their craft in front of them so they can ask questions and learn the tricks of how to best do their stuff. On the night of that Monday as well, we would have dinner. All these activities will observe all COVID-19 Protocols.
Then we return to Lagos the next day, rest for a day and they fly back to their countries the next day.
What are some of the products you sell?
Already we have signed up with Electimus. Electimus is a London brand that focuses their attention on using the Roman gods to depict all their perfumes that they have created. So they have four collections, the Nero collections, the Emperor collections, Eternal collections and Lustrous Collections, which follow different Emperors of the Roman Empire. We have Argos. Argos is from Texas in America. They use the Greek gods. So they made the fragrance in a way that reflects the story of the Greek gods which is known for love. We have Ahwaz London. It’s a worldwide exclusive to Fortnum and Mason, A brand in London that is highly exclusive. They sell tea, biscuits and stuff, but they have some perfumes that are specifically made for them. So once that perfume is in their store, you can’t sell it anywhere. But we were able to break that. So we have Ahwaz here in Nigeria. So they are high end Niche perfume creating exclusive for people looking for perfumes that are beyond exclusivity. Testament London is also one of our brands. Algraba is from Turkey. The Turkey brand is lovely. They have 19 products under their brands. We have Bortnikoff. Bortnikoff is from Thailand. It uses 80 to 90 per cent organic raw materials. So their perfumes are all limited editions. So when they make perfumes once, they can’t remake it again, because they can’t get that material again. So Bortnikoff is at that level. We also have the Mystery Modern Mark, Daniel Josier, and also MinNew York. MinNew York is made in France by a New Yorker. They have songs that they attach to every product that they have and they have 19 products. We have that one too. We have Catherine Omai. She is a Nigerian but her product is exclusive to some highend store in London. Before us it was not in Nigeria. We have it in our store now. The product is done in such a way that they even wrap it in Aso Oke. We have Masque Milano, they are from Italy. We have Imaginary Author whose own creation is about books. So, he creates different scents to depict the story in a book. So even the packaging looks like a book. We have Meo Fuscini, he is one of the most creative perfumes that we have. They have about 12 products.
We have Aulentissima. It’s a perfume that has been around for over 100 years. They are from Italy. We also have Francisca Bianchi . She’s a lady from Holland making perfumes, Daniel Josier from Spain, Eris Fragrances from America and Ankakus from Australia. So these are the ones that we have already signed on as exclusive. Also in our stores, we have other brands that we collaborated with like Widian, Ormonde Jayne London, Boadicea the Victorious from London, Clive Christian from London, Xerjoff from Italy, Franck Muller, Stephen Humbert Lucas and fragrance Du Bois, which you can also get. We just signed Thameen London, and Astrophly and Stella which will soon be available in our store.
What employment opportunity is your company bringing to the Nigerian market?
We are not just selling. For instance, we just made our products catalogue. We realised that most people that can actually afford our products don’t go on the internet, they only read newspapers. In fact, if you go and meet them, they will think you want to cheat them. That’s why we made this product catalogue.
If you look through the catalogue, you will see that we have a lot of local partners that we signed on exclusively. We don’t intend to have stores all over the place. But we have all these people opening their stores to represent us in different parts of the country. That’s an employment generation avenue in itself. And the local partners are all over different parts of the country – Port Harcourt, Abuja, Lagos and others and they have mastered their area to ensure that our products get to the nooks and crannies of the country. So in essence, Seinde Signatures is creating that employment space.
