Tiong Bahru Bakery rebrands handwash to distance from Chanel fragrance

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Local bakery brand Tiong Bahru Bakery has rebranded its brioche-scented handwash shortly after going public with it. The handwash was initially named "Brioche N°5", which was a similar name as Chanel's fragrance "N°5". As such, the bakery has silently rebranded the product to "Brioche No. 1".

In a statement to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a spokesperson from Tiong Bahru Bakery said it decided to change the name of its handwash to avoid any potential confusion with "other brands that are in the beauty market". It is added that the move came as Chanel shared with the brand that the former owns the trademark to "N°5".

The handwash is a collaboration with local perfumer Oo La Lab that contains notes of warm bread, burnt sugar, vanilla, and caramel, mimicking the smell of brioche. It is made available at all its outlets and its online shop, priced at SG$26.50. To raise awareness of its brioche-scented handwash, Tiong Bahru Bakery's spokesperson said it has created dedicated product branding collaterals to be seeded across all its platforms. The product is also promoted through its social media pages and PR efforts with selected press and influencer contacts. While the brioche-scented handwash is a limited-edition product, the spokesperson from Tiong Bahru Bakery said it is open to future collaborations with local lifestyle brands across the board for more unique branded merchandise.

Besides a brioche-scented handwash, Tiong Bahru Bakery also has a chewing gum-scented handwash that is sold on its online store. According to its spokesperson, the handwash was created in 2017 as a collaboration with its sister apothecary label Spa Esprit. Priced at the same value, the handwash packaging said it has a spearmint blend and smells "so good, it's almost illegal", making a cheeky reference to the law in Singapore that bans the sale of chewing gum in the country.

While the move to rebrand its hand wash could be Tiong Bahru Bakery's attempt to not cause confusion between its hand wash and the Chanel N°5, this is not the first time it has been associated with a luxury brand. In 2018, Tiong Bahru Bakery partnered with Tiffany & Co. to make Breakfast at Tiffany’s a reality by having breakfast while peering into a Tiffany’s boutique.

The partnership saw the jeweller setting up a booth outside ION Orchard which gives out free coffee and croissants. In exchange, visitors are required to post a picture of the coffee cart with hashtags such as #tiffanypaperflowers and #tiongbahrubakery. In addition, the campaign also saw Tiffany & Co. taking over Tiong Bahru Bakery’s flagship outlet in Eng Hoon Street, painting the outlet in its signature Robin egg blue colour. The campaign was done in collaboration with iris Singapore.

Playing with smells is also not a new notion for brands. Last year in February, KFC and footwear retailer Crocs partnered up to unveil a limited-edition clog that is covered in a fried chicken print with a striped base in the US. Each pair of co-branded footwear comes with two charms/accessories at the top, made to resemble and "smell" like fried chicken, the duo said on the Crocs website. In a video for the new bucket clogs, these charms/accessories are seen getting lifted off the fryer and being served "hot" on to the shoe. To ensure customers are aware these are not edible, the spot ends saying, "not for human consumption".

Separately in 2019, donut brand Dunkin' also launched Dunkin-scented candles for customers in the US. Created in partnership with Homesick which specialises in soy wax candles, Dunkin' offers scents such as Peppermint Mocha, Old Fashioned Donut, and Dunkin' Original Blend.

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