Road by Karangahape, a perfume that reflects the ‘Karangahape Road in a bottle’ has been released worldwide – online ordering is strictly prohibited.
Sweaty pits on the dance floor. Annoying mandatory favorite clothes. Haircuts on the barbershop floor… not your traditional shopping list for a high-fashion perfume bouquet, but K Rd has never cared for tradition.
Conceptualized and produced by Motion Sickness and shot by fashion editorial photographer Hōne Naera-Scott, the models are each members of the street’s thriving business community; the barista who makes you coffee or the guy who gives you prescription antifungal cream.
The new fragrance is the result of collaboration between famous fumeologists BODIES and the Karangahape Rd Business Association to get the experience of being on Auckland’s saddest street. For those concerned about walking around smelling like a long night on K Rd, Nathan Taare, Chief Fragrance Master at BODIES, says the low (and high) streets make him the perfect muse.
“All great perfumes contain ‘bad smells’ and ‘good smells’ and K Rd has these things in abundance. What makes a perfume interesting is the contrast, the juxtaposition of potentially unpleasant notes with pleasant ones and finding that balance,” Taare said.
“This is a perfume for a special occasion, an ode to home and the usual chaos. It’s a wonderfully magnetic scent that will evoke deep nostalgia in anyone within a radius of wearing it.”
Lulling’s approach to work is an ode to the community and place they call home. Sam Stutchbury of Motion Sickness adds: “K Road is a sensory experience, so putting it into a perfume seemed like an interesting idea. The world of high fashion perfume advertising is a strange place. When we discussed taking over this world and inserting the K Road business icons, everyone was pretty excited about it.
“This is a luxury product that is exclusively available at K Road. This is the proverbial “gingerbread on a whip” that makes people enjoy the street. We can’t wait for the answer, we go out there and find the bottle.”
150 bottles Road will be sold at participating K Road small businesses for six weeks, retailers will update Instagram K Rd every morning. A treasure hunt to find a limited edition fragrance. Road retail price is $100, with all proceeds going directly to the housing charity, vitallywhich also operates the nonprofit Merge Cafe, on K Rd.
The campaign, which could be seen in Auckland for the next six weeks, was inspired by some of the most famous perfume ads from around the world with a typical K Rd touch.
Freddie Riddiford of Motion Sickness says: “The Karangahape business owners are an elite group of legends. We told them we wanted to create a special fragrance, dress them in Calvins and wander off into a land of blue steel, blank stares and power poses. They said, “Let’s do it.”
road’There is no doubt that the Camp campaign captures the often absurd campaigns of the big luxury perfume brands.
Instead of William Dafoe, we see Suresh, the long-time owner of the Lamb Pharmacy, surrounded by a group of up-and-coming K Rd artists who rent the space above his shop. Johnny Depp’s solemn gaze is replaced by Craig Miller, owner of Miller’s Coffee (and potential inventor of the flat white).
KBA’s previous two high street campaigns have seen footfall and retail sales rise. Jamie Holloway, manager of the Karangahape Road Business Association, has brought motion sickness into the third campaign. Jamie says face Road campaigns are already known on K Rd.
“K Rd attracts an eclectic group of hustlers and small businesses that you won’t find anywhere else in the world. We want them to be known beyond that stretch of road and continue to take people to the coolest street in the entire Pacific,” Holloway said.
“For me, perfume is just water, spices and sex appeal. We did all of that, and some of it with a damn good campaign.”
Each of the 150 bottles is uniquely stamped with a piece of K Rd, a concrete slab painstakingly stolen from the ongoing Karanga a Hape Central Rail Link construction project.
The campaign will run for the next six weeks across Auckland OOH, print and digital channels.
perfume: Road, artist Of Body (Nathan Taare)
Client: Karangahape Roads Business Association
Chief Manager: Jamie Holloway
Marketing manager: Lisa McMillan
Creative agency:Motion sickness
Executive Creative Director: Sam Stutchbury
Creative leader: Freddie Riddiford
Senior designer: Hamish Steptoe
Senior creative worker: Will McDonald
Head of mass media: Dom Meehan
Photographer: John Naera-Scott (People)
Photographer: Cale Lawson (Ingredients and Product)
Stylist: Helen Young Loveridge
Assistant in photography: Logan Buchanan
Lighting: Mark Leedom
Digitech: Gabe Metcalf
Assistant stylist: Julia Thompson