The Entrepreneurs – "How the Right Sound and Scent Can Enhance Your Brand"

Podcast: The Entrepreneurs by Monocle
Host: Tom Edwards
Guests: Max Deluchire (Co-founder, DLMDD); Alan O’Rourke (Co-founder, Ruark)
Date: July 16, 2025

Overview

This episode of "The Entrepreneurs" delves deep into the evolving world of sensory branding, examining how sound and scent can define and elevate a brand's identity. Tom Edwards speaks first with Max Deluchire of DLMDD, an agency known for sonic branding, now pioneering a scent division. The episode then shifts focus to Ruark, a British audio company, where co-founder Alan O’Rourke shares how design, emotion, and listening quality foster brand loyalty.

**1. The Fusion of Sound and Scent in Branding

Guest: Max Deluchire, Co-founder of DLMDD**

Why Scent is the Next Branding Frontier (01:56–03:27)

• Career Crossover: Max and partners, originally composers, expanded DLMDD’s scope from sonic identities to include scent for brands, recognizing parallels in psychological impact and marketing science.
  • “Sound and scent are brilliantly aligned. They do very, very, very similar things in marketing science, in psychology, in the ways we live our lives.” (Max Deluchire, 01:56)
• Industry Shift: Brands are increasingly considering multisensory experiences: “We’ve had clients over the years now say, we’ve done a sound, we’ve created a sound... What do we smell like?... What do we taste like?... And so I’ve been thinking about it for a while.” (Max Deluchire, 01:56)

Building a Multisensory Studio – The Journey (04:06–08:42)

• Client Demand: Some clients approach for one sensory mode (sound or scent), but the "golden briefs" combine both, particularly in the Middle East, where scent has deep cultural resonance.
• Recruiting Perfume Talent:
  • Max’s detective work to recruit top perfumers highlights the insular nature of fragrance creation:
    • “I’m quite a big fan of the brand Molton Brown... There’s this family out in the south of France who design some of Molton Brown’s most iconic fragrances... No website, no contact... I ended up on Google Street View with the little man... scribbled it down and wrote an old-fashioned letter.” (Max Deluchire, 05:58)
  • The old-fashioned approach paid off: “Got an email saying, so nice to actually receive a letter. We never receive letters. Your letter’s landed on all of our desks... come and see us, let’s talk more.” (Max Deluchire, 06:40–07:46)
• Start-up Mindset: Max reflects on entrepreneurship lessons; boldness and specificity in reaching out attract positive results.

Aligning the Creative Process: Scent = Sound (09:00–11:25)

• The development process mirrors sonic branding:
  • Discovery: Understand the brand’s identity, objectives, and values.
  • Translation: Use tools like the “scent wheel” to explore possible olfactory matches for brand values.
    • “You start to smell around this scent wheel... your brand starts coming up in all these myriad of different ways.” (Max Deluchire, 09:11)
  • Collaboration: Clients participate in creation, iterating directly with master perfumers—a career highlight for many.

The Science and Art of Scent (11:43–13:09)

• Perfumer studios mix science and artistry, involving clients in hands-on iterations.
• The collaborative journey is essential: “We don’t just go away and come back and say, here’s the scent. There you go. Enjoy. Goodbye. There’s a huge amount of bringing... clients into those environments.” (Max Deluchire, 11:53)

Brand Consistency vs. Evolution (13:09–13:56)

• The challenge: Should scent identities evolve or remain iconic?
  • “The more you iterate, the more you dilute the original thing. It’s a bit like saying, you know, have Nike changed the visual logo?” (Max Deluchire, 13:35)
• Scent, like logos or taglines, works best with commitment and consistency.

The Magic of Translating Memories Into Scent (14:29–16:53)

• Only true “noses” (perfumers) have the skill to deconstruct and recreate scents from memory.
• Synesthesia and Sound as a Brief:
  • “Some of these perfumers have that amazing thing... the best brief you can give us is actually one that has sound in it. Give us sound. Because from sound, we can instantly translate how that may come to life in scent.” (Max Deluchire, 16:06)
  • Max calls this connection a “eureka moment” for DLMDD’s sonic roots.

Notable Quote

• “The best brief you can give us is actually one that has sound in it... because if you give us sound, we can translate that better than any other sensory mode.”
  — Max Deluchire (16:06)

The Dream Assignment (17:08–19:39)

• Max’s ideal brief is in luxury (especially travel and aviation, e.g., Singapore Airlines), where curated sensory ecosystems create memorable, emotional experiences.
  • “We developed the entire sound ecosystem and sonic design for Singapore Airlines... boarding music, landing music... millions and millions of hits... people say, this reminds me of going to see my family here or flying here to do this.” (Max Deluchire, 17:11–19:39)

**2. Design-Led Audio: The Ruark Story

Guest: Alan O’Rourke, Co-founder, Ruark**

Founding Roots and Philosophy (22:03–25:04)

• Ruark was founded in 1985 by Alan and his father, merging cabinetmaking with a passion for music and engineering.
  • “I think with his cabinet making skills and my engineering skills, we just shared a passion for... loudspeakers.” (Alan O’Rourke, 22:03)
• The heritage of British hi-fi and the move from mono to stereo inspired early designs and a focus on authentic sound at home.

The Importance of Design (24:17–25:20)

• Good design doesn’t date; Ruark products are “evolutionary rather than revolutionary,” blending form and function elegantly.
  • “In this world of, you know, lots of stuff available, you’ve had to go the extra mile in design to make things which stand out... Good design doesn’t date and we very much believe in that.” (Alan O’Rourke, 24:17)
• Alan’s grandmother’s radiogram inspired flagship products—audio as heirloom, emotion, and memory.
  • “I think radiograms took over from the parlor piano, really, when pianos were thrown out and people got their radiograms in...” (Alan O’Rourke, 25:20)

Sound Quality in the Streaming Age (26:21–27:31)

• Alan voices concern over digital streaming quality versus the tactile authenticity of vinyl and CDs.
  • “Just because it tells you it’s a high resolution stream... you don’t know what’s happened to that stream all the way down the line... But at least with a record or with a CD, you know, it’s true.” (Alan O’Rourke, 26:38)

Music as Physical Experience and Generational Appeal (27:31–28:32)

• Growth of physical formats: There’s renewed enthusiasm among younger listeners for the physicality of CDs and records—object-based, collectible, and tangible.
  • “It’s that ownership, it’s that being able to hold something to touch, you know, own something of, of the artist.” (Alan O’Rourke, 27:37)
• Customers often start with one Ruark system, then fill their homes—loyalty inspired by both visual design and audio quality.

Challenges and Joys of Boutique Audio (28:32–31:12)

• Visibility and retail play a huge role: Partnerships with outlets like John Lewis help Ruark attract design lovers.
• Hi-fi retail can be intimidating—making spaces more accessible is key to growing the market.
• The most rewarding part: Customer emails praising the transformation of their music listening.
  • “When people discover our products... they send us an email saying, you know, I’ve never heard my music sound so good. We do what we do for the love of music, really, I guess.” (Alan O’Rourke, 28:32; 31:04)

Notable Quote

• “We do what we do for the love of music, really, I guess.”
  — Alan O’Rourke (31:04)

Selected Timestamps & Segment Highlights

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 01:56 | Max Deluchire introduces sonic-to-scent branding | | 05:58 | Story of tracking down elite perfumers in rural France | | 09:11 | Mechanics of matching scent families to brand values | | 11:53 | Client collaboration in scent creation | | 13:35 | On keeping scent identity consistent, not diluted | | 16:06 | The best scent brief is based on sound | | 17:11 | Dream projects: aviation, Singapore Airlines story | | 22:03 | Alan O’Rourke on Ruark’s founding and early philosophy | | 24:17 | The role of elegant, “timeless” design in audio | | 26:38 | Debating the future—streaming vs. physical media | | 27:37 | Younger generations embrace CDs and vinyl anew | | 31:04 | “We do what we do for the love of music, really, I guess”|

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Max Deluchire on launching a scent agency:
  “It’s quite nice to be the first. I’m sure other people probably jump on it as well, but it’s my prediction for where the future is.” (08:01)

• Alan O’Rourke on customer loyalty:
  “When people discover our products ... they have an R1 in their bedroom, an R3 in their living room ... Our thing is to spread our word, I suppose, really ... you know, we’re still a small company.” (28:32)

• On the power of sensory memory:
  “You go on YouTube and just type in Singapore Airlines boarding music ... people say, this reminds me of going to see my family here or flying here to do this ... it’s nice to do work that people really love, you know, and that actually genuinely makes an impact.” (Max Deluchire, 17:11–19:39)

Conclusion

This episode presents a sophisticated exploration of how audio and olfactory experiences are becoming as central to brand identity as logos and taglines. Max Deluchire explains how DLMDD is bridging sound and scent to create emotional resonance, especially in luxury sectors. Alan O’Rourke demonstrates how design and passion for quality music experiences build both brand and customer loyalty. The episode suggests a future in which brands will use all the senses to shape deeper, more memorable customer experiences.