Bath & Body Works Employs a Professional ‘Nose.’ Her Entire Job Is Finding the Next $1.5 Billion Scent.

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Mary Testa-Gough is the chief “nose” for Bath & Body Works. Her job is to sniff out the company’s next blockbuster scent, according to the New York Times. It’s a tall order. The retailer’s signature fragrance, Japanese Cherry Blossom, has generated more than $1.5 billion in sales over 20 years, but sales companywide have slipped from $7.8 billion to $7.3 billion.

Finding the next Japanese Cherry Blossom isn’t just a creative challenge — it’s a business necessity. But there is no proven formula. Nobody knows exactly why some scents fly off the shelves while others end up in the discount bin. Japanese Cherry Blossom smelled too sophisticated in focus groups until master perfumer Harry Fremont added apple and pear, and it became the company’s best-selling fragrance of all time.

To improve its odds, Bath & Body Works built Beauty Park — a cluster of 50 key suppliers within half a mile of its Ohio headquarters. The setup cut time-to-market from months to weeks. When a scent catches fire, they can restock before the moment passes. Testa-Gough is currently betting on Watermelon Whirl and Tangerine Twirl.