Indian fragrance mkt looks promising
Friday, September 28, 2007
My last post on eau de perfume had received quite many hits from India and quite a few lot even had a discussion it with me personally. What surprised me most was the interest level of people in these brands, even the mild ones. India being a climatically rough country does not hold itself in a very right perspective for milder tones of perfumeries. One can remember that when an Indian wears a perfume in some public function, one can smell it easily before one can see the person wearing it! Most of our scents scream rather than talk. And in case you have tried a mild one you will know that it won’t last even few hours and only person who can appreciate it then will be only you at the max.
But no, some people have worn these; others have tried it or at least appreciated it; and with India booming on the world tourism that actually comes as the by product. Not only are Indians thronging for packages to the tourist places all over the world, even the major names in this market are coming to India to have a promising Indian buyers. The north especially is targeted as they are the heavy spenders on personal grooming and not to forget the show offs. With money has come the need to maintain social status as most of the Indians care more about their image in society rather than one’s own individuality. But the younger generation is talking more and more of its personal yet private space and these are the consumers that look for something different, they may be happier experimenting for self rather than for others. (Such exuberance reminds me of Sushmita Sen than anybody else). But all in all they are all welcome customers for the fragrance giants who are looking at India as a high potential market. Fragrances are proving increasingly popular in India, as the population continues to increase its expenditure on increasingly sophisticated personal care products containing greater amounts of fragrance (check your consumption basket!)
A fortnight back I had gone to Hyderabad Central for a weekend hang out; I must say I was surprised to see the range and abundance of some of the best fragrances over there (first floor towards front exit). Even the latest ones could be seen lavishly exhibited there.
As for me I was taken aloft by Chanel’s Allure Sport. This Eau de Toilette is a 2005 Fifi award winner, and is really refreshing. It starts with a 'fresh' and fruity note and is really refreshing but then with time you can have it changed to base note quite fast. But make sure you are trying Allure Sport and not plain Allure Homme as latter is more like feminine scents of Allure range. So in case you end up buying latter one, you know, "I warned you!" :)
Allure Sport
Top Notes Aldehydes, Mandarin, Orange, Aquatic Note
Middle Notes Black Pepper, Neroli, Cedar
Base Notes Tonka, Vetiver, Amber, White Musk
In case the top note, middle or base note sound as jargon to you, let me explain what I have learned about scents. A fragrance is composed of three different 'layers' of scent called notes. It has top notes, which you smell as soon as you apply the fragrance; you have mid notes, which you smell in about 10 to 45 minutes depending on the fragrance, and then there are base notes, that stay on the longest, say hours. So when I said early in this post that we Indians wear screaming scents, it means we tend to choose fragrances with strong base notes.
But no, some people have worn these; others have tried it or at least appreciated it; and with India booming on the world tourism that actually comes as the by product. Not only are Indians thronging for packages to the tourist places all over the world, even the major names in this market are coming to India to have a promising Indian buyers. The north especially is targeted as they are the heavy spenders on personal grooming and not to forget the show offs. With money has come the need to maintain social status as most of the Indians care more about their image in society rather than one’s own individuality. But the younger generation is talking more and more of its personal yet private space and these are the consumers that look for something different, they may be happier experimenting for self rather than for others. (Such exuberance reminds me of Sushmita Sen than anybody else). But all in all they are all welcome customers for the fragrance giants who are looking at India as a high potential market. Fragrances are proving increasingly popular in India, as the population continues to increase its expenditure on increasingly sophisticated personal care products containing greater amounts of fragrance (check your consumption basket!)
A fortnight back I had gone to Hyderabad Central for a weekend hang out; I must say I was surprised to see the range and abundance of some of the best fragrances over there (first floor towards front exit). Even the latest ones could be seen lavishly exhibited there.
As for me I was taken aloft by Chanel’s Allure Sport. This Eau de Toilette is a 2005 Fifi award winner, and is really refreshing. It starts with a 'fresh' and fruity note and is really refreshing but then with time you can have it changed to base note quite fast. But make sure you are trying Allure Sport and not plain Allure Homme as latter is more like feminine scents of Allure range. So in case you end up buying latter one, you know, "I warned you!" :)Allure Sport
Top Notes Aldehydes, Mandarin, Orange, Aquatic Note
Middle Notes Black Pepper, Neroli, Cedar
Base Notes Tonka, Vetiver, Amber, White Musk
In case the top note, middle or base note sound as jargon to you, let me explain what I have learned about scents. A fragrance is composed of three different 'layers' of scent called notes. It has top notes, which you smell as soon as you apply the fragrance; you have mid notes, which you smell in about 10 to 45 minutes depending on the fragrance, and then there are base notes, that stay on the longest, say hours. So when I said early in this post that we Indians wear screaming scents, it means we tend to choose fragrances with strong base notes.
My other possession is Ko2 by Diamond, its more than mild and has a strong base note which stays for quite long. When I was trying to buy a cologne for my friend in Paris, I actually was trying to look for a nice, strong manly screaming scent. I don't know if I did a right choice or not, but I bought Armani Code. No comments on that as I havnt ever tried that, my friend told me that the fragrance was nice but it was a bit mild (I told you so! we Indians!).
Am no socialite but yes I have interest in all these things that flirt with my senses, be it food, drinks or fragrances. And not to mention that one visit to western Europe and you really feel like following your senses much closely; be it first/second taste of wine or the three tones of fragrances, they certainly made me realize the nuances! So, do you have any suggestions on what to try further? I remember one of my classmate using Tommy Hilfiger's; guess will check it out in some months. But in case you have some good reviews about some aqua based strong fragrance or cologne, am all ears! Lets wait and watch for comments ;)Labels: New Trends
posted by Jas @ 3:07 AM,
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Stress on corporate images
Monday, September 17, 2007
Few years back I read a report detailing how HLL was considering to change its then green colored leaves logo to something that was closer to its mother brand Unilever, which itself was undergoing a plastic surgery for fresh image in consumer mind. Now HLL has changed to HUL, company board deciding to use the word Hindustan (with reports that its probably only occurrence in world that Unilever has allowed a local name). After each advertisement of a Lever's product you can see the new 'vitality' filled sign of Unilever with Hindustan Unilever written below it. This branding fo corporate identity along with the brand makes sense for the obvious. But is it just because of changing corporate image or is due to higher competition in market? Is it that HUL now wants to leverage its larger than life corporate image and add the benefit to its brands?
In case you are ready to negate the argument then have a look at other happenings. Check the FMCG battlefield where the goriest of battles have been fought - soft drink industry. After the Pepsi ads you would now see the branding of PepsiCo. Post liberalization PepsiCo was allowed to use its international brand name in India (earlier it had to use 'Lehar' alongside), but since then it hasnt done any branding. Infact I was surprised to see the name PepsiCo used in US instead of Pepsi as the corporate name 3 years back, and here in India nobody had heard about PepsiCo! PepsiCo India even has its own website now, which I once tried to find helplessly 2 yrs back (for assignment purpose). The impact may have been because of pesticide issue.
Coke too has worked a lot for its corporate image with McCann Erickson, with Prasoon Joshi coming up with new ad line "Boond boond khushi khushi" or "Little drops of joy". He was the one who changed Coca Cola's fortune with hugely popular "Thanda matlab Coca Cola". According to Joshi,
The entire campaign, “Little Drops of Joy”, is based on moments of joy in the daily lives of consumers. The TVC portrays how little drops of Coca-Cola transform drab moments of life to a more cheerful one. One of these commercial opens with the shot of a couple, walking on the road and fighting over daily chores. Suddenly, drops of Coca-Cola engulf them and the boy spots a beautiful dress on a mannequin and decides to buy it for the girl in order to pacify her. The second section of the commercial shows an old Parsi lady in a pensive mood. Again, the bubbles appear and immediately the old lady spots her friend in a car and they go out. In the end the message appears: “Coca Cola India — Boond Boond Khushi Khushi.” If you ask me, my point will be that big things give you excitement but its the small things that make you feel happy and contended, hence crucial for branding.
Also, as part of its re-positioning strategy, Coca-Cola has revealed its five-pillar growth strategy, that of 5 Ps -
In case you are ready to negate the argument then have a look at other happenings. Check the FMCG battlefield where the goriest of battles have been fought - soft drink industry. After the Pepsi ads you would now see the branding of PepsiCo. Post liberalization PepsiCo was allowed to use its international brand name in India (earlier it had to use 'Lehar' alongside), but since then it hasnt done any branding. Infact I was surprised to see the name PepsiCo used in US instead of Pepsi as the corporate name 3 years back, and here in India nobody had heard about PepsiCo! PepsiCo India even has its own website now, which I once tried to find helplessly 2 yrs back (for assignment purpose). The impact may have been because of pesticide issue.
Coke too has worked a lot for its corporate image with McCann Erickson, with Prasoon Joshi coming up with new ad line "Boond boond khushi khushi" or "Little drops of joy". He was the one who changed Coca Cola's fortune with hugely popular "Thanda matlab Coca Cola". According to Joshi,In a growing, constantly changing market like India, a brand needs to have an emotional connect. In small-town India, which is the next big market, marketers are constantly trying to find the right lingo that will guarantee the right connection. Boond Boond Khushi Khushi is their connect with the brand. One isn’t supposed to look at the drops in isolation, but see them as drops of a larger vision, aimed at mutual growth and development. Boond Boond Khushi Khushi will refresh the consumer on an everyday basis. We are not saying that Coca-Cola cause miracles. What is very real about it is that we don’t claim to transform lives but simply envelop a moment with joy.
The entire campaign, “Little Drops of Joy”, is based on moments of joy in the daily lives of consumers. The TVC portrays how little drops of Coca-Cola transform drab moments of life to a more cheerful one. One of these commercial opens with the shot of a couple, walking on the road and fighting over daily chores. Suddenly, drops of Coca-Cola engulf them and the boy spots a beautiful dress on a mannequin and decides to buy it for the girl in order to pacify her. The second section of the commercial shows an old Parsi lady in a pensive mood. Again, the bubbles appear and immediately the old lady spots her friend in a car and they go out. In the end the message appears: “Coca Cola India — Boond Boond Khushi Khushi.” If you ask me, my point will be that big things give you excitement but its the small things that make you feel happy and contended, hence crucial for branding.Also, as part of its re-positioning strategy, Coca-Cola has revealed its five-pillar growth strategy, that of 5 Ps -
- People
- Planet
- Portfolio
- Partners and
- Performance.
The company is testing a foray into dairy-based products as well as introducing in India energy drink major Glaceau’s brands that it recently acquired for $ 4.1 billion. This is in response to shift of Indian consumer towards healthy drinking habits. Pepsi had beaten Coke on this with its Tropicana range of juices. and with report of Pepsico India Holdings Pvt. Ltd., being close to purchasing a juice brand in India, the battle is surely gonna hot up
Labels: Business, Marketing Practices, New Trends
posted by Jas @ 2:37 AM,
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Working on the skin change...
Friday, September 14, 2007
Hey all!
It has been a long time a long time since I had used this skin. It was picked especially for the launch of this blog along with my Tech blog and have a consistent feel of all three blogs, giving them a site kind feel.
But there will be a few changes now, lets see if the trio still has same skin or they all get different! Keep watching...
Photo Credit
posted by Jas @ 2:10 AM,
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Scintillating Fragrances
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
A twenty thousand euro dress, two thousand hairdo, 24carat diamond set jeweled in platinum... still your dress-up wont be complete without that subtle or expressive élan by virtue of a fragrance. How many times has just a sniff of it changed our mood? or made us float in air, brim with confidence or just bring a smile with closed eyes!
With such a stake they don't command a cost based price, but get based on perceived price. It becomes a high involvement and in many cases the highest. As such it becomes a marketer's dream turf. Some reach the zenith and other get branded for life in nadir.Idea always is to make the customer move to non rational purchase, make it go through heart and not mind. Once its done then it paves a huge path for extraordinary profit, changing of brand name to a symbol or an icon.
Chanel No.5 has been such a brand that has ruled now for almost a century (it came out in 1921) and is still fresh. Coco Chanel had once commissioned Ernest Beaux to make six perfumes, which were labeled No. 1, No. 2, etc. through No. 6. It was bottle No.5 that was to Chanel's liking and became the chosen formula. No. 5 is famous for being the first perfume to heavily rely on synthetic floral aldehydes as a top note. Before synthetics, perfume either had to be applied very heavily before going out to ensure that the fragrance would last, or frequently throughout the night. The expensive manufacturing process of No.5 had made it to be the most expensive perfume at that time; which still holds true.
The cost to marketer for maintaining such a brand? The following 180 seconds commercial for television broadcast and cinema advertisement was made at whopping budget of $42 million USD which was financed exclusively by Chanel.
The cost to marketer for maintaining such a brand? The following 180 seconds commercial for television broadcast and cinema advertisement was made at whopping budget of $42 million USD which was financed exclusively by Chanel.
Now Keira Knightley is all set appear as the new face of Chanel,to launch an advertising campaign to promote the fragrance Coco Mademoiselle. Keira has replaced star model Kate Moss as the latest face of the firm. Chanel had earlier decided to abandon Kate Moss from its promotional campaigns after her drug scandal.
The second brand that has been catching my eye is the range of Bulgari (BVLGARI) which has come up with innovative designs of packing or 'vials'. The packing of perfumeries is amazing to eyes and the olfactory organs of our body. I in particular liked the product on my right. An impressive packing, then the usage leads to a complete experience of having this perfume for self. Quoting from wiki, The company was founded in 1884 in Rome, Italy. The current flagship store was opened in 1905 by Bulgari with the help of his two sons (Costantino and Giorgio) and the store quickly became a place where the world's rich and famous came for the unique, high quality jewelry designs combining Greek and Roman art. Although the company made a name for itself with jewelry, today it is a recognized luxury brand that markets several product lines including watches, handbags, fragrances, accessories, and hotels.Labels: Brand Endorsement, Launch, TVC
posted by Jas @ 11:07 PM,
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