Last year was one of both endings and new beginnings for Interparfums. The French fragrance group officially bid goodbye to its licence agreement with Burberry in March before launching the much anticipated debut scent for French dance wear maker Repetto in June. In the meantime, it managed to post solid financials: the company saw net sales (excluding Burberry) climb 45% in Q3 2013 compared to the previous year. Director, President and CEO Philippe Benacin talks to Cosmetics International about the company's past and future.
Asia is currently known as a booming market for luxury brands. Do you agree?I totally agree. For Interparfums, however, we started in China and the Far East territories back in the late eighties and early nineties. So for us, this is not new. We've been strong in Asia for some time and it's a reputation that has been built over the last 25 years.
What approach do you take to targeting the Asian consumer?There's no recipe for success – it's about taking a specific and targeted approach for each and every market you're in. It's all about finding the right mixture between brands, products and your marketing approach. There are brands that are strong because of their product offering and there are others that are successful simply because of a strong brand name. Within our portoflio, Montblanc and Balmain are both strong in Asia as the fashion brands are also popular. Lanvin and Jimmy Choo are not strong yet but they have potential.
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