Journalism of Courage
Whats Armani Sport Code like?
The Code Sport is for the man who has a fast-paced life,and is very intense. The idea of sport for him is very different. It is all a part of his life. He uses sport to attain perfection. Code Sport is seduction in a bottle.
Has it been globally launched?
It has already been unveiled in Italy. In India,it will be launching one month later compared to the rest of world. We are looking to release the perfume across all main cities,Chennai,Bangalore,Kolkata,Mumbai and Delhi.
Do you have a separate line of perfumes for the Indian market?
The fragrances do not really change. We keep our perfumes the same the world over.
Does Armani have a dedicated nose for their perfumes?
No. We work on vendor-to-vendor basis. Very few fragrance companies have their own noses. For this perfume,we had on board Jacques Cavallier,the master perfumer,who,in the past,has given us the Acqua Di Gio fragrance.
Do you do any kind of survey about mens fragrances before entering a new market?
We dont feel the need for surveys. Our experience speaks for itself,since 70 per cent of Armanis fragrance sales come from mens perfumes in India. Armani has discovered that,in the family of fragrances,it is the fresh aquatic fragrances that work here keeping in mind the kind of weather we are in.
Our strategy is always on the kind of fragrances,whether it is male or female. But we seem to have indulged our men a lot. The fragrance market in India is itself male dominated,not female. And the most interesting thing is that the women prefer the male fragrances more.
What are you doing to control the underground grey market of perfume sales in India?
We have been keeping a check on that front and there are dedicated teams who are tackling those situations. However,we cannot reveal how much it eats into our profit margins.
