Fading the bottlenecks of perfume industry through licensing

For Rajiv Sheth, the CEO & Creative Director of Just Scents Private Ltd, it was the fascination for French perfumes and fine fragrances that led him all the way to France’s ISIPCA, the finest School of perfumery in the world. Further he went on to launch his brand All Good Scents - an online portal positioned in affordable luxury segment. Of late, his brand All Good Scents has bagged exclusive licensing rights of Miss Diva - the franchise of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. In a conversation with license India, Sheth talks about the details of this licensing association.

What made you think of brand licensing as an effective retail strategy for your business?

Perfumery is still very nascent in India. And while it is an aspirational category, people want to buy it with a known brand. Taboos like foreign perfumes being better than Indian ones, are also there along with certain retail issues like dearth of investment friendly eco-system, retail shelf acquisition with major players etc. Brand licensing helps in getting associated with the brand that has got distribution channels and market visibility. I think licensing for fragrances is the last accessory and any brand into fashion & lifestyle space has fragrances as a part of their portfolio.

Talk to us about the licensing deal with BCCL for Miss Diva.

As per the agreement, we have the rights to manufacture and retail a range of miss diva Eau de Parfum across India. The Miss Diva is a fashion and lifestyle brand that is more about sensuality and contemporary in nature, thus keeping sync with the younger millennial crowd. Basis that, we have come up with three variants– Showstopper, Cover Girl and Fashionista. Right now the tenure of deal is 2 years which is to kick-off and start distribution.

What made you choose Miss Diva over other IPs owned and managed by BCCL?

BCCL has got many brands; it was also first time that they were getting into fragrances. While we could have been comfortable with the other properties – Miss India and Femina, we thought of experimenting with Miss Diva which is comparatively newer brand. This offered us liberty to experiment more on fragrances and creative bit to see how that fare with Miss Diva before moving on to other established brands.

What are the challenges in fragrance industry?

Right now what is missing in India is the right distribution for our kind of products that caters to affordable luxury segment. I think affordable luxury is the key space to be in because not everybody can afford a perfume worth INR 4,000. And the idea is to get people use fragrance on daily basis. Our price line is from 750 to 1,500 and that’s the key focus. Our Miss Diva range of Eau de Parfum is priced at INR 990.

What all retail points are you present at?

We have exclusive deal with Flipkart for online for a certain number of products other than our own portal www.allgoodscents.com. Also we have started offline distribution with Archies and Health and Glow. Moving further, we are also introducing body mist which are lighter version of fragrances and would be available at INR 449. In future, we will also launch the gift sets of Miss Diva.