Titan launches perfumery foray with mid-price ‘Skinn’ range

Titan Co Ltd, known as a maker of watches and jewellery that target the Indian mid-market consumer, has launched its foray into the lifestyle space with a new line of perfumery, priced significantly below the international brands available in the market.

Branded Skinn, the perfumes will be made in France by top French fragrance houses such as Firmenich and Givaudan. The company launched six perfumes in Mumbai on Monday, three for men and three for women. The entire range is priced at Rs990 for 50 ml and Rs1,790 for 100 ml.

These perfumes have been developed exclusively for Titan, which owns the rights for them, Titan managing director Bhaskar Bhat said at the launch.

He said that Titan has emerged as a lifestyle products company, and is always looking to create a footprint in ''underserved, underpenetrated and unorganised segments of the market''.

Bhat said the fragrances line will be managed by the watches and accessories division under H G Raghunath. The company is targeting sales of Rs250 crore from the line over a period of three years.

The launch of the Skimm range of perfumes is the next initiative after the company's change of name to Titan Co Ltd from Titan Industries Ltd, as the company repositions itself to as a personal lifestyle player.

The perfumes will be made and bottled in France to avoid alcohol bottling regulatory hurdles in India. However, the fragrance has been developed based on India, along with Firmenich and Givaudan. Bhat said Titan will import these products into the country bearing additional duty costs, but ruled out manufacturing in India with the existing planned volumes. 

''Using our in-house design and marketing expertise, wide retail footprint and the brand name Titan, we took a step to enter the fragrances market which is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 30 per cent and has tremendous opportunities,'' Bhat said.

The perfume line will be launched in the top 10 Indian cities before it goes pan-India, Bhat said. Titan is planning a large marketing campaign including outdoor advertising, publications and through its stores.

Buyers of Titan watches and Tanishq jewellery will also be offered takeaways and other promotional offers through loyalty programmes. Titan is also planning a massive digital campaign through Facebook and Twitter.

Bhat said Titan will also launch a line of two-wheeler helmets in a few months' time.

The perfume launch is part of Titan Co's attempt to bring a wider range of products into its portfolio, reducing its reliance on the jewellery division that contributes to over 80 per cent of its business but faces regulatory hurdles in operations.