Clarins Group *Photo courtesy: Guido Mocafico, Clarins
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vibrant new reality at Clarins BY
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fter restructuring its management team in the Americas, Clarins Group is starting to reap the rewards of this move, posting strong sales across many of its brands. Thierry Mugler’s Angel and Alien, in particular, are flying off the shelves, says the company, as is the Clarins brand of skincare and cosmetics. “If we focus on Clarins Cosmetics, we are doing great,” says Massimiliano Giordano-Don, LATAM – TR Americas Marketing Director, Clarins Group. “We’ve had nice results in 2012, so we are very happy.” Giordano-Don attributes much of this success to a major rehaul of the company’s management structure, initiated in late 2011. “We changed the team here in Miami [and] we are seeing the first effect of this [new] team,” he says. As part of the revamp, the company brought a full-scale Clarins team to its Miami office, and assumed responsibility for its travel retail business throughout most of the Americas and Latin America local market. Essence Corp., which had earlier managed the Miami office, took on direct distribution of Clarins’ products in the Caribbean.
Focusing on top doors The company has started placing special attention on its top-selling locations in the Americas travel retail channel. “We call these doors our ‘million-dollar doors,’” explains Giordano-Don. “In 2011 we had one top door, in 2012 four or five, and in 2013 [there will be] almost 10 in Americas travel retail.” First, Clarins took steps to define its ‘milliondollar door’ category, and then proceeded to pay special attention to the services and products available at the targeted points of sale. “This means a 360-degree approach,” notes Giordano-Don. “It includes promotions, training and a full assortment of products.” Currently, the Clarins Group’s ‘million-dollar doors’ cut a wide swath across duty free in the region – they are in Hawaii (operated by DFS Group), Vancouver (Aldeasa), Los Angeles (DFA) and Montreal (Aer Rianta). In addition to focusing on top-selling hot spots, Clarins is concentrating on adapting its services to better reflect customer demographics in each region. A case in point is Hawaii, where there are large 126
THE AMERICAS DUTY FREE & TRAVEL RETAILING APRIL 2013
HIBAH NOOR
Following a significant management rehaul, Clarins Group focuses on boosting service at its top-selling doors and rolling out a powerful new anti-aging serum
numbers of Asian travelers passing through. To optimally serve this niche clientele, Clarins has finetuned their offerings, introducing special Asian corners to their counters and adapting product catalogues to reflect unique Asian taste preferences. Asian holidays have garnered specific attention. “For the Chinese New Year, we produced special visuals. We have beauty advisors that speak Mandarin and we have leaflets,” notes Giordano-Don. “We offered a special gift with purchase at specific locations. In Hawaii we had a small event with a lot of animation on the counter. There is a real focus on the Asia strategy in our Asian doors. This is new; we were not doing this before.”
Spotlight on serum In terms of products, Clarins is paying special attention to the rollout of its Double Serum – an anti-aging treatment that combines 20 powerful plant extracts to help eradicate wrinkles and skin laxity and tighten large pores. The Serum is currently being introduced to the local market in the US. It was also previewed late last year in the DFS-operated Hawaii store, in part because of the location’s large Asian clientele. “We wanted to make sure that Hawaii got the Double Serum in time for the Chinese New Year due to the influx of Chinese travelers passing through, and also because we had already launched this product in Asia earlier.” Elsewhere in the Americas, the Double Serum will be available in May, and will be supported with numerous animations. “We are targeting to have 170 animations all year only for Double Serum for Americas travel retail,” notes Giordano-Don. “We are planning to launch the 30ml size, which is the regular size.” So far, interest in the powerful anti-aging Serum has been phenomenal, both in local markets and in travel retail in Europe and Asia, says GiordanoDon. “In Europe they are going crazy,” he notes, “and it’s also booming in Asia where it was launched at the end of last year. We’ve had fantastic results.” Now, with its own home team settled in Miami, the Clarins Group is looking forward to building on this success and growing its business even further in the region.
Clarins’ Double Serum anti-aging treatment combines 20 powerful plant extracts to help eradicate wrinkles and skin laxity and tighten large pores