Alright, went perfume shopping today. It was my Mom's b'day yesterday and I decided to gift her a perfume.
I checked out stuff at Westside first and then at Pantaloons. At both the places, I found guys trying to assist me in selecting the right fragrance. They were trying in all earnestness to make a sale (I appreciate the effort and keenness) but I felt rather irritated by whatever they were doing and speaking. This is just one of the symptoms of a greater problem. What's the greater problem? Understanding the category (and therefore, the resultant marketing protocols) in the Indian context.
Firstly, in India, perfumes are a luxury. A minuscule group of people can afford perfumes.
Secondly, besides 'unaffordability', they also aren't too perfume-literate. Education isn't the problem. Curiosity is the problem. Finer tastes/luxury thrive on people's curiosity as much as their desire for status sysmbol.
Thirdly, perfume as a product involves a sense other than vision, or touch, or rationality. Experiencing a visual product is far different from experiencing one which doesn't have a strong visual aspect (it is only for this reason that perfume bottles are so well designed). Perfumes primarily involve olfactory senses; bottles can only help that at best.
Just to explain in a better way. What happens at a restaurant? Of course, you go there for food. Primary sense is taste buds. It is supported by a menu; a description of food items in words which engage you rationally. Sometimes, menus also include pictures which again support or help in whetting your taste buds.
Fourthly, these sales guys/girls aren't fit to describe a product orally and in a language which is foreign to them, which doesn't come quite so naturally to them. More so, when it's a luxury product made with extreme detailing and exotic ingredients, the job becomes all the more difficult. Besides, most often the customers are far better exposed, even if not perfume-literate, and therefore might not regard the sales pitch too highly.
Lastly, a luxury product deserves to be served by guys who match the brand in some manner (at least in some critical aspect) if not all. If they don't speak well, if they don't look neat, if they wear obnoxious-looking shoes, then the association with the brand doesn't help.
What should be done? Three ways:
- Recruit very articulate young men and women. Articulate not necessarily in English, which take me second point.
- Groom these young men and women to be very polished (polite, soft, etc.) speakers, even if in the language of the state.
- Articulation doesn't mean these guys have to speak and sell. Ask them to speak as little as possible, or rather only when it's opportune or needed. Like you need a menu in a restaurant, support your perfumes with a perfume menu which contains perfume descriptions in just the right words. And make these menus prominent. Hand them over to the prospects as a Domino's does for its pizzas.
Does it make sense to you, Mr. Perfume Brand Owner?
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