Ajmal Perfumes is a brand with a rich heritage acquired through almost seven decades of experience and know-how in the intricate art of perfumery. A true innovator and a pioneer in the creation to the marketing of perfume products to a global clientele, today, the brand stands as the epitome of sophistication, innovation and excellence. As the brand steps into another innovative collaboration with AND and Global Desi, TMM asks Abdulla Ajmal, Business Mentor, and Perfumist, NHA Division, Ajmal & Sons – India and Saurav Bhattacharya, Operations, Ajmal & Sons – NHA Division, India to share an insight of the vision, mission, and the role digital marketing is playing as a potential tool for the brand.
Tell us about the collaboration between AND X Global Desi X Ajmal Perfumes. What is so unique about it?
AA: It all started nearly two years ago House of Anita Dongre needed a global expert that truly understood Indian olfactive sensibilities. Ajmal with its ability to transcend from farm-to-fragrance i.e., raw materials and ingredients to final products with a focus on superior craftsmanship was also in search of a partner with similar DNA to collaborate in the fashion and lifestyle space. The timing was right and we sealed an alliance with them to leverage our global expertise and unique understanding of Indian olfactive sensibilities with their similar ethos of quality and craftsmanship.
Tell us about the new range of perfumes that have been launched under this collaboration.
AA: For this collaboration, our R&D team constantly monitored the olfactive trends and built an understanding of consumer behavior, product preferences, and competitive landscape between these 600 women from AND & Global Desi. The result was 8 archetypes, each one embodying a different aspect of the AND or GLOBAL DESI woman. The AND range tries to capture the spirit of the AND Woman – playful and delicate, lively and cheerful, calm and collected and headstrong yet dreamy. While the archetypes for Global Desi allude to the free-spirited, alluring and mystical facets of the Indian woman who is artistic and creative in her temperament. AND Fragrances are designed to appeal to the palette of well-travelled, fiercely independent, confident women who are drawn to fluid silhouettes, soft colors & botanical elements.
Over a period of time, the presence of Ajmal Perfumes has gone stronger. What’s the strategy behind the change in marketing philosophy?
SB: I think the factors that are propelling the growth of Ajmal and fragrance consumption, in general, are increasingly better understanding of grooming which consists of looking, feeling and smelling good along with a better understanding of personal health. Moreover, India being very diverse, evolution is dynamic across various strata. Our motive is to offer fragrances for a daily lifestyle regime at price band of Rs.1000 to Rs.2500 for perfumes and more importantly, even at a lower price point, body mists, which allows consumers to switch from gas to the more efficacious liquid form as the belly of Indian population upgrades their lifestyle and moves the market upwards.
In India, people still lack the art of using perfume. Comment.
AA: To set some context, In India, the aroma is linked to our culture. Whether it’s our religious festivals or celebrations, or even our cuisines, the aroma is a very critical part of our life and living. Consider 
the flowers and incenses we use during any celebratory occasions, the spices and herbs we use to flavour our dishes, oils and oils we use on our skin. As a community, Indians are very sensorially-oriented. However, when it comes to modern perfumery, it’s a fact that most of Indians don’t spritz perfume on a regular basis. There is also an economic reason behind this. The luxury fragrances available in India are priced above Rs 4000 on average and there were no local players offering quality products at accessible prices. Here’s where Ajmal aims to change the market share.
Ajmal Perfume is going stronger in terms of social media presence. How do you see digital marketing as a potential tool for the brand?
AA: At Ajmal, we made a special attempt to go digital and be available on various e-commerce sites. If people can buy clothes online looking at the colours, fits and sizes, what if there were able to buy 
fragrances looking at the colour, notes and the mood it evokes? This was our driving thought. Take the communication of our latest co-brand for AND and Global Desi fragrances for instance, instead of focusing only on the ingredients and fragrance families, we focused on the emotions and characteristics. All our communication aligns each fragrance with a mood or an archetype making it easier for women to select their fragrance online. We want to change the idea of fragrances from being an elite accessory to grooming essential. And here digital marketing plays a big role, as that allows us to reach a wider audience not just in the metros but also the ever-growing Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India.
What is the USP of Ajmal Perfumes?
AA: Ajmal’s lineage and perfumery expertise has lent the company the leadership role. We are a 70-year-old farm-to-fragrance company, which means we have an integrated value chain from sourcing raw materials to delivering products to end consumers. We take pride in the fact that all our fragrances are conceived, created, developed and manufactured in-house, wherein we are not afraid to break the mould to look for innovative solutions and re-imagine our fragrances for every generation of global consumer. We began our business as traders of Oudh, today we stand strong as a house of fragrance, manufacturing, retailing, and distributing our own brands across India and the world.
Today, the Indian market is filled with national and international players. Whom do you consider as competition and why?
SB: The answer is anybody who makes a fragrant product is competition and not limited to perfume brands alone. Even an incense manufacturer is competition. However, if we look in the space of perfumes only, I think there is no real competition because there is no single player that goes through the entire journey of farm to fragrance. We see a gap in the price band of Rs. 1000 to Rs. 2500 which can be leveraged. We found our co-brand fragrance offering of AND & Global Desi best suited to bridge this gap in the market.
What are the future plans for Ajmal?
SB: Our strategy is to tap into the point of sales expansion, but more importantly, we are now cutting across markets by increasing depth and width. We have already tied up with few top departmental stores and in e-commerce, we are now present across approximately 40 marketplaces, where we are one of the largest single-brand perfumery houses. We also see a multitude of opportunities across channels as we understand the product exceptionally well. We wish to dramatically expand our footprint by at least 10 times of where we are in the next 3 to 4 years by expanding through organic opportunities of category and channel and inorganic opportunities of relevant adjacent categories and newer channels. Considering the current way of operations and achievement of sales target, in the next three to five years we look forward to achieving 15-20% share of the evolved premium perfume market.
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