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“Travel retail is a big priority for Revlon and so it has a lot of focus for the Love is On launch. The channel helps to bring the whole brand positioning to life and the fragrance completes the Revlon line in travel retail nicely.“ |
David Carvalho Senior Vice-President and General Manager Revlon |
Late last year US beauty house Revlon unveiled its first fragrance launch in a decade, Love is On. The new line is a pivotal part of the brand’s key communication message, “˜Romance is on, attraction is on and love is on’. Senior Vice-President and General Manager David Carvalho talked to Martin Moodie about the launch and why Revlon thinks the travel retail stars are perfectly aligned for the brand’s growth.
Martin Moodie: David, Love is On is a big moment for Revlon. How key is the travel retail channel to its launch?
Travel retail is a big priority for Revlon and so it has a lot of focus for this launch. It [the channel] helps to bring the whole brand positioning to life and the fragrance completes the Revlon line in travel retail nicely.
The fragrance itself is very important but it’s also part of the whole Revlon offer”¦ from the make-up to the fragrance, everything is bringing Love is On to life.
Historically Revlon has been dominated by colour and haircare, with fragrance a small part of the business. I was reading an analyst’s comments this week about the vital importance of this launch. Are we going to see you increasing your fragrance slice of the business very significantly in the future?
For the moment we have to make sure that the Love is On fragrance is successful. The initial feedback and results are extremely positive. Then let’s see in the future what happens, but we have to make sure that this first step is a big success!
The reaction of the customers to Love is On has actually been phenomenal – not only on the concept and the materialisation of the brand positioning but also on the product itself. Our customers are experts in fragrances and they all love the product.
And it’s not just the fragrance. We are also re-launching our travel sets, which are travel retail exclusive. We are bringing new sets, the Love series for lips and face for example, which are regimen packs.
We’re also extending into premium haircare, which is a very innovative development for travel retail. We have a strong heritage in hair and we have a strong division called Revlon Professional. So we are introducing a product that is going to be exclusively available in hair salons and travel retail.
How is travel retail performing for the company?
We’re growing in strong double-digits in all the regions, which is extremely positive. It’s a time of great momentum for Revlon in travel retail.
What’s helping that – besides the very positive feedback and support that we’re having from all the customers – is that Revlon has a unique positioning vis-a-vis other brands. We know from research that half of the people today leave the store without having bought something and they claim they have not found what they were looking for. And some 30% say that they have not bought anything because of the price.
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Love is all around: Both the Love Series Face and Lips sets and the new Love Is On scent were highlighted at last year’s TFWA World Exhibition | |
So I think the positioning of Revlon is really important. It brings accessible glamour and it’s really the only brand positioned between mass and prestige that can deliver this. It’s unique and that’s what is helping the customers at this specific moment and driving a lot of the brand’s success.
One of our customers in Cannes said, “It’s the time of your brand”¦ it’s the time for Revlon.”
Is that why you’re putting a growing focus on travel retail exclusives?
That is a big priority for us because it allows our customers to make a differentiated offer in travel retail.
So that’s why we’ve launched the new packaging more in line with the Love is On brand positioning. And, as I mentioned, we’re extending into these regimen sets. We’re also extending with some new travel sets”¦ for example we are launching the new HD lipstick Travel Set, a product that has a new technology and is unique.
We will have the new sets, the fragrance, the premium hair care”¦ that’s a lot of products that we’ll be investing behind strongly throughout 2016. And definitely we’ll have even more news in the future.
How do you see the future for the business?
In my opinion it goes back to the offer. Both from the travellers’ side and also from a business side I think having the right mix of brands – not just prestige – for the profile of the passengers is what can maximise travel retail.
What is interesting, for example, is that a lot of airlines told us in Cannes that one of our travel sets is actually their best-selling beauty SKU in their catalogue. That shows that not only the prestige brands sell but also an accessible brand like Revlon can be extremely strong for some retailers.
The market is asking for it, the customers are realising it. And it’s the moment in which we are bringing a lot of news, repositioning the brand and strengthening our position in travel retail.
So all those things together, I think, are helping to define this moment as the time for Revlon.
