Kanwalpreet Walia, Marketing Head, Fragrance & Accessories, Titan, shares insights on SKINN’s new collection for adventure seeking men and the challenge in creating a mood with fragrances digitally

In an attempt to keep up with the changing consumer behaviour, brands are continuously transforming themselves. They are adopting new strategies and communication techniques in order to stay relevant to the consumer. From adding to their product portfolio to adopting omnichannel to reach out to the consumers, brands are not leaving any stone unturned. On the launch of the new Escapade collection from SKINN recently, Kanwalpreet Walia, Marketing Head, Fragrance and Accessories Division, Titan Company Limited, said that fragrances are finding new meanings in the post COVID-19 era and for brands to stay relevant they should evolve with changing consumer behaviour.

As an ode to nature and adventure loving men trapped at homes due to the ongoing pandemic situation, SKINN launched three new fragrances as a part of the Escapade for men collection. The brand has crafted a digital campaign to promote the new collection along with the idea of the adventure that it imbibes. Elaborating on the insight behind the digital campaign, Walia says “Through the campaign we wanted to capture the true spirit of a wanderer and communicate how the fragrance of SKINN Escapade collection brings the world of an unexplored adventure closer to you. We wanted the audience to go on a journey, from discovering the fragrances amidst the wilderness, to celebrating the journeys on country roads and being free-spirited as the wind. The campaign attempts to capture the essence of the adventurous feeling that the fragrances induce.”

For promoting the new Escapade for men collection, Skinn has collaborated with adventure-loving influencers such as photographer Bobby Joshi, traveller and photographer Siddharth Joshi and biker Sathyaraj for the digital campaign. Elaborating on this association, Walia said, “The idea was to have these explorers share what being outdoors amidst Mother Nature means to them individually. This makes the narrative of the digital campaign very unique, and the storytelling is personal and authentic. It is the vision of the three adventure enthusiasts for whom adventure may have different meanings but the goal remains the same – the adrenaline rush of exploring the unexpected and the joy of being amidst nature. It brings alive the adventure that SKINN Escapade evokes through its fragrance and is an ode to these wanderers.”

The association with adventure enthusiasts is consistent with the brand’s positioning as a fragrance that resonates with the idea of adventure. “We hope this refreshing take on fragrances will provide a captivating experience to our audiences. And as the pandemic continues to limit these tribes to flock together, SKINN Escapade brings the essence of the wild closer to them and at the same time tantalises them to take up that awaited solo journey on their bike,” shared Walia.

Further explaining the development process of the three fragrances, she added, “The collection is crafted by the finest master perfumers and for this range, they were inspired from the moods and personalities of an adventure-seeking man. The three variants of SKINN Escapade are the perfect combination of an adventurous spirit and wild at heart fragrances. Country Road, Forest Rouge, and Mediterranean Grove each variant brings alive the call of wild and tantalizes you to live a life full of curiosity, spontaneity, movement, and surprises.”

Offline vs Online

For a category like perfumes and fragrances, offline and retail plays a big role when it comes to sales.  As consumers prefer to smell a fragrance before buying it, the point of sales experience is also important. Commenting on this Walia said, “Offline channels remain as important as always and are showing a very healthy recovery. With offline stores taking all precautions and giving customers the comfort of safety, the relevance and attraction remain. The comfort of touch and see is best experienced at offline stores.”

On its part, the brand increased its focus on online platforms. Walia says “Perfumes are more habit purchases and deodorants are more utility purchases and we are seeing a healthy month-on-month recovery in the brand. Online channel’s share in our business has increased with many consumers opting to order their favourite fragrance from brand website SKINN.in and other e-com websites.”

Marketing Roadmap For Brand SKINN

Digital has emerged as a preferred marketing medium for most brands during the pandemic including SKINN. Shedding light on the importance of digital Walia said, “We explore different marketing mix and media choices depending on the campaign objective. However, in the current times, we have explored some interesting digital engagement campaigns. Creating a mood with fragrances is very hard to do digitally, but we partnered with our Master Perfumers and created an experience for the consumers, where we got Master Perfumers on Instagram Live to interact with them.  We also sampled SKINN fragrance digitally – where consumers could order a tester of their choice and from the comfort of their home. Our share of Digital marketing is increasing rapidly for us and will continue to grow next year.”

She added, “Brand SKINN stands for providing exceptional products at a great value to customers, we will continue to bring a world-renowned perfuming experience for Indian audiences. Fragrances are finding new meaning post COVID-19 and their relevance will change. We are also looking to explore new olfactive spaces capturing these changing behaviour.”

The brand is also looking at their product portfolio and at serving an audience beyond the metros. Walia said, “We are looking to expand the SKINN portfolio by launching newer collections and fragrances under different olfactive spaces. We want to develop the relevance of fragrances beyond top towns.”