Getting under the Indian skin

Q&A/ Paul Slavin, brand manager, Clinique

Seven years ago, Estee Lauder-owned skin-care brand Clinique conducted a survey in India and found that the market was still not ripe for a launch.

Last year, it did one again and discovered such enormous awareness and maturity in the Indian market that it decided to go ahead and launch. In fact, in a surprise survey conducted at the Dubai and London airports among returning Indians, it found Clinique was to be the first choice in skin products.

Starting its India operations this month with two stores in Delhi, Paul Slavin, brand manager, Clinique, Middle East, Africa and India, talks to Radhieka Pandeya about the brand's expectations in India.

How many Clinique stores are you planning to open in the first phase?

We are launching Clinique with two stores in Delhi "" one at Debenhams, Ambi Mall in Gurgaon and another in Saket's Select City Walk, where we have partnered with Shopper's Stop. The launch of both these stores depends on the opening of the malls. Within the next six months we will also open in Bangalore and then Mumbai, where we have already identified the location and local partners. Following this, we will roll into other cities.

Our target is to have six-eight stores in India in the next 12 months. We have earmarked millions of dollars as investment in India and in the next three years we hope to be as big here as we are in Dubai, where we currently have 57 counters.

Does this mean you'll launch the entire range in India or will it be a few select products? Where does India figure in Clinique's priority list of emerging markets?

We are coming to India with a select range of 400 products that our studies show will suit the Indian skin the best. However, with our interactive, personal care dispensed through trained consultants, we will further assess the different needs of the Indian skin and may add or subtract some products accordingly.

Frankly, China is number three on our list right now while India is at number eight, but then we launched in China eight years ago so there is a huge headstart. Last month we launched in Brazil and soon we will launch in Pakistan and Egypt, but we believe, India will be by far a much bigger market for us than any of these.

How will Clinique set itself apart from the slew of other international skin-care brands in India as well as its sister brands like MAC, Bobbi Brown and Estee Lauder, of course?

We have a very unique proposition at Clinique, which is also the brand's USP "" allergy-tested and 100 per cent fragrance-free products. Our store consultants will never sell a product to you without allowing you to make an informed choice.

The job of our store consultant is to educate consumers about their skin's needs and problems, and address their intelligence by allowing them to make an informed, unbiased choice. So, through the consultants we want to empower our consumers without forcing them to buy a Clinique product.

A major investment for us has been in training our consultants. For India, in fact, we conducted a special 10-day workshop that we've never done anywhere else. For every dollar invested in above-the-line activities, we spent six times more on the consultant.

Luxury brands are a little vary of coming to India despite the market opportunity, owing to restrictions and duties, which hike the price of products. How will you tackle this?

One of the biggest issues for us is that malls are taking longer to develop than expected, which slows down our launch. Duties are also very high.

But we find that the Indian consumer is very savvy and doesn't mind spending a little more on good quality.

Nevertheless, to ensure Clinique's goal of being a value-for-money brand, we have decided that the price of every product in India will be the dollar to dollar equivalent of the same product in Dubai.

Obviously this means our margins will take a hit but we are certain of making up for that with higher sales.

Moreover, one of the main attractions of the brand will be the personalised skin consultation that every consumer will receive, regardless of which brand she buys eventually.