Launching a fragrance in Europe and in the US: what changes

By Arthur Cukier

Short answer: Europe is a patchwork of countries, perfumery chains and local distributors, so you launch market by market. The US is one large market led by department stores and online, so you launch with fewer partners but much bigger stakes in each one.

Europe: country by country

In Europe, perfume is sold mainly through specialist chains such as Douglas and Nocibé, plus independent perfumeries and travel retail. Each country has its own habits and its own leaders. Most brands work with a distributor in each market who knows the retailers and runs local marketing.

For Borsalino Fragrances, that is how we opened Poland, Romania and Bulgaria with Douglas, Serbia with Lilly Drogerie and Italy with Lively and Estasi. Online partners like MyOrigines then deliver to most of Europe.

The US: doors and storytelling

In the US, prestige fragrance lives in department stores and online. A retailer gives you a number of doors and expects you to bring traffic. Brick-and-mortar still builds the brand. We will not launch online only.

US retailers also like a clear story at the counter. Our collections are built as duos, a men's and a women's fragrance that tell one story together. That is why we launch them side by side.

What stays the same

Everywhere, perfume sells when people smell it. Sampling, testers and well-trained advisors matter more than any ad. And everywhere, the brand DNA must stay the same.

Questions we often hear