Page 21 - EM PERFUMERY EDITION SUPPLEMENT

INTERVIEW

international level means having solid brand awareness,
with positive fall-out on all the markets. Laboratorio
Olfattivo is present in 54 countries in 14 years, and
we have carved out an important space and we are
proud to take Italianness into the world; international
distributors are satisfied with working with us thanks to
the offer that we put at their disposal, to which we have
added the two brands, Lucien Ferrero Maître Parfumeur
RD: As I sometimes do, I will say something which does and Maison Tahité. We are amongst the few companies
not belong to me: ‘There is no favourable wind for a in the sector with a complete offer and diversified
sailor who does not know where he is going.’ Being an creative concepts, with a universe of products that
entrepreneur, means ‘risking’. To transport this risk into ranges from personal perfumes (30) to home fragrances
a sector like ours, where nothing is taken for granted, (18), respectively 60% and 40% of our total turnover.
you have to have a vision. Every day we try to transfer
our project skills and creativity into this aspect of risk. EM: What are the main errors to avoid in the world
The market, which by its very nature is dynamic, not of artistic perfumery?
static, has to be constantly monitored and this is why RD: In part we have already mentioned them: the first
we often have to correct specific objectives. error to avoid is not being coherent, the second, serious
one, not respecting the consumer. In my opinion, you
EM: How is the company structured? first have to start from an idea and then think of the
RD: Our first site is in Palestrina, outside Rome. This is consumer to whom the project in question addresses.
where the operative, commercial, administrative and Starting from the consumer to create a project, we only
productive departments are. It is also where, for more do a marketing operation, which is not very sincere or
than ten years, the digital activity, which has always coherent. Another error not to make concerns the price
been deemed fundamental, has taken place. Production positioning. Especially today it seems almost self-evident
takes place in an area of 900 square metres, with an that a niche perfume, or one of artistic perfumery,
adjacent warehouse; the products in distribution are should be expensive. From the very beginning of our
stored in another warehouse of 400 square metres. In sector, what was meant by niche? A product for few
Turin, we are planning to expand the existing spaces to consumers who loved exclusivity, not necessarily a high
increase the private label activity, as I said earlier. price. This is justified only where there is a set of values,
Our business is divided into two parts: Kaon Lab which the research behind the fragrance and the preciousness
deals with the production of our brands and private of its raw materials, quality in all the components,
label, and a second company which deals with the from the container to the secondary packaging.
brands we distribute. Laboratorio Olfattivo has opened In my opinion, the price attributed must correspond to
three single-brand stores, the first in the centre of Turin, the effective value of the product, without unjustified
the second in Via delle Carrozze in Rome and the third increases. Claudia Stagno
in Via Fiori Chiari in Milan. For the brands we distribute,
we have started a new project opening a first store in
Turin called Perfumology, a showroom of all the brands
in distribution. The website perfumlogy.it is linked to it.
Commercially, in Italy we work with six agents who also
handle other brands.

EM: How important for you is the distribution of
your brands abroad?
RD: The foreign market is a fundamental resource, and
not only for our company. From the financial point of
view, it allows us to optimize the costs of production
thanks to the increase of volumes. Visibility is the
second extremely important aspect. Having visibility at

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