Brands
Secret Temptation revamped; McNROE eyes growth from deodorant segment
MUMBAI: Who doesn’t like to smell amazing and beautiful all the time! While perfumes and deodorants have been available for men for the longest time, it is only recently that Indian brands have begun experimenting with female deodorants and perfumes. The female perfume business has grown at 30 per cent CAGR in the last three years. The industry is seeing an increased demand for deo and perfumes from teenagers, young adults and middle-aged women.
The deodorant and perfume category in India has grown rapidly in the last five years with Vini Cosmetics’ Fogg leading the market with 16 per cent share followed by McNROE which has a share of 14 per cent with Wild Stone and Secret Temptation products in its kitty. It is followed by ITC’s Engage, and Nivea, according to a Nielsen report.
McNROE is the second-biggest deodorant maker in India after Vini Cosmetics. The company has now announced its new brand identity for its female grooming segment, Secret Temptation. The category includes products ranging from perfumes, deodorants, talcum powder and wet wipes for women. The tagline has now been changed to “Own Your Temptation” where the brand now boldly encourages women to pursue their desires with conviction. It also launched a new fragrance to Secret Temptation’s deodorant portfolio called Desire.
The revamp will be promoted through a 360-degree marketing campaign that includes television, digital, print and outdoor. The company has also planned an extensive BTL activity across India which includes mass rallies and multi-city tours. Additionally, Secret Temptation has designed comprehensive digital campaigns to identify and recognise real-time instances of women who have seriously adopted their dreams. The TVC for the campaign is scheduled to launch in the first week of August whereas the digital activity will begin from 15 August.
McNROE MD Narendra Kumar Daga aims to fuel consumer’s desire, increase brand loyalty and acquire new consumer base with the new launch. The renewed brand portfolio includes aesthetically designed deodorant cans of 150 ml configurations which will be available from 19 July 2018 in the Mumbai market. It will be made available across the country by mid-August.
Currently, the brand occupies a 1.6 per cent market share in Maharashtra while Secret Temptation holds 1.3 per cent of market share in Mumbai.
Lately, male grooming has been a growing market in India. While deodorant and fragrances have seen the highest traction, hair grooming solutions are seen as the next most popular category. Widstone has been another star product for McNROE that caters to men and young boys. Wild Stone product portfolio currently includes deodorants, perfumes, after-shave lotions, talcum powders, soaps, shaving creams and shaving brushes. It has grown at 38 per cent since last year and the company is looking at launching new variants in the category. The reception for men’s grooming segment has however been weak in rural due to distribution challenge.
The company currently has 3.4 lakh distributors in India for its deodorant category and wants to increase it to 6 lakh by the end of this financial year. Daga says his focus in the second half of 2018 will on deodorant and perfume category where he wants to launch new products and variants.
The perfume category has become extremely cluttered due to new entrants in the market and international players selling their products at an affordable price for Indians. Daga, however, does not see this as a challenge and rather confidently says, “While everyone is selling fragrances, we try to sell experiences.”
The overall advertising for McNROE is led by television which accounts for 75 per cent of the marketing budget followed by print at 15 per cent and digital by 7 per cent. The company usually advertises its female product Secret Temptation on General Entertainment Channels and Lifestyle channels whereas Wild Stone is advertised on sports, music, movies and news channels.
Being the second largest manufacturer in India, McNROE outsources 70 per cent of its products that fall in the deodorant category and manufactures talcum powder, shaving cream and other non deo products in-house at its Manufacturing unit in Uttarakhand. Daga confirmed that the company is all set to launch its second plant in Haridwar and it should be functional soon.
Deodorants account for 70 per cent of the company’s revenue while non-deo products contribute to a mere 30 per cent. While we see a lot of ads and campaigns for the brand’s perfumes and deodorant category, the company hasn’t really invested any money on promoting talcum powder, shaving products and wet wipes. Daga is of the opinion that he will increase the investment in non-deo products only when the consumption increases as it makes no sense to invest in something which yields low ROI.
While the corporate office in based out of Kolkata, the company boasts of an expansive outreach across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Exports currently account for 4 per cent of its turnover.
Daga believes the brand’s secret mantra has been following the passion for perfume and he encourages everyone to follow their temptation and passion as well. “McNROE came into existence because I didn’t shy away from my love for fragrances. It’s possible to convert ideas to reality if dreams are chased with faith and conviction.”
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
