The company’s business is divided into three categories: retail, wholesale and franchising.
In 2021, the company expects to have 1,200 franchised stores in France and another 3,250 franchised stores in other European countries. The wholesale operation supplies the franchised shops as well as a network of about 850 corporate-owned stores.
The company’s brand portfolio includes four perfume brands: FCUK, Gaultier, Jean Paul Gaultier and Baby Phat.
The wholesale operation includes these additional brands: Burberry, Hugo Boss, Yves Saint Laurent, Banana Republic and Kenneth Cole.
The company markets its products through catalogues and e-commerce and operates a number of stand-alone retail outlets. The company does not expect to make any significant acquisitions or divestitures in the next five years.
From 2014 to 2021, the company plans to invest approximately $350 million in its existing operations; this will be used primarily for expansion of the retail operation and upgrading the wholesale distribution network.
About five years ago at a dinner with a group of CEOs, and the conversation turned to branding. In those days it was hard to find someone who didn’t believe that branding was the most important thing in business.
So, it was asked to imagine that they were going to buy a perfume company. “Which one?” was asked.
By a show of hands, about half the people at the table chose Calvin Klein. Then it was asked, “Where do you think Calvin Klein will be in 2021?”
One person thought Calvin Klein would be the biggest perfume company in the world. But everyone else thought that although it would remain a major player, its market share would decline as new niche brands emerged and took market share from big companies like Calvin Klein.
What’s interesting is that these predictions were all made by smart people who were good at making money from brands already.
No one could have been more bullish about branding than they were—and yet their predictions (which came true) were all based on the premise that brands go out of fashion and decline as they age.
The conventional wisdom among marketers is exactly the opposite: that brands grow only stronger as they age and that they eventually achieve iconic status; and that anyone who doesn’t continuously regenerate them with a new name.
The perfumes of FCUK is a chain of high-end beauty boutiques in Europe and the United States. It has been named one of the ten most innovative companies in the world by Forbes magazine, and its success has been widely attributed to its exemplary marketing.
The company has never advertised, nor run any kind of promotion.