Burberry launches first fragrance since splitting from Inter Parfum

Fashion house Burberry has launched its first fragrance since taking operations in-house in April, with the unveiling of Brit Rhythm, a dedicated fragrance for men.

The company launched the new line with a fan fair that included a rich multimedia campaign that incorporates twitter and facebook, together with live demonstrations and a range of temporary fragranced tattoos that are also available online.

Burberry says that it is expecting its newly formed fragrance and cosmetics division to significantly boost its overall revenues for 2014, which is expected to be highlighted in the current holiday season quarter, when the vast majority of fragrance sales are usually made.

Burberry gets its teeth into logistics and manufacturing

Burberry had always led on the product design, packaging and marketing activities for its fragrances, but is now overseeing the product development, manufacturing and logistical aspects of putting its portfolio to market.

Last year the company earned approximately £27m from fragrance revenues, but after bringing the range in-house, it is looking to expand the line further and increase its bottom line through production efficiencies.

Back in July, international fragrance player Inter Parfums reported a significant drop in its sales, although this was expected as it is the first quarter that Burberry sales were not included in the results, and sales of other fragrances show strong growth.

Inter Parfums targets new fragrance licenses

The company said that group sales fell by 19.3 per cent, from $145.6m in the corresponding period last year to $117.5m, which was largely on account of lost Burberry sales in the European market.

This figure included discontinued Burberry brand sales of $20.6m, and represented existing sales inventory and some authorized sell-offs of branded finished goods.

But Inter Parfums is fighting back, with the acquisition of a number of new licences, which includes a line of fragrances and beauty products that will be sold under the Alfred Dunhill name and has already upgraded revenue expectations for the full financial year.