Clarins
OVERVIEW
Some people say that French women are born beautiful. Clarins prefers that women, instead, place their faith in its upscale skin care products, makeup, and perfume. The company touts ingredients such as herbal and marine extracts and air-pollution-defying complexes in its products, which are sold through department and specialty stores in Asia, Europe, and the US. The company targets skin-conscious consumers with antiwrinkle and firming creams. Clarins also serves the sweet-smelling fragrance market; its top scents include Angel and Azzaro’s Azzura. Founder Jacques Courtin-Clarins and his family control the company.Clarins sells its products primarily through pharmacies, department stores, and more than 50 of its own beauty treatment salons. The company also makes cosmetics, perfume, and high-fashion clothing. Almost 60% the company’s sales come from its skin care products. Made of all-natural plant extracts and offering anti-aging and anti-pollution properties, the products target a wide range of women — from the mature woman with wrinkles to teen-age girls with acne.The company has enjoyed a distribution deal with Procter & Gamble to distribute Hugo Boss and Giorgio Beverly Hills in US department stores. But with P&G’s acquisition of Wella in late 2003 and growth in its fine fragrance unit, the distribution agreement with Clarins was not renewed in mid-2004.Clarins’ products are sold in more than 150 countries. Nearly two-thirds of the company’s sales come from Europe, with North America accounting for another 25%. The founder’s sons Christian (who is Chairman of the Management Board) and Olivier (a dermatologist who is Managing Director of the Management Board), own two-thirds of the company.In 2003 due to poor financial performance, the company announced plans to terminate its Thierry Mugler fashion division.In 2005 Clarins plans to open more stores in the US — one on Columbus Avenue in New York and another in Short Hills, N.J. While it also focuses on fragrance, Clarins is working on women’s scents for Clarins, Thierry Mugler, and Stella Cadente.
HISTORY
Jacques Courtin-Clarins always wanted to be a doctor, but WWII interrupted his plans. He couldn’t afford medical school after the war, so he decided to become a chiropractor. While giving both chiropractic adjustments and body massages, Courtin-Clarins found that his clients — especially the women — were looking for information about skin care and for natural skin care products. He also noticed that the body massages resulted in better skin tone for his clients. In 1954 he opened his first beauty salon in Neuilly, an upscale neighborhood near Paris.From the beginning, the entrepreneur stressed personalized advice for his clients, and he offered only natural products made from plant extracts. The first products included an aromatic relaxation oil, a skin-toning tonic oil, and a water-retention oil (for cellulite). He soon developed the Paris Method, a manual method of massage — just for the face at first, but later developed for the body in general and the bust — designed to improve circulation, eliminate toxins, and tone the skin.Courtin-Clarins added more products over the years, and began moving the company toward an international presence in 1972 with some exclusive distribution contracts. But it was his son Christian, who joined the family firm in 1974, who made the company an international concern. Clarins led the skin care market in France by 1980, and the company established its first international subsidiary the next year, in the US.Clarins was listed on the Paris Bourse in 1984. The company increased its marketing in the US in 1988, and by 1990 product sales had risen 30% in the US. That year Clarins became the European market leader in skin care products sold in prestige distribution channels.Also in 1990 Clarins began expanding beyond skin care products as it started distributing fragrances such as Azzaro, Montana, and Giorgio through its German and Italian subsidiaries. The company also set up a perfume joint venture: Thierry Mugler Parfums. Clarins launched its first cosmetics products in 1991. The company also introduced an anti-pollution cream that year. By that time, Clarins had distribution centers in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the UK, and the US, and minority stakes in exclusive distributors in other parts of Europe and in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan.Thierry Mugler Parfums introduced its Angel fragrance in 1992. Following its usual strategy, the perfume was made available on a limited basis — just department stores and two Thierry Mugler boutiques in Paris and fewer than 300 stores in the rest of France. The perfume debuted later in the rest of Europe and in the US.Continuing its expansion beyond skin care products, Clarins acquired the Azzaro and Montana perfumes in 1995 (the Montana brand was sold in 2000) and a majority interest in Thierry Mugler Couture in 1997.In 1999 Clarins and Procter & Gamble agreed that Clarins would distribute Hugo Boss and Giorgio Beverly Hills perfumes in department stores beginning in 2000. Christian Courtin became CEO of Clarins in mid-2000. In 2001, the company bought a minority stake in L’Occitane, another French cosmetics company.In 2003 Clarins transferred its Thierry Mugler couture fashions and men’s boutique business to Italian company Tombolini.
OFFICERS
Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Jacques Courtin-Clarins
Chairman of the Management Board, Christian Courtin-Clarins
Managing Director of the Management Board, Olivier Courtin-Clarins
Chief Financial Officer, Pankaj Chandarana
SVP, Marketing, Bradley J. Horowitz
SVP, Sales, Bradley T. Mandler
VP, Finance and Administration, Pierre Milet
VP, Industrial Operations, Lionel de Benetti
VP, Marketing Clarins Fragrance Group, Brad Horowitz
President, Clarins USA, Joseph Horowitz
Chairman of Thierry Mugler Parfums, Vera Strubi
Chairman of the Clarins Brand, Patrick Bizot
Chairman of the Azzaro Brand, Gerard Delcour
President, Group Operations Division, Marc Rosenblum
President, Thierry Mugler Fragrances Division, Benjamin M. Gillikin
SVP, Marketing, Clarins Brand Division, Caroline Pieper-Vogt
Director, Marketing Clarins Fragrance Group, Michele de Bourbon
LOCATION
4, rue Berteaux-Dumas
92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Neuilly-sur-Seine
France