Consulting Perfumer at Ajmal & Sons, a family-owned business with a rich heritage acquired for over 64 years of experience and know-how in the art of perfumery, Abdulla Ajmal is the first of the third generation to carry forward the legacy of perfumery business with sheer determination. He launched the new fragrances in Delhi yesterday at Shoppers Stop, Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj.
Today, the brand has a presence over 45 countries. Talking especially about the market in India, Ajmal said, "When I was researching India, I remember an economist friend of mine saying that if I target India as a whole, I’ll fail. He insisted that I look at it as united states of India because India is so diverse, a place where the recipe of daal changes every 200 km. So, the taste of India is very diverse. While you can sort of pigeonhole certain consumers of certain countries and cultures, India doesn’t fit any. Take for example, north loves rose, they hate jasmine and on the other hand, south loves jasmine and hates rose."
Internationally the taste for fragrances has evolved a lot while in India consumers are still moving away from deodorants towards fine fragrances. Having said that, Ajmal points out how there is an evolving customer base where people are still trying to figure out what their actual taste lies in. Overall, he says it’s safe to say that men prefer fresher fragrances and women like floral.
"For India, our main target audience is between 22-40, being a large population with decent amount of disposable income and with the growing exposure, be it through films or by travelling, they are looking forward to a better life style," he said.
A lot of brands have a certain style of fragrances, the way Ajmal Perfumes had oriental and Arabic style fragrances, however, over time, it is a fragrance house that touches the entire spectrum. Ajmal, himself being a graduate from the Huron University in the United Kingdom in International law, has over time travelled widely and often inspired to create new fragrances.
"Talking specifically about India, I came across Masala Chai, there are fragrances we have created inspired from it, though it wasn’t for commercial use but for my own personal use only. Fortunately, being in the business I’m in, I often get to travel to really nice places and anything from the topography to the food comes as an inspiration," he concludes.