Interview: Aromatherapy Associates prepares for the great reveal - MoodieReport

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Interview: Aromatherapy Associates prepares for the great reveal


Published: 14/10/15

Source: ©The Moodie Report

By Clare Austin, Associate Editor

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"Aromatherapy Associates fills a unique gap, there’s no other brand out there like us at the moment in travel retail"


Muriel Zingraff-Shariff
CEO
Aromatherapy Associates
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Having won success and respect with the in-spa side of the company, Aromatherapy Associates is now seeking to build on its retail division. Former Heathrow Retail Director Muriel Zingraff-Shariff became CEO of Aromatherapy Associates earlier this year and is guiding the company into an ambitious new era of travel retail growth. Clare Austin reports.
Aromatherapy Associates celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and has plans to continue flying high. Founded in 1985 by Geraldine Howard and Sue Beechey, the company is dedicated to exploring the benefits of essential oils through the practice of aromatherapy.

Although aromatherapy has been around for thousands of years, there was a resurgence of interest in the 1970s, with the company founders pivotal to that movement. They both trained under renowned aromatherapist Micheline Arcier, who herself was a student of Marguerite Maury, an Austrian biochemist and skincare pioneer, and Jean Valnet MD, an expert in essential oils.

Thirty years on, Aromatherapy Associates has a presence at over 700 exclusive spas, hotels and retail outlets across 45 countries. The company also has its own dedicated treatment rooms in London’s Knightsbridge area.

At its heart, Aromatherapy Associates is an in-spa brand, built around a firm belief in the beneficial properties of essential oils on both mind and body. Essential oils sourced from a variety of plants and flowers contain molecules small enough to work at a cellular level to therapeutic benefit. Physically this can mean easing aches and pains, improving circulation, helping improve acne and eczema and encouraging cellular renewal to help fight aging.

Our sense of smell is linked to those areas of the brain that control instinct, memory and emotion. As such, the use of aromatherapy products can affect our emotional state, helping to relax, invigorate or calm us and so transform our moods.
Recognised as leaders in the field, Aromatherapy Associates’ products are backed up by years of experience and knowledge. This integrity has won the brand many fans, including the late Princess Diana. Aromatherapy Associates’ product range covers skincare, body care, aromatherapy candles and a travel line. Signature products from the brand include its Bath and Shower Oils, the company’s original product that continues as a best-seller to this day.

As the benefits are unisex, Aromatherapy Associates sells to both men and women. In addition, a male grooming line, The Refinery, combines aromatherapy with specialised skincare for men, including shaving products.

Muriel Zingraff-Shariff is a retail expert with extensive experience in the luxury goods market combined with travel retail experience from her time as Heathrow Airport Retail Director. Her career focus has been on upscaling luxury businesses, including Jimmy Choo. She has also been CEO of Paco Rabanne and a former board director responsible for women’s fashion, shoes, accessories and cosmetics at Harrods.

Joining Heathrow in 2011, Ms Zingraff-Shariff played an important part in the opening, in June 2014, of the retail area at Heathrow Terminal 2. A known supporter of the Trinity principle of enhanced partnership between airports, retailers and brands, she has spoken several times at The Trinity Forum, most recently in September this year where she discussed the future direction of airport retail and its consumer focus in particular.

Aromatherapy Associates supplies the toiletries for British Airways First Class passenger amenity bags. Now, led by Ms Zingraff-Shariff, the company is turning its attention to the well-being of travel retail customers. The Moodie Report caught up with her to find out more.

Out on your feet in Cannes? Help is at hand via Aromatherapy Associates, including men’s grooming brand The Refinery, at the TFWA World Exhibition. Visit the team at 23 Rue Bivouac Napoleon, 3rd Floor (four minutes walk from the Palais des Festivals) where a selection of 15-30 minute treatments will be offered to restore and revive delegates.
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Your previous role as Heathrow Airport Retail Director obviously gives you great insight into how travel retail works. Was that key to your being appointed as CEO of Aromatherapy Associates?
Yes, I think it played a part. The main reason was my experience in upscaling luxury businesses but my travel retail experience was a close second. As was the knowledge I have across many different channels from travel retail to the web. Cosmetics is such a huge category for travel retail so yes, my experience very much helped me to be selected for this role.

What are your priorities in terms of the company’s next stage of evolution?

We very quickly wanted to focus on travel retail and on retail generally. Travel retail is totally new to us. We wanted to have a more balanced split of resources as at the moment, the business is 60% in-spa. This has always been the case; we are a spa brand.
We realise however that brand recognition and reassurance is key for the consumer and so to develop this we need to grow in retail. We are already selling through World Duty Free in London Stansted Airport and we hope to be in two other locations before the end of the year.

We will continue to strengthen our presence in-spa within 5- and 6-star hotels. We have made strong inroads into selective retail in Liberty, Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges and we’ve just opened in Le Bon Marché in Paris. Travel retail is part of that strategy. Our priority going forward is definitely travel retail where we will merchandise Aromatherapy Associates together with The Refinery.

We are really looking forward to being in Cannes as members of the TFWA, and to be able to reveal our plans as a company going into 2016. Through my old contacts, and at the recent Trinity Forum in Hong Kong, I’ve spoken to lots of industry insiders but Cannes is the big reveal for us in terms of travel retail.

Muriel Zingraff-Shariff: “Aromatherapy Associates fills a unique gap, there’s no other brand out there like us at the moment in travel retail”
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You have described travel retail as “the channel of the future for us”. Can you elaborate?
Yes, it is because for us it’s a kind of natural extension. We are already very international, we are in 45 countries and over 700 hotels. We are already really well-known by travellers. There is a good level of brand awareness. Travel retail is a natural next step because of that affinity. It allows us to offer a different channel for making that purchase. A customer may have a treatment in a hotel but might not want to buy the product at the same time. It gives the consumer another avenue through which to purchase our products.

How do you see the current competitive landscape in travel retail?

There are no other international aromatherapy brands. Elemis is a presence is some markets but they are a very different proposal to us. We offer a double proposal: something for the traveller to buy for themselves for their flight, perhaps our Deep Relax/Revive travel retail special. Secondly, as a gifting option. Essential oils are not gender specific and unlike fragrance you don’t need to know what the other person likes. Aromatherapy is more about how they feel or how they want to feel.

Aromatherapy Associates fills a unique gap, there’s no other brand out there like us at the moment in travel retail. We have real recognition of the need for well-being products for passengers.

Aromatherapy meets male grooming in The Refinery range
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Who is your target traveller?
Someone who travels regularly and understands how the benefits of aromatherapy can help you to travel better. Our Founder Geraldine Howard has always developed products based on people’s needs.

How can Aromatherapy Associates enhance the travel experience?

Deep Relax is the top choice, especially for long-haul flights, as it enables your body to relax and decompress. Also Support Breathe which includes the pure essential oils of eucalyptus, peppermint and tea tree which has anti-bacterial properties. Our Roller Ball oils are great for travelling as you can easily roll on wrists or under your nose to keep smelling sweet air when travelling in the stale air of a plane. We are looking at the way we dispense our products – this is how the Roller Balls came about – and we are also thinking about spray sets.

In addition, we will offer ‘flash services’ for our customers, services which can be done quickly using our products, for example, an invigorating, or relaxing, hand massage. This allows us to demonstrate the benefits in an easy way for men and women and it’s not too time-consuming.

What do you think about the airport travel spa experience and how important it is?

Our initial approach is all towards travel retail but I do believe that there is a whole other level that could be developed. We’d be looking to offer a more upmarket experience than that which is currently on offer. We may look into this in the future once we’re more established in the retail sector. It’s not our main priority but something for the future. We certainly know all about spas!

What are your key products for this market? What about travel retail exclusives?

We offer 19 exclusive offers. These include The Refinery Jet Setter Kit, a men’s travel set to take care of skin, shave, moisturise. We will have great commercial offers in our Rose range which is a best-seller worldwide and is popular from Asia to America. We blend it with other essential oils to make interesting combinations. We will be launching a new travel retail presentation for our Bath and Shower Oil selection of ten essential oils. This product allows the consumer to pick and choose and sample the whole range.

Are your products altered to suit different markets – and different consumer profiles – across the world?

We don’t really need to do that because we are already in so many countries, we have many products that are liked universally. Some do work better in certain parts than others and we already know this and we can tell you, for example, exactly what works in Russia. We will adapt the offering to suit the market rather than the products themselves. Our products are highly desirable to many. We have beautiful packaging – we are the Chanel of aromatherapy! We use high-end, frosted glass bottles that you would be very proud to have in your bathroom.

Making a splash: The brand is ready to make a big impact in travel retail, says Ms Zingraff-Shariff
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Tell us about your education mission. Your need to convince consumers that your products don’t just look and smell nice – that they actually offer major benefits. How much of a challenge will this be in the time and space (and sometimes, service) constrained airport environment?
It is very important to us to educate consumers about the benefits of aromatherapy. The full benefits are not always understood. We will be using visual merchandising, with a compact tower showcase to hold our range and exclusives. It will offer explanations and travellers can sample and then make an educated choice. We’re trying to make it very simple. What I find very interesting is that you will be automatically drawn to the essential oil that you need. We have found that again and again in our experience: aromatherapy functions at such a deep level that your body is going to tell you, ‘I like that’, because you need it.

You have your own training school. Tell us about that.

The main one is at our head office in Brentford, where over 500 therapists have been trained to date. We also do on-site training. Training is part of who we are as a brand and educating people on the benefits of aromatherapy is a hugely important part of what we do.

Our therapists live and breathe the brand so we will get feedback from them constantly. Our basic training is a 13-day course followed up with additional training all year round. We will be giving travel retail staff specialised support. Our travel retail offerings will be edited to suit the destination. It’s not just about indulgence, it’s about learning about the benefits of aromatherapy and our products.

What would you say sets Aromatherapy Associates apart from other aromatherapy/spa brands on the global stage?

Our combination of heritage and innovation. In terms of heritage, aromatherapy has been around since Egyptian times. We also demonstrate heritage through our founders. Geraldine has 40 years experience of aromatherapy. In terms of innovation, we evolve aromatherapy to suit the needs of modern life, for example, with our roller ball application.

We work to blend oils that are more modern, not just the traditional blends. We source, buy and blend all our own oils in our laboratory at our head office in Brentford with a team of full-time chemists. We control the quality so closely. Every year you get different qualities depending on the harvest so we may have to buy from different provinces. When we source lavender, as an example, we’re not just looking for the scent, we are looking for the presence of specific molecules. This is very different to the regular high street beauty brands.

On a personal level, what Aromatherapy Associates products are your favourites when you travel?

Deep Relax definitely as you never know when you’re going to need it! Also De-Stress Muscle Oil if physically tired together with De-Stress Mind in case I need to de-clutter my brain. I carry our collection of ten oils so I can use whichever one I need and finally I recommend our Support Breathe range to help prevent catching bugs and to keep refreshed.