Isaac Lekach, chairman of Gigantic Parfums of the United States, does not believe in the traditional advice peddled by business schools at a steep price to bright-eyed and bushy-tailed entrepreneurs eager to make a success of their budding enterprises.
The 31-year-old chief executive officer, for example, does not have any patience for glossy and detailed feasibility studies that are supposed to indicate a venture’s growth prospects.
He scoffs at focus group discussions so desired by marketing and research companies on grounds that they will lead to the production of “mediocre” goods, and he does not study financial statements and balance sheets as numbers “bore” him.
What Lekach does believe in fervently is gut feel, that unshakable feeling in the pit of his stomach that he is onto something big.
The globetrotting executive says it is because he has learned to listen intently to the musings of the little voice inside his brain that he was able to build Gigantic Parfums into a hip and aggressive perfume company to watch out for in the crowded fragrances sector.
But that gut feel was not developed overnight, and neither was Lekach born with it.
Rather, it was honed through years of working side by side with his father, controversial Wall Street figure Ilia Lekach, who headed fragrance and beauty products maker Parlux Fragrances Inc. before it was eventually sold for $170 million in December 2011 to fragrance distributor and retailer Perfumania Holdings Inc.
The eldest of four boys, born to a Cuban mother and Russian father, once harbored dreams of producing a big Hollywood movie, but he gave up his film and creativity writing studies at the University of Miami to work full-time with his father, whom he described as street-smart and “insanely creative.”
“He had a knack for perfume,” Lekach told the Inquirer during his recent visit to the Philippines.
That knack passed on to the younger Lekach, who said that he has always been fascinated by fragrances.
“For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to smell something. There is something amazing about perfume. It not only makes you smell good, it also triggers a vivid memory,” said Lekach. “I am not really sophisticated about the smell, I just know if it is good or not.”
More importantly, Lekach has a sense of whether a particular scent will sell or resonate with potential buyers.
Lekach was able to prove the viability of that sixth sense when it comes to perfumes at Parlux, where he served as member of the board and an executive in the marketing division from 2004 to 2007.
He was instrumental in identifying the potential for the Guess?, Paris Hilton, and Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier fragrance licenses that turned out to be moneymakers for Parlux.
Lekach brought that intuition with him in his new company, which blazed a trail with the launch in 2010 of the debut fragrance of singer/songwriter Katy Perry called Purr, which drew inspiration from the chart-topping artist’s love for anything feline.
Purr is distributed in the Philippines by Prestige Brands Philippines Inc.
“It takes an average of two years to develop a perfume, especially because Katy was very much involved in the entire process. She really put us to work,” he said.
Lekach said that he started thinking about producing a signature perfume for Katy Perry as early as 2009. She was just starting out then, but the industry already sat up and took notice, especially with the release of her hit “I Kissed a Girl.”
“That song impressed me because it was a bold thing to say. And I really like her, her grace and also how she dressed. Hers was a discernible aesthetic, wildly fun yet sophisticated. I thought all those qualities will make for a great product that will stand out. That magnetism brings everything together, the product and the consumer,” he explained.
And as Lekach always says, so does gut feel.