Clansman Lifestyle

Outstanding Enterprises

2

BRINGING IN THE HIGHLANDS WITH CLANSMAN LIFESTYLE

Introducing a new cultural lifestyle brand into a vastly different demographic can prove to be difficult, as some parts of the culture may get lost in translation when it is being endorsed to another cultural group. Such was the case that Clansman Lifestyle found themselves in, but despite the challenges, they have found success in selling the Scottish lifestyle to customers in Hong Kong.

Founded back in 2020 by husband Derek and wife Evon Wyllie, Clansman Lifestyle, a brand name operates under LOOC Limited. The couple leverages Derek’s retail and distribution background coming from corporations like Adidas and Evon’s legal background in financial institutions founded their base in Hong Kong with Evon as the Chief Executive Officer given her multi-cultural heritage and drive in business. With Hong Kong as their launching pad, the couple is looking at APAC as a growth region with the Greater Bay Area closely on their expansion radar. Currently, Clansman Lifestyle is actively distributing in Hong Kong and Macao. New Yaohan is Clansman Lifestyle’s first working partnership in Macao. Other than physical stores presence, the company’s cross-border e-Commerce platforms also reach out to South East Asia jurisdictions such as Malaysia and Singapore.

By properly mapping out the company’s vision, goals, operation, and branding with strategic planning, corporate training, experiences, and foresight, Clansman Lifestyle distinguished themselves by winning the Natural Lifestyle Award at the 2022 High Flyers Awards presented by Hong Kong Business.

In marriage and in business, the couple found success

Stemming from her stint as a stay-at-home mum, Evon has been fond of incorporating natural products into her daily routine, be it food, drinks, clothes, detergents, or skincare, and this has extended to the products that they offer. With Derek’s Scottish heritage and Evon’s passion for everything Scottish as well as their exposure in the corporate world, the couple were able to form strategic partnerships with local companies as well as recognition by various organisations which have helped them during the establishment phase of Clansman Lifestyle.

One of the strongest partnership the couple has forged was a Hong Kong local logistic company with 200 employees which supports Clansman Lifestyle’s logistic and warehousing needs covering both online and offline businesses, B2B, B2C, import-export operations of the company.

Clansman Lifestyle currently represents 7 Scottish brands exclusively in Hong Kong. In addition, Glencraft Hong Kong, a 177 year Scottish handmade mattress brand with Royal Warrant by the late Queen Elizabeth, is also working closely with Clansman Lifestyle in promoting Scottish cultures in Hong Kong. Clansman Lifestyle products are also on offer at Glencraft’s showrooms in Hong Kong and Macao.

Despite starting at the height of the COVID outbreak, the company was able to respond to market changes quickly and showed flexibility in delivering quality products and services. Throughout the pandemic, Clansman Lifestyle was quick to form strategic partnerships, adapt their operations and flexible in changing their course to survive new market conditions and customer expectations.

PHILOSOPHY

Clansman Lifestyle aims to be a Scottish cultural ambassador, introducing Scottish culture to Hong Kong whilst uncovering and deepening Hong Kong-Scotland relations by highlighting the Scots’ contributions to Hong Kong history and society

FAST FACTS

• From popups to hotel experience retail, Clansman Lifestyle lauded itself as the first retailer who sells food in a washroom (tongue in cheek). Clansman Lifestyle was being selected by Mandarin Oriental again to occupy a whole suite where it presented a list of carefully curated lifestyle and luxury brands to showcase during the exquisite three days event. • Evon Wyllie has been appointed by

Scottish Business Network as their

Ambassador in Hong Kong. The formal announcement would be made in January 2023.

This page: Clansman Lifestyle Homestore in Hong Kong, ANCO Natural Dog Treats’ product

Opposite page: Evon Wyllie, Chief Executive Officer, Clansman Lifestyle

A slice of Caledonia in Hong Kong

Clansman Lifestyle quickly establishes itself as a Scottish cultural ambassador in Hong Kong, unravelling the rich historical history and cultures the Scotts had left behind in Hong Kong during the colonial time highlighting the many establishments such as HSBC and Jardines were established by the Scotts. In fact, many famous road names in Hong Kong such as Lockhart Road, Edinburgh Place, Wylie Road, and Argyle Road all bear Scottish origins.

Scottish culture runs deep in Hong Kong history, as the famous Jardine’s Noonday Gun came from the Scottish business family. Hong Kong has two tartans registered with the Registrar of Tartan of Scotland, with one being for the University of Hong Kong and another one being inspired by Hong Kong’s well-known red, blue, and white tartan pattern.

Besides the heritage factor, Evon markets Clansman Lifestyle with what Scotland currently has to offer, an unpolluted heaven. She emphasises this for the two body care brands she carries (Arran Sense of Scotland and Scottish Fine Soaps) highlighting that unpolluted water sources used for making Scottish whisky are also being used for making skincare products.

Another notable brand which the couple carries is ANCO Natural Dog Treats, a Scottish brand first in the world to offer tree root as dog chew is also currently the biggest natural dog treats company in the United Kingdom. This brand leads the market by offering unadulterated dog treats as well as incorporating superfood ingredients into their products. Products rarely seen in this part of the world would be Camel Tripe, Goat Tripe, Chia Seed Oil, Hemp Oil, coconut oil infused bullychew. With the couple’s love for dogs, Evon next frontier is to turn Hong Kong into a super pet-friendly city.

Clansman Lifestyle’s products have sustainability at their core, given the company’s focus on providing a natural lifestyle, and this complements their initiative to identify products that they will carry as they need to have heritage, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, love for nature, and everything pure and unpolluted.

Challenges and opportunities for Clansman Lifestyle

Some of the challenges that the couple faces in ensuring the success of their company comes from the fast-paced lifestyle and multiple sensory stimulations that urban dwellers are used to, making natural products a hard sell. The company aims to educate the public on slowing down their lifestyles to explore quality products and the benefits of quality products over cheap products filled with undesirable components.

Supporting partners brought in by Evon has offset the high cost of operation for the company in Hong Kong, outsourcing many of their operations such as IT and digital marketing, allowing Clansman Lifestyle to focus their efforts on reaching out to customers.

The couple first started their business with only just two IKEA shelves at Cochrane Street, Central Hong Kong in 2020. The following year, they committed to a month rental of a ground floor shop over the Christmas period to create brand awareness. On their third Christmas, they had been chosen by Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong as a participating merchant for their yearly Luxury Lifestyle Event where Clansman Lifestyle curated a list of other noteworthy brands to retail side by side with them over the three day one-of-a-kind retail experience targeting the upper crust of Hong Kong society. Clansman Lifestyle also operates in various other five-star hotels and clubs in Hong Kong. It has been the company’s philosophy to discourage hard sell culture at retail, instead focusing on offering the public a relaxing shopping experiences.

In the near future, the company aims to create a platform between Scotland and the Far East, building upon their working relationships with Scottish principals to bring into APAC more natural products to meet the demand for pure and unpolluted products as well as lifestyle.