BY MAGDALENA ATENCIO | SCAD M. A . LXFM FINAL PROJECT | WINTER 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Abstract
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Chapter I – Company Research 01 # Saint Laurent Paris About History Morocco Rebranding Jewelry 02 # Current Status Overview Mission Statement Financial Status Future Plans/Growth Distribution Promotion Price Consumers Brand Identity Competitive Landscape SWOT
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Chapter IV – Target Consumer Research 01 # Demographic Segmentation 02 # Geographic Segmentation 03 # Psychographic Segmentation
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Chapter V – Primary Research 01 # In-Store Observations & Mystery Shopping 02 # Saint Laurent Jewelry Wholesale 03 # Target Consumer Interviews 04 # Industry Expert Interview 05 # IMC Plan Focus Group
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23 Chapter II – Industry Research 01 # Luxury Industry Size and Scope Industry Leaders Trends 02 # Luxury Jewelry Industry Size and Scope Industry Leaders Trends 37 Chapter III – Market Research 01 # Fashion Jewelry Market Size and Scope Market Drivers Industry Leaders Future Trends Promotion
Chapter VI - Key Findings & Strategy 01 # Key Findings 02 # Strategy
Chapter VII – Initiatives 01 # People 02 # Product 03 # Position 04 # Price 05 # Placement Visual Merchandising Distribution 06 # Promotion Integrated Marketing Campaign
109 Chapter IX – Financials 01 # Current Sales 02 # Projected Sales 03 # Prof it & Loss 118
Conclusion
120 Works Cited 123
Appendix
ABSTRACT Saint Laurent is a brand that has managed to stay relevant throughout the 21st century. Nevertheless, there are always areas of opportunities that a brand must consider in order to ensure that it will continue to be a highly desirable brand in the future. In-depth research of Saint Laurent and vast knowledge of the jewelry industry indicate that a re-launch of the Saint Laurent jewelry line will help the brand continue to build an innovative future by debuting a stronger product category that preserves the brand’s rich heritage and acts as a revenue driver. Re-launching the Saint Laurent jewelry product category will not only make sure that the brand stays relevant and helps it reach its goal of 2 billion euros in revenue by 2022, but it will also elevate the overall positioning of the
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brand and help it continue to build brand equity. Saint Laurent’s unique DNA comes f rom its distinct history in the world of couture and fashion. This will play a vital role in the relaunch of its jewelry line since it will draw inspiration f rom the brands rich heritage. The relaunch of the category will include a new and improved distribution plan, a f resh merchandising display plan and IMC plan in order to ensure that the initiative is successful. The strategy will be supported by both primary and secondary research and a variety of assets to aid the plan. The overall initiative will ensure healthy growth and relevancy for the company in an industry where brands must adapt and evolve in order to remain signif icant.
CHAPTER 4
COMPANY RESEARCH
01 # SAINT LAURENT PARIS ABOUT
Saint Laurent Paris, previously known as Yves Saint Laurent, is a luxury powerhouse that specializes in men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, small leather goods, jewelry, eyewear and beauty and f ragrance, among others. The brand is headquartered in Paris, France and it forms part of the luxury conglomerate Kering. It is currently under the leadership of Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello and President and CEO, Francesca Bellettini (Kering Reference Document 2018).
HISTORY Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent is considered the founding f igure of modernity in fashion. Saint Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria in 1936 into a prominent family. As a boy, one of his favorite activities included cutting out models f rom his mother’s French magazines and dressing them in his own designs. After school in French Algeria, Saint Laurent continued his studies at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture in Paris which led him to win the International Woolmark Prize at just 18 years of age. He also triumphed over Karl Lagerfeld and managed to get hired at Christian Dior, ultimately becoming head of the house. Nevertheless, his creativity and style were far ahead of his time, many claiming that his collections for Dior were too young for the average customer. Saint Laurent was only 21 at the time, nevertheless he had global exposure and made headlines all around the world (McDowell). Saint Laurent established the renowned Saint Laurent Rive Gauche in 1961 with the help of his lover, Pierre Bergé, who took over the business side of the company. This would mark the f irst time that the designer would be f ree to design with the modernity he felt women should be dressing. In the beginning, his street-style approach was misunderstood by many since at the time couture was still made to be sold and worn by customers, unlike now a days where many designs are only created for the runway show. Saint Laurent and Bergé understood that the only way their company would survive was to be able to sell their pieces. As such, the designer embarked on collections that reflected the needs of the street, a more relaxed approach to individuality, sexual f reedom, self-esteem and female empowerment. The Maison is credited to have been the f irst one to have been at the same time revolutionary and luxury, a combination to which to this day is still the basis of the brand’s DNA (McDowell). Today, Saint Laurent Rive Gauche is known under the new brand name Saint Laurent Paris and it is owned by the luxury conglomerate group Kering. The brand still remains prominent with a leading position in the luxury industry. (History, Kering)
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MOROCCO
Morocco was one of the most important sources of inspiration for the brand when Yves Saint Laurent was still alive. Only f ive years after having founded the brand, Saint Laurent and Bergé traveled for the f irst time to Marrakech. On this f irst trip, it is as if they could already feel the importance of that place to them since they decided to buy a house right away. More and more, the couple began to spend a great deal of time in Morocco, until ultimately, the designer would specif ically spend June and December in the North Af rican country. During these months, he would design for the brand. These collections were dominated by rich color (Yves Saint Laurent - Pierre Bergé, A Moroccan Passion). Saint Laurent comments that “once [he] grew sensitive to light and colors, [he] especially noticed the light on colors … , on every street corner in Marrakech, you encounter astonishingly vivid groups of men and women, which stand out in a blend of pink, blue, green, and purple caftans.” In the 1960’s Morocco became more internationally recognized as one of the most lively and festive country’s in the world. As Saint Laurent and Bergé began to spend more time in Morocco, they started to invest in the country. They acquired a larger house and commissioned the renowned architect Bill Willis to redecorate it. Later, they also acquired the Jardin Majorelle and the adjacent villa in order to save it f rom becoming part of a real-estate development project. The new villa was re-done by Willis as well and turned into a museum of Islamic Art. Today, the Jardin Majorelle and the museum are one of the most visited sites in Morocco with nearly 800,000 visitors a year. They also went on to explore more of the country and ended up acquiring and saving f rom bankruptcy Tangier’s cultural center, the Librairies de Colonnes. In 2001 the couple also formed the Jardin Majorelle Foundation which is now recognized as a public utility. (Yves Saint Laurent - Pierre Bergé, A Moroccan Passion).
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Most recently, in October 2017 the brand opened the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech. It was a project that had been dreamed about for many years by both Saint Laurent and Bergé, although neither of them had the opportunity to see it completed. Although Pierre Bergé was alive for much of the planning of the museum, he died just before it was inaugurated. Before the museum opened its doors, he explained that “when Yves Saint Laurent discovered Marrakech in 1966, it was such a shock that he immediately decided to acquire a house and return on a regular basis. Fifty years later, it is therefore perfectly natural to build a museum there devoted to his work, which owed so much to this country.” As such, the museum is made up of an exhibition space, auditorium and
library (Yves Saint Laurent - Pierre Bergé, A Moroccan Passion). The Yves Saint Laurent museum in Marrakech has a façade made of terracotta bricks that alludes to the texture of fabric and the traditional windowless houses in the city. The base of the structure is made f rom a terrazzo of Moroccan marble and stone. Overall, the building is the perfect mix of style between contemporary and Moroccan. The museum displays a vast array of items that celebrates the life of the designer. These include art, antiques, letters, photographs, accessories and ready-to-wear, among others (Diderich). More importantly, it has a jewelry and accessories cave carefully selected and curated f rom Saint Laurent’s 20,000 piece archive (Fowler).
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REBRANDING
In June 2012, under then newly appointed creative director Hedi Slimane, the brand announced that it would undergo rebranding. During this period, the house c`hanged names f rom Yves Saint Laurent to Saint Laurent Paris and the graphic logo was altered as well. The transformation included dropping the “Yves” f rom the name and changing the original YSL logo designed by painter Adolph Mouron Cassandre in 1961. The rebranding celebrates the very beginning of Saint Laurent by adopting a similar name to the original “Saint Laurent Rive Gauche” and a Helvetica font representative of that revolutionary era. The “retro-branding” that Saint Laurent underwent takes the brand back to its origins but marks the beginning of a new era. Nevertheless, the luxury powerhouse still uses the original logo by Cassandre in a variety of accessories (Chambers).
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JEWELRY Saint Laurent’s passion for jewels were instilled into the company f rom a very early stage. In an interview with the press in 1954, Yves explains that he wanted “to make daring accessories, ‘couture’ jewels that are so much more spiritual than real ones.” Saint Laurent has always considered jewelry an important part of the brand (Roche). The curator of the accessories cave at the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech, Dominique Deroche, who worked with the designer for many years claims that “Saint Laurent liked accessories very much, but he always said they had to be fake, big and fake. He didn’t like to play with real diamonds.” Deroche also explained that “the designer’s taste in jewelry was rarely understated. He put a lot on each look, sometimes he would add two or three necklaces at once, or two or three bracelets” (Fowler) In his jewelry designs, Saint Laurent favored forms and materials f rom nature (brooches in the shape of doves and flowers), and motifs he considered to bring luck, like stars, four-leaf clovers, crosses and hearts among others. He also liked to collaborate in his designs with notable craftsmen and sculptors like Claude Lalanne, Roger Scemama, Paul Caillol and Robert Goosens (Fowler). One of Saint Laurent’s most notable jewelry pieces is an asymmetric heart brooch inlaid with red gemstones. It was 8 cm wide and 12 cm high and was designed in 1962 for YSL by Roger Scemama, a notable fashion jeweler at the time. Even though Yves would not retain the same jewelry collection for more than one season, he kept this brooch. His partner, Pierre Bergé explains that it “was sort of his talisman, and that beyond a simple good luck charm, the jewel became one of the f irst codes of the house of Yves Saint Laurent.” Yves went on to introduce other versions of the piece in future jewelry collections. Today, the heart shaped brooch is exhibited at the Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent in Paris (Roche).
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02 # CURRENT STATUS
MISSION STATEMENT Saint Laurent Paris is a luxury “couture cool” brand living in its epoca, embodying the free spirit of the youth culture while staying true to its heritage and DNA.
OVERVIEW Saint Laurent is headquartered in Paris, France in a newly renovated building in Rue de Bellechasse which it recently inaugurated in January of last year (2019). The brand is under the leadership of Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello and President and CEO, Francesca Bellettini. Its products include a broad range of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, small leather goods, jewelry, eyewear, beauty and f ragrance. The production of their goods is mainly done in Italy and France, where the brand still has original workshops, nevertheless it has worldwide licensing agreements with Saf ilo for eyewear, and L’Oréal for beauty and f ragrance (History, Kering).
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FINANCIAL STATUS Saint Laurent Paris reported revenues of 507 million euros during the brand’s last reported quarter (Q3 2019). The brand continues to prof it f rom steady growth as this is approximately a 22% growth in comparison to last year (2018). This also represents an average 2% larger growth than that of the overall luxury market. The growth was balanced across all distribution channels with a reported 11.4% increase f rom directly operated stores, a 40% increase f rom e-commerce and an 8.2% increase f rom wholesale. Overall 68% of its sales come f rom the brand’s directly operated store network and e-commerce while 32% comes f rom wholesale and licensing royalties (2019 Q3 Revenue Press Release). Last year (2018), the brand reported revenues of 1.7 billion euros and CEO Francesca Bellettini claims that Saint Laurent is on target to reach its goal of 2 billion euros by 2022 and ultimately 3 billion euros in the long term. The brand has multiplied its sales by more than four times since 2010 due to an increase in their DOS network. The projected growth for the brand would allow it to continue to be the second largest brand in the Kering group after Gucci. As the second-largest group in the luxury conglomerate, it accounts for 14% of the sales of the luxury division (Vidalon, Denis). Revenue by product category for the brand was reported as 64% f rom leather goods, 16% f rom ready-to-wear, 12% f rom shoes and 8% as others. Although leather goods accounts for the majority of the revenue, ready-to-wear is predicted to increase to approximately 23% next year, making it the fastest growing category for the brand (Mellery-Pratt). It is unclear how much of Saint Laurent’s revenue comes f rom their existing jewelry line. It has only disclosed that 8% of their revenue comes f rom their sales of “others,” which includes f ragrance, beauty, jewelry, sunglasses, scarves and hats among others (2019 First Half Report).
Breakdown of Revenue by Distribution Channel 68% DOS
68% Wholesale (Including Royalties)
DOS
Whol esale
Breakdown of Revenue by Product ChartCategory Title 8% Other
16% Ready-toWear
64% Leather Goods
12% Shoes
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FUTURE PLANS/GROWTH
The Saint Laurent team led by CEO and President Francesa Bellettini are thoroughly working and implementing a variety of strategies in order to ensure that the brand continues to grow. The strategies in place include the management of major projects for the brand such as renewing the supply chain by increasing the insourcing of product development and production as well as improving distribution both in the directly operated store network and online. Saint Laurent is also profiting from the investment made by Kering to optimize and improve their IT systems and build an in-house e-commerce platform. This strategy stems from the end of the partnership that the luxury conglomerate had with Yoox Net-a-Porter in 2012 (2019 First Half Report). Part of the growth strategy also includes opening more directly operated stores as well as investing in travel retail. The brand currently has 219 directly operated stores and it plans to open 20 more stores on average per year. Last quarter, the brand opened a new flagship store as a new retail format in the former space of Paris
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concept store, Colette. This new space is both a creative and cultural destination where customers can shop men and women’s ready-to-wear, accessories and other staples alongside limited edition collaborations with other brands including furniture, books and vinyl’s, among others. Most importantly it includes a takeaway coffee counter and club that can be transformed into an event space. It is an opportunity for the brand to be more immersive and possibly reach a target that would not necessarily have visited Saint Laurent before. The overall goal of this strategy is to nurture the brand desirability and its wider reach (2019 First Half Report). Future plans for the brand also include leveraging their product categories by further developing their eyewear, silk and jewelry categories in order to rely less on leather goods. The on-going work on leveraging their product categories will ensure that there is balance across their entire product mix. The overall goal is to continue improving in sales density through the expansion of aspirational accessories (2019 First Half Report).
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DISTRIBUTION Saint Laurent has approximately 219 directly operated stores worldwide and as part of their future growth plans, their goal is to open an average of 20 more stores per year. The brand currently has 54 stores in Western Europe, 34 in North America, 32 in Japan and 99 in emerging markets. From these locations, 34% of its revenues come from Western Europe, 29% come from Asia-Pacific, 23% come from North America, 8% come from Japan and 6% come from the rest of the world. Saint Laurent outperformed market trends in North America, and Asia-Pacific accounts for the largest sales within the emerging markets. These numbers are estimated to continue increasing as it is investing heavily in its retail network in order to make its product more available to consumers (2019 First Half Report). As part of the strategy for its directly operated store network the brand has three different retail formats and each one has a curated collection of products that differs depending on the store’s location. Saint Laurent has stores which only offer leather goods and accessories, others with ready-towear, accessories and leather goods, and flagships which combine a little bit of everything and more. Some of the most important flagships for the brand include the Rive Gauche location and the Avenue Montaigne location both in Paris, as well as Beijing, Tokyo, London, Miami, Milan, Singapore and New York. All stores are similarly decorated with black and white marble and mirrored interior. It is inspired by the principles of Union des Artistes Modernes, an Art-Deco movement that was prevalent in France during the first half of the 20th century. A brand representative explains that “the Saint Laurent architectural concept is adaptable and specific to individual spaces and cities� (Howarth). Saint Laurent also has a great wholesale network made up of a variety of top-tier department stores as well as multi-brand boutiques which overall make up for approximately 31% of its revenue. Although the wholesale channel is strategically important for Saint Laurent as it complements its retail model, the brand still has a tight grip on the number of distributors with which it works with in order to maintain quality and exclusivity. Overall, the wholesale network performed the strongest in Western-Europe (2019 First Half Report). Some of its most important wholesale distributors include Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Harrods, Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, Selfridges and La Rinascente among others (Saint Laurent Store Locator).
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PROMOTION
Communications and promotion have played a very important role in the success and growth of Saint Laurent. Luca Solca, the head of luxury goods at Exane BNP Paribas explains that “as a smaller brand, Saint Laurent has to invest a significantly larger portion of its sales in communication to get the same share of voice of larger brands.” The most recent data disclosed by Kering on advertising spending is from 2012 where it explains that Saint Laurent spent 7% of its sales revenue on promotion and in that year, it outspent all of its competitors (Mellery-Pratt). The goal of Saint Laurent includes leveraging their brand territory and its narrative through communications and an image plan in order to sustain brand equity. Their strategy includes a strong and active presence on social media, PR initiatives, heavy influencer marketing, spectacular fashion shows, print media and outdoor visibility (Investor Day Saint Laurent 2017). Since the appointment of Vaccarello as new creative director, Saint Laurent has introduced a new digital strategy and is on track to become the fastest growing brand on Instagram, Weibo and Youtube. Last year the brand had more than 2.9 million fans on Facebook, was one of the most popular brands on Twitter with almost 5.5 million followers and was the fastest growing brand on Instagram (out of all luxury brands) with approximately 4.2 million followers (Kering Reference Document 2018). The brand’s emblematic advertising campaigns are mostly printed in black and white and are produced not just for the release of a new collection, sometimes there are three campaigns for just one collection. Vaccarello explains that this is because “for [him] the image of Saint Laurent is sometimes more important than the collection. It’s not about clothes, it’s more about a mood, an emotion, a way to live, a way to move. Rather than buy that jacket, buy that bag” (Fury). Although Saint Laurent has a current jewelry collection as part of their product mix, the brand has not released a jewelry campaign since 2015. The last jewelry campaign that Saint Laurent promoted was headed by their previous creative director, Hedi Slimane and was titled “Psych Rock.” (Taylor). Current creative director, Anthony Vaccarello has contributed to the brand with his own jewelry designs, but jewelry has not been developed to its full potential (Fury). From observation, past fashion shows and campaigns by the brand under Vaccarello showcase jewelry very minimally. In the last ad campaign of this year, only one or two of the publicized images included jewelry.
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PRICE Saint Laurent’s utilizes luxury pricing for its products and never discounts items sold through its directly operated store network, although they do have several outlet locations. The brand is recognized for offering consumers good value for their money by having classic investment pieces that are timeless and competitively priced when compared with other luxury brands. Mario Ortelli, a senior luxury goods analyst at Bernstein comments that the brand’s “price points are more affordable than comparable brands like Balmain, Givenchy, The Row and Louis Vuitton in ready-to-wear and more affordable in leather goods than the new range of leather bags f rom Louis Vuitton, Valentino and Bottega Veneta” (Mellery Pratt). For both men and women, the prices vary f rom collection to collection, but the following is an overall study of average pricing for the brand. The price for ready-to-wear can range f rom $350 for a t-shirt to $23,000 for tailored sequin jumpsuit. The price for shoes ranges f rom $250 to $3,500, leather goods including handbags range f rom $250 to $7000, silk and hats f rom $295 to $1,500, sunglasses f rom $240 to $865 and jewelry f rom $195 to $2195 (Saint Laurent).
CONSUMERS Saint Laurent is known for being the f irst brand to have been at the same time revolutionary and luxury. To this day, this is still at the basis of the brand’s DNA. Creative director Vaccarello implements these values of youth and the capacity to bring couture to street with a style that is in line with today’s modern times. Although the DNA of the brand remains the same, the brand’s consumer has evolved and become much younger, nevertheless, its values have been very well received by both the historical customer base and the new clients worldwide (Kering Reference Document 2018). During the investor day in 2017, Kering disclosed the demographic breakdown of the brand and revealed that 65% of sales come f rom women between the ages of 18 and 34 and 52% of sales come f rom women between ages 25 and 34. These facts prove that brand opened up to a younger clientele ever since the Slimane era of the brand which Vaccarello now continues. Saint Laurent has a cultlike following of consumers who are attracted to the rock and roll, edgy, street-style and grunge aesthetic that the brand offers. Saint Laurent has created a movement rather than a trend, a devoted “fashion tribe” group of consumers who have a deep connection and following of the brand (Mellery-Pratt).
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BRAND IDENTITY
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
To understand the positioning of Saint Laurent, it is fundamental to study the competitive landscape. This analysis will look at other luxury power houses that compete with the brand in terms of target customer, pricing, style and accessibility. Brands with strong jewelry product categories will also be considered given the scope of the project. An identity prism will also accompany each brand in order to differentiate each company f rom a consumer’s point of view.
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GUCCI
Gucci was founded in Florence, Italy in 1921 and it is one of the leading luxury fashion brands in the word. The brand is owned by Kering and it is the top performing brand in the group with revenues of over 8,000 million euros. In 2015 the brand embarked on a new journey led by new management, President and CEO Marco Bizzarri and Creative Director Alessandro
Michele. The new direction of the brand instilled values of contemporaneity by prioritizing creativity and selfexpression. Gucci’s products represent the pinnacle of Italian craftsmanship. The brand has worldwide operations and a network of 540 directly operated stores (Kering Reference Document 2018).
CHRISTIAN DIOR
Christian Dior was founded in 1946 in Paris, France and it is a luxury goods company owned by LVMH, the world’s largest luxury conglomerate. The company is managed by CEO, Sidney Toledano who has been in this position since 1996 and Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri who was appointed in 2016. With the arrival of Chiuri the brand has continued to grow and
reached revenues of 3,200 million euros last year, a 26% increase f rom the previous year. The success of the brand in the recent years comes f rom the re-working of the house’s codes implementing an easy-to-wear, modern twist and key merchandising and marketing strategies. Dior is estimated to reach 9 billion euros in revenues by 2025 (Guilbault).
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CHANEL
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel founded the Chanel brand in 1910 in Biarritz, France. Today, according to BNP Exane Paribas, Chanel is the most desirable luxury fashion brand in the world. The brand’s success comes f rom category segregation. This strategy involves positioning core-category products at high-end price
ranges (like the iconic quilted bag) and placing other product categories (like f ragrance and cosmetics) at much lower price points to attract target customers. Unlike other luxury brands, Chanel does not sell any of its accessories or ready-to-wear through e-commerce as a “strategic choice” (BOF FAQ’s: Chanel)
LOUIS VUITTON
Louis Vuitton was founded in 1854 by a visionary trunkmaker in Paris, France. Today, it is the one of world’s leading brands in the luxury market, and the largest brand in the biggest luxury conglomerate, LVMH. Although it offers a strong range of products, its bestselling category is leather goods. During the past 160 years of its existence, the company continues to evolve 20 |
and reinvent itself to adapt to the artistic revolutions of each era. The brand has been named the most valuable luxury brand in the world worth an estimated $28 billion. Louis Vuitton has high brand awareness as the LV logo is one of the most recognized worldwide (BOF Louis Vuitton).
BALENCIAGA
Balenciaga is originally a Spanish brand that was founded in the Basque country in 1919 before moving to France and opening a boutique in 1937. The company forms part of the Kering group and in 2018 it was named the fastest growing brand within the luxury conglomerate. Even though the brand
has a deep and compelling history, it is not as wellknown as other luxury brands. The brand is working on maintaining momentum by continuing to feed its product innovation pipeline and create long-standing successes down the road that can anchor consumers (Can Balenciaga Become A Megabrand?).
CELINE
Celine is a luxury goods brand that was founded in Paris, France in 1945. The brand has been owned by luxury conglomerate LVMH since 1996. Celine is currently under the creative direction of Hedi Slimane who was appointed in 2018. Slimane is the former Creative Director of Saint Laurent. The newly appointed
Creative Director rebranded the company and brought with him an army of very loyal “Slimaniacs.� Its product categories include leather goods, ready-to-wear, accessories, shoes, and both fashion and f ine jewelry (A Dark New Dawn at Celine).
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SWOT ANALYSIS
WEAKNESSES STRENGTHS - Unique brand DNA that comes from its rich brand heritage - Cult-following of consumers who are devoted and loyal the brand - Economies of scale achieved by being part of the Kering group
- High dependence on leather goods product category (over half of sales) - Weight of financial investment of DOS (high capex)
- Highly recognizable YSL logo used in shoes and handbags - Multiplied sales more than four times since 2010 and forecasted to continue growing
- Sustainability and the rise of the “no real leather� movement - Luxury market growing in emerging markets - Fashion jewelry industry is forecasted to continue to grow worldwide
- Brand irrelevance in digital age (brand awareness) - Competition of other luxury powerhouses aiming to continue to grow and expand
- E-commerce sales are increasing worldwide
THREATS OPPORTUNITIES
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CHAPTER 2
INDUSTRY RESEARCH
01 # INDUSTRY RESEARCH
LUXURY INDUSTRY
According to the MarketLine Industry Prof ile on Luxury Goods, the luxury industry can be def ined as “the revenues at retail sales value f rom retailers specif ically dealing with luxury jewelry, watches, bags, accessories, apparel, footwear, cosmetics and f ragrances.� This is an important industry which to look at because the Saint Laurent brand forms part of this industry. It is an industry which is focused on products or services that are considered highly exclusive and are not necessarily consumed based on a need, but a desire. The exclusivity of the industry is mainly maintained by high price points and consciously limiting sales volumes and outlets. Therefore, this industry is related to consumers with a high disposable income (Statista Luxury Goods Worldwide).
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SIZE & SCOPE The luxury industry worldwide was worth $318,797 million last year and it is expected to reach $359,382 million by 2023. Although the industry is expected to continue to grow, and it increased by 5% in 2017 following a slight decline the previous year (2018), the performance of the industry is forecasted to decelerate due to an anticipated global economic downturn. The anticipated CAGR for the five-year period 2019 – 2023 is 3.1% (Statista Luxury Goods Worldwide). The industry is made up of five categories which includes leather goods, watches and jewelry, cosmetics and fragrances and fashion and eyewear. The largest segment is fashion and it accounts for 30% of the industry, followed by cosmetics and fragrance and watches and jewelry which each account to approximately 20%, leather goods represents 18% and eyewear 12%. A study of the geographic segmentation of the luxury goods industry worldwide demonstrates that the Americas accounts for the largest revenues with 33% of the industry. The other largest market is Europe with 32.5% of the industry, followed by Asia-Pacific with 28.3% and the rest of the world accounting to 6.2% (MarketLine Industry Profile on Luxury Goods). | 25
INDUSTRY LEADERS The luxury industry is composed of a few key players that compete f iercely between each other. The market is very concentrated, and the top players have a high market share. In order to compete at this level, the players have a variety of different segments. Therefore, the leaders of the industry are mostly conglomerates which own brands in a wide range of categories (MarketLine Industry Prof ile on Luxury Goods). According to Statista, Louis Vuitton is the world’s most valuable luxury brand, followed by Hermes, Gucci and Chanel. The most important luxury conglomerates worldwide include LVMH, Kering, Richemont and Estee Lauder. Given that Louis Vuitton is the world’s most valuable luxury brand and that it is owned by LVMH, this luxury conglomerate is the leader within the luxury goods industry. LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE) was founded in 1987 by the merger of luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton and cognac and champagne producer Moët Hennessy. The company is largely owned by the French Arnault family. In 2018 it made revenues of $52.8 billion and it is estimated to continue to grow at a CAGR of 11%. After LVMH, the second largest group in the industry is Kering with revenues of $15 billion followed by Estee Lauder with $13.7 billion and then Richemont with $12.4 billion in revenues (Statista Luxury Goods Report 2019).
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TRENDS EXPERIENCES Consumers with high disposable incomes in markets that are saturated by material goods are increasingly making lifestyle changes towards their well-being. Therefore, there has been a shift f rom brands to enable a more holistic experience for their consumer that is no longer limited to physical products themselves. These experiences can encompass a vast array of options, f rom hotels and vacations to tailored in-store events, gastronomical offerings and augmented reality applications (Statista Luxury Goods Report 2019). Luxury brands have undergone transformations over the years and are slowly adapting to this trend. They have been accommodating to consumers that are looking for an experience throughout the purchasing path. As a result, one consequence of this shift has been to reinvent stores to create opportunity spaces where the shopping experience becomes secondary and it offers its customers enriching experiences that shape brand perceptions but do not necessarily lead to instantaneous sales. Instead, these experiences lay the foundations for future purchases and customer loyalty. An example of this is Gucci’s new Soho store in New York where the brand’s goal is to bring in Millennial and Gen Z consumers with comfortable sofas, multisensory screening room and AR applications. Fendi has also adapted to this trend in its flagship store in Rome, Italy by offering a small hotel that offers a holistic Fendi-tailored experience to its guests (Statista Luxury Goods Report 2019).
MASS CUSTOMIZATION According to Statista’s Luxury Goods Report of 2019, mass customization can be def ined as “the combination of industrial mass production with certain individuation features that allow consumers to participate in the f inal design of a product by choosing color combinations and/ or materials, usually f rom a modular range of options or by adding bespoke slogan or initials.” Customers are able to partake in this trend by customizing their product of choice either in-store or though web-interface. Some stores are customizing on-location as part of entertainment for the customer or manufacture on demand in a factory (Statista Luxury Goods Report 2019). The industry can prof it f rom this trend because it allows brands to connect and gather information about its customer without signif icantly increasing the cost-base of products. Brands that are already adapting to this trend include Louis Vuitton which allows customers to codesign 26 of their products with colored stripes or initials both in-store and online. Dior also offers customization services on limited-edition products available only in select markets and stores. This encourages customers to spend on unique items while traveling abroad (Statista Luxury Goods Report 2019).
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STREETWEAR
Streetwear or casualness is another trend that has shaped the luxury industry worldwide. Although this has been a trend that has been shaping the fashion industry for decades, it continues because Millennial and Gen Z consumers prefer the f reedom that casual outf its offer them. As such, these generations who grew up wearing hoodies and sneakers are unlikely to give up the acquired relaxed understatement that the streetwear outf its offer them (Statista Luxury Goods Report 2019). This trend can be seen through the cross-pollination of luxury and lifestyle brands through collaboration projects. Mass market brands have worked with star designers to improve their brand image, like Balmain releasing a limited-edition collection with H&M. Nevertheless, the image transfer can also work vice versa where luxury brands infuse themselves with street credibility f rom smaller lifestyle brands, like Supreme collaborating with Louis Vuitton. The effect of these collaborations is positive for luxury brands since they are able to attract younger generations and therefore remain relevant in these casual times (Statista Luxury Goods Report 2019).
BRAND COLLABORATIONS
Given that not all luxury collaborations are with streetwear brands, collaborations between luxury brands is a current industry trend on its own as well. Luxury brands are collaborating to reach new target markets or provide their existing loyal customer base with something new and exciting. Collaborations may also be benef icial for brands because they are able to share both costs and knowledge. More so, they may even help stagnated brands to reinvigorate themselves. Nevertheless, this trend does not come without its drawbacks and brands must choose a partner wisely before the collaboration causes more harm than good by damaging the brand’s luxury image (Grant).
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SUSTAINABILITY
Streetwear or casualness is another trend that has shaped the luxury industry worldwide. Although this has been a trend that has been shaping the fashion industry for decades, it continues because Millennial and Gen Z consumers prefer the f reedom that casual outf its offer them. As such, these generations who grew up wearing hoodies and sneakers are unlikely to give up the acquired relaxed understatement that the streetwear outf its offer them (Statista Luxury Goods Report 2019). This trend can be seen through the crosspollination of luxury and lifestyle brands through collaboration projects. Mass market brands have worked with star designers to improve their brand image, like Balmain releasing a limited-edition collection with H&M. Nevertheless, the image transfer can also work vice versa where luxury brands infuse themselves with street credibility f rom smaller lifestyle brands, like Supreme collaborating with Louis Vuitton. The effect of these collaborations is positive for luxury brands since they are able to attract younger generations and therefore remain relevant in these casual times (Statista Luxury Goods Report 2019).
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01 # LUXURY JEWELRY INDUSTRY
SIZE & SCOPE The global luxury jewelry industry is worth $28,292 billion, and it is forecasted to reach $30,999 billion by 2025 and $645 billion by 2035. Although the global luxury jewelry industry is expected to continue to grow, and it increased by 6.5% in 2017 following a slight decline the previous year, the performance of the industry is forecasted to decelerate in line with the overall luxury market. The anticipated CAGR for the five-year period 2019 to 2023 is 2.4% (Statista Jewelry Market Worldwide). Based on regions, China accounts for the most revenue generated in the industry with a share of $7,362 million, followed by the United Stated with $3,984 million, Germany with $1,732 million, Japan with $1,582 million and India with $1,573 million (Statista Jewelry Market Worldwide). The luxury jewelry industry is divided into five segments which are rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and other. Of these categories, necklaces and rings have the largest market share with 31% of the industry each, followed by earrings with 18%, bracelets with 17% and the other category with 3% (Statista Jewelry Market Worldwide).
Global Luxury Goods Market Segmentation 6.2% ROW
The most used materials in luxury jewelry are gold, diamonds, silver and platinum. The global demand for gold has increased from approximately 3.1 thousand metric tons in 2008 to 4 thousand metric tons by 2018. Even though there are various industries that use gold, the jewelry industry uses about 2.1 metric tons of gold which is a little more than half of all the gold demand in the world. Diamonds are also the most used gemstone in the jewelry industry because of its values of everlasting love and luxury. The industry also uses platinum and silver, but platinum jewelry has become less popular in recent years (Statista Jewelry Market Worldwide).
28.3% Asia-Pacif ic
33% Americas
32.5% Europe
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INDUSTRY LEADERS Within the luxury jewelry industry, there are a few leaders that generate the majority of sales in the group. In order of importance based on largest sales generated is Signet Jewelers, Richemont Group, LVMH and Tiffany and Co. Signet Jewelers produce the majority of their sales in bridal and fashion jewelry, unlike Tiffany and Co. who generates the majority of their sales through their jewelry collections and not their bridal category. Richemont Group is also a very large player because they own Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels and Buccellati while LVMH owns Bulgari and Chaumet (Statista Jewelry Market Worldwide). Signet being the company with the largest share of the industry was founded in 1949. The brand is the world’s largest diamond retailer of diamond jewelry. It operates in the mid-market jewelry segment and owns Zales, Kay Jewelers and Jared. These brands also each have the number one position in the jewelry markets in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom (Statista Jewelry Market Worldwide).The brand made $6,2471 million in revenue last year and is expected to continue to grow very slowly at a CAGR of 0.3% even though it experienced a slight decrease in 2018 (Signet Jewelry Financial Results).
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TRENDS
BRANDED JEWELRY
A very prominent trend in the jewelry market is the rise of branded jewelry. Branded jewelry consists of jewelry designed by renowned brands, as opposed to generic pieces sold by retailers, single-brand enterprises and mom and pop stores. Although unbranded jewelry has always had predominant sales in the market, this is slowly changing. Branded jewelry used to account to only 20% of total jewelry sales worldwide. However, by this year it is estimated that the branded segment will increase and account for 30% to 40% of the entire market (Dauriz, Remy, Tochtermann). The rise in popularity of branded jewelry stems f rom a variety of reasons. A rise in disposable income f rom consumers in emerging markets are shifting to branded jewelry since they tend to prefer established brands. These brands inspire trust in these new customers and also gives them a way to showoff their newly acquired wealth. Young consumers such as Millennials are also turning to branded jewelry as it is a way to show self-expression and self-realization. The increase in branded jewelry in the years to come is likely to stem f rom non-jewelry brands who are strong players in the luxury goods segments. More and more luxury fashion brands like Gucci, Celine and Givenchy among others have expanded into or revived this product category. This is because brand name plays an increasingly important role over the actual jewelry material (Dauriz, Remy, Tochtermann).
JEWELRY FOR MEN
Fashion every day blends the boundaries between genders more and more. This is something that can be seen in the jewelry industry since the market is also expanding for men. Jewelry is no longer considered uniquely a women’s accessory as more and more brands are producing collections specif ically for men, or genderless jewelry (Dauriz, Remy, Tochtermann).
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FASHION VS FINE JEWELRY
Fashion jewelry prices are reaching new all-time high record prices and sometimes surpassing the price of f ine jewelry. As some f ine jewelry is sold at bargain prices, fashion jewelry might be sold for thousands of dollars. The overlap occurs because branded jewelry can hold an incredibly high marked-up price. This is because many luxury powerhouses like Saint Laurent, Gucci and Chanel, among others have strong product categories that command very high prices for the design and the brand name rather than the materials (Dauriz, Remy, Tochtermann).
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DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
Although e-commerce is a distribution channel that is growing signif icantly in all major markets, online jewelry sales are only growing 4% to 5% and is not forecasted to continue increasing much more than that. This is because jewelry can command very high prices, especially f ine and fashion jewelry, therefore consumers rely more on brick-and-mortar when buying expensive jewelry. Brick-and-mortar is seen as more reliable because jewelry is considered a highinvolvement category that is stimulated by a sensory experience. Nevertheless, this trend will not affect lower
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market affordable jewelry where consumers know exactly what to expect. The lower market is expected to grow 10% to 15% this year (2019). Even though e-commerce sales for expensive jewelry will not majorly increase, digital media is still an important platform for this category. Companies can use an online platform to convey information and shape brand identity since two-thirds of luxury customers engage with a brand’s digital platform prior to an in-store purchase (Dauriz, Remy, Tochtermann).
CHAPTER 3
FASHION JEWELRY MARKET RESEARCH
02 # FASHION JEWELRY MARKET
The fashion jewelry market is part of the global luxury jewelry industry. Fashion jewelry is not easily def ined given that is a relatively new market. The term refers to jewelry that is up to date with the latest trends in fashion and made of non-precious stones and metals like copper, brass and bronze. Nevertheless, in some cases fashion jewelry can be plated by precious metals like gold but with an inexpensive metal underneath
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as its base. Although some consumers believe fashion jewelry to be synonymous to costume jewelry because both of these markets work with non-precious metals, costume jewelry typically is more inexpensive than fashion jewelry, and the designs do not always concord with current trends. Nevertheless, there is def initely a gray area between both jewelry markets (Diamond Council, Fashion Jewelry).
Global Luxury Goods Market Segmentation 110
Billion U.S. Dollars
100 80 60 40
52 40
20 0
2018
2023
2035
SIZE & SCOPE
The worldwide fashion jewelry market was worth $40 billion in 2018. It is estimated that the market will reach $52 billion by 2023 and $110 billion by 2035 at a steady CAGR of 6.7% (Statista, Value of Selected Jewelry Markets Worldwide in 2018 with a Forecast for 2023 and 2035). The fashion jewelry market is forecasted to grow at a faster rate than the global luxury jewelry industry which is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 2.4%. The market will continue to grow due to many non-jewelry brands adding and investing into this product category because more and more consumers are buying high-end items for themselves (Dauriz, Remy, Tochtermann). Globally, the largest market for fashion jewelry is China. Last year, the Chinese market was valued at $101.45 million. The second largest market was India valued at $66.87 million, followed by the United States at $52.59 million, then Japan at $9.11 million and Hong Kong at $6.9 million. By 2021, it is forecasted that the market that will grow the most will be India with a 16.42% increase, while all other markets will grow at a slower rate and the U.S. market will decrease by 10.42% (Statista, Largest Fashion Jewelry Markets Worldwide
from 2016 to 2021). Growing population, rising disposable income and improving economic conditions are they key factors that are driving the market growth in China and India (Global Costume Jewelry Market). Female consumers generated the highest revenues last year with more than 64% of the market and they are forecasted to maintain dominance throughout 2035. Nevertheless, the male consumers segment is expected to experience significant growth given the rise in popularity and improvement in men’s jewelry. The male consumers segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.6% throughout 2035 (Global Costume Jewelry Market). The fashion jewelry market is categorized based on type of adornment, these include necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets and cufflinks among others. The necklace category generated the highest revenues last year (2018) and is forecasted to maintain dominance throughout 2035. The dominance of necklaces within the market is largely attributed to the popularity of chain necklaces (Global Costume Jewelry Market).
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MARKET DRIVERS
There are several main factors that are helping drive the fashion jewelry market. The current increase in costs of natural metal ores such as gold, silver and platinum are pushing market share f rom f ine jewelry into fashion jewelry. Using non-precious metals to create fashion jewelry pieces is therefore becoming increasingly popular as many companies in the industry cannot adjust to the increase in the price of metals. The shift of materials in jewelry is also being fueled by increasing awareness for the conservation of limited resources worldwide and therefore being replaced by affordable replicas of precious jewelry pieces (Global Costume Jewelry Market). The growth of online sales throughout all major markets is another trend that helps drive the fashion jewelry market. E-commerce is expected to grow due to a wide increase of mobile users in emerging markets, improving logistics services, easy and trustworthy payment options, and the facility of brands to penetrate international markets. Fashion jewelry will benef it the most out of the entire jewelry industry since products in this market are reasonably priced and the customer generally knows what to expect f rom non-precious metal designs. The Asia-Pacif ic region is expected to be the geographic location with the highest e-commerce sales in fashion jewelry and will ultimately surpass the United States in the forecasted period. Nevertheless, stringent import and trade laws could potentially act as a constraint towards this specif ic market’s growth (Global Costume Jewelry Market).
INDUSTRY LEADERS The global fashion jewelry market is highly f ragmented due to a variety of small and large players. The following is a list of companies which make up for the majority of sales in the market. The list of made up of both jewelry and non-jewelry players due to an increase of non-jewelry players expanding into this product category. Specif ically, high-end fashion brands account for a large percentage of sales within this market because of prof itability of the category and serving as an entry-point to luxury houses.
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TRENDS
PANDORA A/S Pandora A/S is an international Danish company which was founded in 1982 and it is both a jewelry manufacturer and retailer. Pandora is most well-known for its customizable charm bracelets, but it also sells necklaces, earrings, bracelets and watches. The company promotes and sells its products in over 100 countries worldwide and has approximately 7,800 points of sale. After Tiffany & Co. and Cartier, Pandora is the third largest jewelry company in the world. Pandora reported revenues of $22,806 million in 2019 and it is forecasted to continue experiencing slow growth. Almost 90% of the company’s sales come f rom the United States and Europe, it is making efforts to expand and grow sales in China by increasing its points of sale in the region. Pandora is also refocusing its stores in the U.S. after declining sales and therefore moving towards a more experience and discovery-based environment. The company also saw a decrease in sales in 2011 when it shifted into higher-end designs which resulted in alienating their core customer. They then returned to more affordable mass market products and were able to recover their performance (Richards). The Pandora customer is women who are approximately 20 to 50 years old and who are looking for affordable luxury-looking jewelry. The brand’s inviting attitude is very ref reshing for their consumers since the company has brought customers back into the store to browse with the implementation of their new retail formats. Customers normally don’t browse in jewelry stores because it’s too intimidating, but Pandora has changed this attitude for their customers and as a result seen improvement in sales (Caruso).
TIFFANY & CO. Tiffany & Co. is an American luxury jewelry and specialty retailer. The brand is particularly known for its sterling silver jewelry which has been part of the brand ever since it was founded in 1837. Their sterling silver collection features classic and timeless pieces which include their famous motifs such as the heart and lock and logo, among others. All of the designs are available online and the prices range f rom $200 to $4200. Tiffany’s net earnings fell to $78.4 million in the third quarter last year f rom $94.9 million in 2018. The company has had some diff iculties recently as younger consumers were gravitating towards lower-priced competitors. As a result, it has recently made several marketing efforts to reposition their brand and launch specif ic campaigns targeted at millennials because of their struggle with that generation (Tiffany & Co. Sales Take a Hit). The company now targets women as young as 20 years old who have a high aff inity towards fashion and luxury shopping. They made an effort to shift their historic 180-year-old branding message and elitist attitude to attract more Gen Z’s. This strategy included lower cost jewelry by expanding their sterling silver collection and introduce new designs more f requently. They also debuted a collection called “everyday objects” a collection made up of everyday items for everyday use.
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GUCCI
AVON Avon Products Inc. is a direct selling company that sells beauty, accessories, household and personal care products. As part of their accessories they sell fashion jewelry through a global network of 6.4 million representatives. The company became an important jewelry player when it acquired Silpada, a direct to consumer silver jewelry company in 2010 for $650 million. Today, their jewelry product category includes both fashion and f ine jewelry. Fashion jewelry which includes necklaces, rings, earrings and pendants range between $5.99 and $59.99. Although customers are able to shop online f rom the Avon website, the company offers a discount to users who shop through a product representative. Avon has seen decreasing revenues since 2011 and the fashion jewelry product category also reported decreased sales for the company in 2019. The product category made $201.6 millions in sales, a decrease f rom $226.9 million the year before (Avon Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2018 Results). The Avon jewelry target market is older than the rest of the market’s leaders. It is women between the ages of 35 and 45 years old who are conscious of their style and are looking for ways to enhance their look at an affordable price. Nevertheless, Avon is currently trying to position itself to attract younger consumers by recruiting younger sales representatives. Given the low and accessible prices of the brand’s jewelry, the company attracts mainly a middle-class customer.
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Within the fashion jewelry market, Gucci is one of the most important non-jewelry players. The brand which is owned by Kering group reported that 4% of the brand’s revenues come f rom their watches and jewelry line. Gucci re-launched its fashion jewelry line in 2016 under creative director Alessandro Michele. The creative director is credited with breathing new life into the Italian label and propelling the brand’s popularity by designing extravagant jewelry styles infused with house references. Since the relaunch of the product category, Gucci has released several jewelry campaigns. Their most recent campaign is titled “Fortune Teller.” The line features extravagant classic gem-encrusted styles inspired by the designer’s flea market treasures. The collection’s prices range f rom $270 to $4,700. Piero Braga, Gucci’s head of timepieces and jewelry conf irms that the house’s fashion jewelry “today, is very successful and very well received” (Spencer). Gucci’s target market includes men and women between 20 and 50 years old who are attracted to luxury, the brand’s rich Italian heritage and timeless aesthetic. Nevertheless, a lot of the pieces in their fashion jewelry collection are branded with the Gucci logo to attract aspirational consumers at entry-level pricing. Their worldwide recognizable logo makes it appealing to consumers who are looking for status pieces (Demeska).
LOUIS VUITTON Louis Vuitton is also one of the strongest non-jewelry players in the fashion jewelry market. The brand offers both fashion and f ine jewelry although some very high-priced f ine jewelry is not for sale through their e-commerce site. Louis Vuitton being part of the LVMH group does not disclose exactly how much of their revenues comes f rom jewelry, nevertheless the luxury conglomerate as a whole reported a revenue of 3,261 million euros last year f rom watches and jewelry. This represents an 8% growth compared to 2018 (Markl). The brand offers bracelets, cuffs, earrings, pendants and chain necklaces among others and includes their highly distinctive logo in a lot of their designs while promoting layering and mixing the pieces for a more contemporary look. The price of their fashion jewelry ranges f rom $310 to $2,870 (Dayanand). Like Gucci, Louis Vuitton also positions their fashion jewelry towards aspirational consumers who are looking for branded pieces as status symbols. Their f ine jewelry collection is much more exclusive and segmented towards consumers with very high disposable incomes and connoisseur tastes.
CHRISTIAN DIOR Christian Dior, another important brand owned by the LVMH group has included fashion jewelry as part of their product mix almost since it was founded. It has continually prof ited f rom this product category by constantly introducing new designs and collections. Their most recent and successful collection is J’adior, introduced by their Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri in 2017. For this campaign the brand used a variety of celebrity endorsements like Rihanna and Jennifer Lawrence to promote the collection. The designs feature a variety of encrusted pearls, stones and the J’adior motif. It is available both online and in-stores and prices range f rom $240 to $2,250 (Farra). The brand also launched a fashion jewelry line for men last year (2019) which included chunky Cuban link necklaces and rainbow rhinestone pieces, among others. This year, Yoom Ahn, director of jewelry creation for Dior Homme explains that the brand “plans to expand their men’s jewelry collection into a bigger section of their retail spaces and introduce pieces that are not based on trend but which the customers would love to collect and hold on to for years to come” (Spencer). Like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, Dior utilizes their fashion jewelry collection to target a wider audience of aspirational consumers looking for entry-level status symbols. Their f ine jewelry collection is targeted to a narrower group of consumers with extensive disposable incomes and different needs and desires.
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CHANEL
Chanel has featured fashion jewelry as part of their product mix since the beginning of the brand. The brand actively promotes their jewelry collections with both campaigns and strong influencer marketing. Chanel’s designs are classic and mostly adorned with pearls and or their famous double C logo. A lot of the techniques that the fashion house applies in their clothing is mimicked in their jewelry, such as tweed, pearls and chain links. Their fashion jewelry collection is mostly shoppable online although some pieces are only available “upon request.” The price for their shoppable pieces ranges f rom $500 to $2,800. Although the brand chooses to promote their f ine jewelry category more as opposed to their fashion jewelry, the fashion jewelry is emblematic for the brand, specif ically the branded pieces (Jones). Unlike Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Dior, Chanel’s fashion jewelry it not necessarily positioned to attract aspirational consumers given that it is still very high priced compared to its competitors. Nevertheless, it is still very popular and successful for the brand given that it has been an important product category ever since the company was founded.
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FUTURE TRENDS
SILVER OVER GOLD In the upcoming year (2021), it is expected that silver will replace gold as the must-have color of metal in jewelry. After many seasons in which gold dominated the market, silver is anticipated to have its moment in the near future. High-shining polished silver surfaces will be the key, although the trend will also merge with the development of futuristic looking surfaces in jewelry (Collins, Correa, Saldana).
REPURPOSED WASTE
Sustainability being so popular season after season has developed the trend of using repurposed waste in jewelry designs. As more and more consumers become increasingly concerned with the excess waste caused by the fashion industry, the jewelry industry will explore creative ways of using their discarded waste. Waste items that will be repurposed include vintage chains, beads, crushed stones, resins, cords, fabric and leather materials. The one-of-a-kind designs will celebrate the unique and imperfect nature of its materials. It promotes the elevation of humble materials into highly desirable pieces (Collins, Correa, Saldana).
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CABOCHON STONES Cabochon stone settings were thought to be a vintage trend, nevertheless they are coming back to update fashion jewelry collections. A wide variety of stones in all different kinds of colors will be set as cabochons in the near future. The wellness movement has propelled this trend as more stones are being used for their spiritual and healing qualities. The trend will be featured in jewelry designs in a range of scales, stones and colors (Collins, Correa, Saldana).
NATURAL TEXTURES The natural textures trend refers to jewelry referencing nature in explicit ways with a focus on surface texture. The texture of jewelry will mimic that of natural forms by recreating objects as they are found in nature. The materials that will mostly be used for this trend include wood and metal with a specif ic focus on brown tones, a color that is trending within the fashion industry as well. The trend is sustainable because it promotes the use of untreated materials or the encapsulation of natural elements within the design as a reference to preservation (Collins, Correa, Saldana).
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PROMOTION The fashion jewelry market is being promoted more and more to the Millennial generation. Within the jewelry market, millennials do not identify with high-end occasion, classic or museum like pieces that previous generations liked. This generation is known to dress up less for both work and going out. Jewelry is slowly adapting to these trends by creating designs that can be used at any time, and not just bought as the occasional milestone gift (Dauriz, Remy, Tochtermann). Established luxury jewelry brands are trying to adapt and promote to the millennial consumer by introducing fashion jewelry pieces that are in line with these current trends. They are also giving consumers the opportunity to personalize their jewelry as a way to make each piece unique and allow each individual to express their own personal style. Fashion jewelry completes a full-look at entry-level pricing and therefore serves as a gateway to the wider luxury industry. Karina Zlotkovska, a beauty and fashion analyst at Euromonitor explains that this market “is also appealing to younger demographics around the world who are looking to buy jewelry more often and on trend and wear it with other pieces as means of expression� (Spencer).
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CHAPTER 4
TARGET CONSUMER RESEARCH
The target consumer for the jewelry relaunch of Saint Laurent is wider than the brand’s current target consumers. It is important to understand the target consumer of the brand f irst, before it is possible to widen the audience for the new target market of Saint Laurent jewelry. Ever since the rebranding of the company, Saint Laurent has both attracted and targeted a younger consumer. These are both men and women between the ages of 20 to 40 years old. This group is made up of affluent Millennials and some Generation Z that are either self-made or dependent on their family’s wealth. These are consumers that are fashion conscious, independent and strong minded. Their high disposable incomes allow them to enjoy a life of luxury shopping and leisure. They can identify themselves with the Saint Laurent brand because of their self-conf idence and fashion forward style (Mellery-Pratt). Given this information, the following research will reveal the wider market that Saint Laurent will target for the relaunch of their jewelry product category.
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01 # DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
For the relaunch of Saint Laurent jewelry the target consumers range between 20 to 40 years of age. This age range is in its majority made up of Millennials since they are currently between 25 and 40 years old, and some Generation Z which are those between 20 and 24 years old. Given that fashion jewelry can have a variety of pricing, and the product category can serve as an entry-point to the luxury brand, the entirety of the audience does not need to have a high disposable income. Therefore, the target consumer for Saint Laurent’s fashion jewelry will have a net-worth of $150,000 to 30 million USD. According to the wealth spectrum, consumers with this net worth can either be upper-middle class, high earning, not rich yet (HENRY), affluent, high net-worth (HNW) or ultra high net-worth (UHNW). Consumers who are upper middle class have a net worth of at least $150,000, HENRY’s have a net-worth between $200,000 and $500,000, affluent consumers have a net-worth
between $500,000 and one million USD, HNW individuals have a net-worth between one million and f ive million USD, and UHNW individuals have a net-worth between f ive million USD and 30 million USD (Hayes). 52% of Millennials attribute their wealth to employment wages, therefore the net-worth of the specif ied target consumers can also be either be self-made or inherited family wealth (Winning Affluent Millennials). Consumers within the several identif ied wealth spectrum categories are also individuals with high levels of education with at minimum a bachelor’s degree and possibly Master’s or MBA programs. While a lot of Millennials pursue careers in tech, marketing and business, among others, there are also a lot of Millennial entrepreneurs. Individuals f rom this generation are starting their own businesses at a younger age than any other generation (average 27 years) (Alton). They also have a high aff inity towards fashion and luxury as a mean of self-expression.
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02 # GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
Even though the relaunch of Saint Laurent jewelry will be a global initiative that aims to target consumers f rom all around the world. It is important to identify key geographic locations in which to focus marketing efforts in order to know where the strategy will have the most impact. The geographic segmentation of target consumers will focus on countries which have the most Millennials which are HNW and the largest markets for fashion jewelry because the initiative also targets upper middle class consumers. According to a report on UHNW Millennials by Wealth-X, the United States is the country with the most Millennial millionaires, and there are approximately 618,000 individuals. 93% of these millionaires have a net-worth between one million and 2.5 million USD, therefore they are considered to be HNW. It is forecasted that this group will be f ive times wealthier in the next decade than they are now (Raimode). The other three countries with the most HNW Millennials are China, the United Kingdom and
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India (UHNW Millennials: A Growing Generation of Wealth). As previously mentioned, the largest markets for fashion jewelry worldwide are China, India, the United States and Japan. The market that will experience the most growth will be India with an increase of 16.42% by next year (2021) (Global Costume Jewelry Market). Although all of the above-mentioned countries will be key to making sure that the relaunch is successful, it is also important to acknowledge the areas where most of Saint Laurent’s revenues come f rom. These areas in order of importance are Western Europe, North America, Asia Pacif ic and Japan (Investor Day Saint Laurent). Therefore, it will be crucial for Saint Laurent to focus its efforts specif ically in China, North America and Japan as these as these are currently the most important areas for the brand and the areas which will experience the most growth within the fashion jewelry market.
03 # PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
The target consumer for the relaunch of Saint Laurent jewelry is an individual who f inds greater value in experiences, lifestyle enhancement, positive impact and social media currency. Even though the target consumer prefers an experience over a physical product, they are still willing to spend money on luxury items if the brand aligns with their lifestyle. Therefore, they are more likely to follow through on a purchase if they feel a strong emotional connection with a brand that shows both environmental and corporate responsibility (Reaching Affluent Millennials). The individual also strives to be accomplished because that is what success means to them. Their happiness comes f rom making an impact on society, rather than just making money (How Does YSL Attract Millennials). The Saint Laurent target consumer is also an individual who lives in an urban city and is up to date on all the current trends and with what is going on around them, not just on where they live, but on a global level. Their strong global outlook drives them to be an early adaptor and a brand ambassador. They are opinion leaders and all of their f riends look to them for lifestyle and fashion inspiration (Which Brands Are Reaching Luxury Milennial Shoppers). The consumer is able to trade up in order to buy high end products or experiences that they feel aligned with or trade down in order to compensate for the splurge. Therefore, their lifestyle is a mix and balance between luxury and bargain. They also choose to trade up when buying jewelry that is multi-functional so that they can wear it to the off ice, a party or to dinner. The individual may also shop at Trader Joes but goes out to expensive trendy restaurants and bars once in a while. Although they identify with luxury brands, they like to style their designer shoes or top with Zara jeans. Most importantly, they are educated and cultured and therefore recognize the value of living a balanced and self-gratifying life (Faw). These consumers are also tech-savvy and are very comfortable with technology. 90% of Millennials own a smartphone, 86% engage in some type of social media and 59% are active Instagram users. (Vogels). The Saint Laurent jewelry consumer likes to have an active Instagram page to share their family, busy social calendar and luxury experiences. They also use the platform to learn about new places they want to travel to, future events, the chic new bar downtown or the season’s latest fashion trends.
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CHAPTER 5
PRIMARY RESEARCH
The following primary research was conducted in order to answer the questions which the secondary research did not succeed to respond. The research includes several target consumer interviews, in-store observations both for Saint Laurent and competitor brands, a mystery shopping investigation, an industry expert interview and a focus group. The goals for the research were to uncover the behavior of jewelry within the Saint Laurent brand, the level of awareness related to Saint Laurent jewelry, visual merchandising techniques, the wholesale distribution of the product category, jewelry buying behaviors of target consumers and the benefits of a luxury brand having a strong jewelry product category.
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01 # IN-STORE OBSERVATIONS & MYSTERY SHOPPING SAINT LAURENT BAL HARBOUR Time and Place: I visited the Saint Laurent directly operated store located in Bal Harbour, Florida on Sunday, January 5, 2020 at 5:00 pm.
and it had mostly shoes and ready-to-wear, and only one quarter of a total of three display cases showcased jewelry for men. The rest of the enclosed glass display space was used for small leather goods.
Limitations: Although the store was visited on an late Sunday afternoon which is a somewhat busy time for the mall, and at a date where there are still a lot of tourists in Miami, the location did not have a lot of visitors at the time that I made my observations and inquires.
The jewelry pieces on display both in the women’s and men’s section was in the case closest to the door, therefore it is the f irst case that customers encounter upon entering the store. All of the jewelry is laid out on a variety of different size black and gold backings. There is no volume to the displays as all pieces are laid out flat on their backs. Even though the jewelry can be found towards the f ront of the store, the very limited collection and lack of volume in the visual merchandising does not attract viewers easily. While inside the store, a very attentive sales associated asked me if I wanted to try any of the pieces and informed me that they had more in the back as well. They also conf irmed that their most popular pieces were branded with the YSL logo. In the men’s section the associate also informed me that men are coming into the store more and more interested in the jewelry product category and that some women buy f rom the men’s collection as well. While in the store, I did not observe any customers either inquiring, trying on, or admiring either of the jewelry collections. The women’s jewelry display lacked attention given that it looked like somewone had tried on jewelry recently and the items were not perfectly placed back. Overall, both the men and women’s stores are decent sized locations that could have had a larger selection of jewelry on display given that the collection has over one hundred pieces.
Findings: The Saint Laurent store is located in Bal Harbour Shops, a mall in Bal Harbour, Florida. It is an outdoor mall which houses a variety of luxury brands both direct and indirect competition for Saint Laurent. This location is quite unique because the women’s store is located on the f irst floor and the men’s on the second, nevertheless, although both locations can be entered through each floor’s storef ront, there is also an internal staircase which connects both locations. I entered through the women’s storef ront and the large floor to ceiling windows allow passersby’s to notice a big selection of leather goods and a variety of display cases in the middle of the store. The façade was done in the typical white marble with a gold Saint Laurent logo placed on the top and two smaller YSL emblems on each side. The store had a very large selection of leather goods, shoes and ready-to-wear and a small selection of jewelry. Out of 3 display cases, only half of one case was used for women’s jewelry. On the second floor, the men’s store was somewhat smaller,
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SAINT LAURENT PALM BEACH Time and Place: I visited the Saint Laurent directly operated store in Palm Beach, Florida on Friday, January 24, 2020 at 2:30 pm. Limitations: The store was visited on an early Friday afternoon and although it was during Palm Beach’s high season, the location did not have a lot of visitors at the time that I made my observations and inquires. Findings: The Saint Laurent store is located in The Royal Poinciana Plaza which is an outdoor shopping mall in Palm Beach. The majority of the mall’s visitors arrive by car since it is located in an area where visitors must know beforehand about the shopping center’s existence as there are no important pedestrian streets nearby. The store is greatly positioned as it is situated in one of the corners of the mall and can be seen by cars passing by. The outside of the store is painted white to go with the rest of the mall’s aesthetics, with its typical black logo and YSL insignia on the other side. Looking in, visitors can notice the usual black and white marble décor, a big selection of leather goods and some readyto-wear items. The product mix in the store is not very large due to the store not being very big, it had mostly leather goods, some shoes and ready-to-wear, eyewear and only a small selection of jewelry. The jewelry was displayed in one of two enclosed glass displays. The selection they had on view was only f rom the women’s collection and it showed a total of nine pieces, out of which four were earrings, two necklaces and three bracelets. All of the pieces were laid out on a variety of different sized black and gold backings. The rest of the enclosed glass displays were f illed with other small leather good items such as wallets, pouches and card cases among others.
approached me to see if I needed any help. I explained that I was looking for a present for my sister and that I wanted to know what their most popular jewelry item was because I didn’t really know what to get her. The associate told me that all of their YSL branded earrings were the most popular, but that a necklace was also a great idea because it could be layered with other pieces. She also told me that she had more items in the back if I wanted to pick f rom a wider selection. When I was brought the other jewelry items that were in the stock room, they were showed to me in a black velvet tray. The bigger selection included more earrings, necklaces and bracelets as well as two rings. I also inquired about men’s jewelry with the excuse that I knew some designs are worn by both genders. She explained that at that location they did not have any jewelry for men but that I could try either online or at the Bal Harbour or Design District locations in Miami. Overall, the sales associate recommended earrings as that was their most popular item, nevertheless, she also suggested a necklace. In doing so, she not only offered her most popular item as a safe choice, but also encouraged a necklace which is a much higher ticket item. While the earrings sell for $395 the necklace costs $1,195. She also reinforced that the most popular items are all branded with the original YSL logo and it is something that consumers are readily buying. When I asked about men’s jewelry, she also conf irmed that even though the pieces are made for men, many women buy the pieces f rom that collection as well. Additionally, while I was in the store there were only two other female consumers browsing the location and both specif ically asked for handbags. I did not get to experience any customer either looking or asking about jewelry. Although the location is small, the jewelry collection is very limited and not easy to see at it was not given enough space in the display for the collection to be really admired.
As I stared at the jewelry a well-dressed sales associate
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02 # COMPETITOR BRANDS
Time and Place: The in-store observations of the three stores were all done on Sunday, January 5, 2020 at around 4:00pm. Objective: The objective was to identify the visual merchandising techniques that each brand utilizes to display their jewelry. Limitations: All of the in-store observations of the competitor brands were completed swiftly and with not as much attention to detail as the Saint Laurent stores. Additionally, Dior does not have a directly operated store at the Bal Harbour mall, they only have a storefront inside Saks Fifth Avenue.
TIFFANY & CO. The Tiffany’s location in Bal Harbour Shops is somewhat outdated. Walking into the store, it felt as if it had not been renovated ever since the store opened at the mall many years ago. The ambience is dark, and the store does not have a lot of natural lighting. The silver jewelry section is located towards the middle of the store and it is showcased in rectangular shaped enclosed glass displays. Depending on the product, whether it’s a pair of earrings, a necklace or bracelet, each piece is supported by gray velvet jewelry displays in a variety of different sizes. To look at the jewelry one
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must look down and ask for help to try on a piece. The sales associates were very welcoming and attentive and asked if I was shopping for myself or looking for a gift and if I wanted any help. There is no visual merchandising distinction between the displays for the brand’s fine jewelry and silver jewelry. All the rectangular shaped enclosed glass displays looked the same. For reference purposes, please refer to the image to get an overview of what an average Tiffany’s store looks like on the inside, however it is not the Bal Harbour location.
CHRISTIAN DIOR
GUCCI
The Gucci location at Bal Harbour shops is quite exquisite. It is located on the second floor of the mall and it is rather large given that it is located inside a mall. Upon entering the store, I was greeted by a sales associate and asked if I was looking for anything in particular. While browsing for jewelry I found it towards the side of the store, next to the handbags section and showcased as well in a rectangular enclosed glass display. Nevertheless, Gucci utilizes more eye-catching techniques to display their jewelry. They use a variety of vivid colored velvet cushions and displays to present the collection. Like Tiffany’s, I had to ask for help to try on a piece and look down in order to admire the collection. Half of the enclosed glass display was dedicated to jewelry and the other half to small leather goods. A customer visiting the store not specifically looking for jewelry might not have noticed the collection, given that it was very limited. For reference purposes, please see image of Gucci’s typical jewelry display, however it is not the Bal Harbour location.
There is no directly operated Christian Dior store at the Bal Harbour Shops mall, nevertheless, they have a storefront inside of Saks Fifth Avenue. The storefront only offered accessories which included a selection of handbags, small leather goods, belts, eyewear and jewelry. Like all the other stores, I was greeted upon entering the brand’s space and asked if I needed any help. The jewelry was easy to find because the dedicated space is not very large. The jewelry was displayed in a rectangular enclosed glass display, and like Gucci, shared half the space with small leather goods. The collection was presented in a variety of different sized gray suede displays and there was a selection of a few necklaces and bracelets, but mostly earrings. For reference purposes, please see image of Dior’s visual merchandising display for jewelry, however it is not the storefront location at Bal Harbour.
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03 # SAINT LAURENT JEWELRY WHOLESALE Time and Place: The following data was collected over the internet and phone (when applicable) through a two-day time span. Objective: The objective is to identify the wholesale distribution network for Saint Laurent jewelry on a global level. Limitations: It is not guaranteed that all websites are up to date with the most current information and that all sales associates that provided information over the phone disclosed accurate data.
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Saint Laurent Global Jewelry Wholesale Brick-and-Mortar Sells Through Locations with Saint Brick-and-Mortar Laurent Jewelry Toronto, New York, Mexico City Yes
Sells Womens Mens Through EJewelry Jewelry Commerce
Retailer Name
Company Base
Saks Fifth Avenue
USA
Yes
Yes
No
Neiman Marcus
USA
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Bergdorf Goodman
USA
Yes
Yes
Yes
No No
Bloomingdales
USA
Yes
No Costa Mesa, New York, Dubai
Yes
No
Nordstrom
USA
Yes
New York, Vancouver
Yes
Yes
No
Net-a-Porter
USA
No
N/A
Yes
Yes
Yes
Orchard Mile
USA
No
N/A
Yes
Yes
No*
FWRD
USA
No
N/A
Yes
Yes
No
Holt Renfrew
Canada
Yes
Toronto
Yes
Yes
No
Ssense
Canada
Yes
N/A
Yes
Yes
Yes
Galleries Lafayette
France
Yes
Nice, Paris, Beijing
Yes
No
No
Printemps
France
Yes
Paris, Louvre,
No
No
No
La Rinascente
Italy
Yes
Milan, Rome
No
No
No
Oberpollinger
Germany
Yes
Munich
No
No
No
Kaufhaus des Westens
Germany
Yes
Berlin
No
No
No
Harrods
England
Yes
London
Yes
No
No
Selfridge's
England
Yes
London
Yes
Yes
No
MatchesFashion
England
No
N/A
Yes
No
No*
Farfetch
England
No
N/A
Yes
Yes
Yes
My Theresa
England
No
N/A
Yes
Yes
No
Harvey Nichols
England
Yes
London, Dubai
Yes
No
No
Tsum
Russia
Yes
Moscow
No
No
No
1F SKP
China
Yes
Beijing
No
No
No
Intime
China
Yes
Hefei
No
No
No
David Jones
Australia
Yes
Sydney, Melbourne
Yes
No
No
EmQuartier
Thailand
Yes
Bangkok
No
No
No
*company does not sell men’s fashion or accessories *Company does not sell men's fashion or accessories
Saint Laurent jewelry is sold through 27 retailers worldwide. In USA the majority of retailers sell Saint Laurent jewelry through e-commerce as opposed to brick-and-mortar. The only retailers that sell jewelry in some of their brickand-mortar stores are Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom’s in New York and Bloomingdales in Costa Mesa. Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman’s do not sell the Saint Laurent jewelry collection in any of their brick-and-mortar locations. Canada has two retailers that sell Saint Laurent jewelry both through brick-and-mortar and e-commerce. In Europe, Saint Laurent jewelry can be found more through brick-and-mortar than e-commerce. Out of all European countries, England is the only country where Saint Laurent
jewelry is sold online through more than one e-commerce platform (it is sold through three different online sites). In Asia and Australia Saint Laurent jewelry is only sold through brick-andmortar and is not available through e-commerce. Out of 27 retailers, there are only three companies that sell men’s Saint Laurent jewelry online and these are Net-a-Porter, FarFetch and Ssense.
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04 # TARGET CONSUMER INTERVIEWS
These interviews were all answered by Saint Laurent target consumers ranging between 21 and 40 years old. The objective of the interviews was to understand the level of brand awareness related to the Saint Laurent brand and its existing jewelry collection. An additional goal was to also uncover any jewelry related preferences.
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EMILIANA SIMON SCAD FASHION MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT STUDENT (APPENDIX A)
Time and Place: Emiliana Simon was interviewed in person on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 at 6:30pm in Savannah, Georgia. Limitations: Emiliana Simon’s luxury spending is prioritized on shoes and handbags over jewelry, she also has limited income given that she is still a student at university. Findings: Emiliana Simon is a 21 year old Saint Laurent target consumer who comes f rom a wealthy family. Even though she is on a student budget at SCAD, she is able to engage in luxury shopping when she is with her family. One of her favorite brands is Saint Laurent as well as “old” Celine, Alexander Wang, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Proenza and Loewe (but only their ready-to-wear). Although she would like to buy ready-to-wear items f rom her favorite brands, she cannot really afford them at the moment and therefore almost always buys only shoes and handbags f rom luxury brands. Emiliana uses jewelry on a daily basis and does not change it often. She likes pieces that she can layer and that are multi-functional, meaning that she can wear to class or to a party. She is looking for quality and aesthetics when she goes to buy jewelry and overall, she owns more f ine than fashion pieces. She only considers buying fashion jewelry if she likes a piece that is trendy and knows that the style
will not be in fashion for a long time. She owns jewelry f rom Cartier and Dior which were both given to her as presents. From the brands she mentioned she favors she believes that only Celine sells fashion jewelry as part of their product mix but is not sure about the others. She mentioned that she knows more about the aesthetics and design of the jewelry f rom Celine, and that she is not very sure if Saint Laurent has a jewelry collection. Even though she is not aware of Saint Laurent’s jewelry collection, she was able to speak about the brand as a whole. She favors Saint Laurent because it is edgy, rock-and-roll, high end and they have an overall brand cohesiveness that allows her to recognize when a product is made by the brand. She likes the brand’s shoes because she feels that they are very comfortable, and their readyto-wear collection is young but still elegant enough so that anyone can wear it. Emiliana does not feel the brand is doing anything wrong but does think that they could improve on their visual merchandising and product mix balance. She specif ically commented that a lot of stores give leather goods too much space and that ready-towear is just placed in the back and not given enough attention or importance. Even though one of Emiliana’s favorite brands is Saint Laurent, she was not aware of the brand’s existing jewelry collection.
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FABIANA DOMINGUEZ SCAD FURNITURE DESIGN STUDENT (APPENDIX B)
Time and Place: Fabiana Dominguez was interviewed in person on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 at 7:00pm in Savannah, Georgia. Limitations: Fabiana Dominguez has limited disposable income given that she is a student, and a lot of her luxury purchases have been gifted to her. She grew up in Venezuela and then moved to Savannah, therefore she has never lived in a place where she is readily surrounded by luxury brands. Findings: Fabiana Dominguez is 25 years old and she is currently studying furniture design at SCAD. She likes fashion because she believes that dressing is an interpretation of who she is. She also thinks that fashion should be comfortable, and this is something that is important to her. As part of her favorite brands she mentioned Marni, Bottega, Vince, Golden Goose, Givenchy and Loewe, but not Saint Laurent. Fabiana describes her jewelry as basic, referring to pieces that she wears every day and never takes off, however if she has an important event, she likes
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to use statement jewelry as well. What is most important for her in relation to jewelry is quality and durability since she never takes off her “basic pieces”. This led her to buy a Cartier bracelet, a Tiffany’s silver ring and a dainty Dior diamond ring that she wears on a daily basis. Although she did not mention Saint Laurent, she is a target customer for the brand because she has made purchases f rom the brand before. When asked about the brand she disclosed that she owns over three pairs of shoes f rom Saint Laurent and that she really likes them because they are very comfortable and have lasted her for a long time. Fabiana also explained that she likes buying shoes f rom Saint Laurent because they are “unique quality investment pieces”. She also shared that what she likes the most about the brand is that a lot of their collections are gender neutral and therefore a lot of the men’s collection can be worn by women and vice versa. Overall, she did not have enough knowledge to comment about Saint Laurent’s jewelry collection because she was not aware that the brand sold jewelry.
JUAN ANTONIO LLOREDA IE MADRID BUSINESS STUDENT (APPENDIX C)
Time and Place: Juan Antonio Lloreda was interviewed over the phone on Sunday, January 26, 2020 at 11:00am. Limitations: Juan Antonio Lloreda does not use jewelry himself. Findings: Juan Antonio Lloreda is a 22-year-old man f rom Cali, Colombia who currently lives in Madrid, Spain studying Business at the IE Madrid University. Although Juan does not follow all of the fashion world’s latest trends, he is def initely conscious of what he wears and favors some brands over others. His favorite brands include Saint Laurent, Rolex, BMW and Gucci. He is def initely a target customer for Saint Laurent because he has bought a variety of products f rom them including shoes, jeans, t-shirts and even their perfume. He has also made purchases f rom the other brands he mentioned as well. Juan does not like to use any jewelry, he only wears a watch. He also stated that he knows that Saint Laurent has some unisex rings as part of their jewelry collection and that Gucci also has jewelry and watches as part of their product mix. Even though Juan does not use any jewelry himself, he would consider buying jewelry as a gift. He is aware that Saint Laurent has a jewelry collection because he bought a heart necklace f rom the brand a couple years ago for his girlf riend. At the time, he chose to buy jewelry f rom Saint Laurent because he liked the design of the piece. Therefore, if he were to gift jewelry in the future, design is what is most important to him, not necessarily the brand. He mentioned that to him, Saint Laurent is stylish, simple and young. It is one of his most favored brands because of its quality. He mentioned that the clothes he has bought f rom the brand have lasted him more than any other brand, and that their shoes are very durable too. Juan also favors Saint Laurent because he likes their simple store layouts in which everything is perfectly displayed, not too cluttered, and easy to see and appreciate. He does not like when a store display’s too many items at once because he feels that he cannot appreciate everything. He is the only target consumer interviewed that knew that Saint Laurent had a jewelry collection.
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CAROLINA PUNCELES INTERIOR DESIGNER (APPENDIX D)
Time and Place: Carolina Punceles was interviewed over the phone on Friday, January 24, 2020 at 8:00pm. Limitations: Carolina Punceles knew beforehand that the project is about jewelry pertaining to the Saint Laurent brand. Nevertheless, she knew the project topic in very broad terms, no specif ic details. Findings: Carolina Punceles is a 34-year-old woman who lives in Caracas, Venezuela. She is married and has two daughters who are 5 and 3 years old. She is an interior decorator but likes all things fashion related. To her, fashion allows a person to craft their own personality and it is a way to stand out and be unique. Carolina’s high disposable income have allowed her to buy a large variety of luxury items. Her favorites brands include Delpozo, Valentino, Isabel Marant and Dior. From these brands she regularly purchases ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes and accessories. She also likes to wear jewelry every day and does not change it on a regular basis unless she needs to dress up for a special event. She likes to layer her bracelets and necklaces and
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mix high-end pieces with lower priced jewelry. Carolina owns several jewelry pieces f rom luxury brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels and Harry Winston. She bought jewelry f rom these brands because she believes that they are pieces that she can use every day, layer them with less-expensive pieces and either dress them up or down depending on the occasion. Even though Carolina buys both f ine and fashion jewelry, she doesn’t like to spend a large amount on fashion jewelry because she feels that they are more trendy and seasonal pieces that will eventually go out of style. When Carolina was asked about Saint Laurent’s jewelry, she explained that she thinks they sell some jewelry but is not really sure. Nevertheless, she is very aware of Saint Laurent as a brand and the fact that they have always been avant-garde and like to break with traditions. She also commented on the brands rich heritage and how much the fashion world owes to Yves Saint Laurent. Overall, she would like the brand to publicize their jewelry more given that it was brought up in the conversation but her lack of knowledge about the product category did not allow her to properly comment on it.
04 # INDUSTRY EXPERT INTERVIEW
ROBERTA DEMESKO FORMER VERSACE SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MERCHANDISING EMEA (APPENDIX E)
Time and Place: Roberta Demesko was interviewed in person on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at 9:00am. Limitations: Roberta Demesko has worked at Gucci, Versace, Bally and Roberto Cavalli, but she has never worked with the Saint Laurent brand. She has also worked with the jewelry product category as part of her buying and merchandising positions but has spent more time working with leather goods and shoes. Findings: Roberta Demesko is a current fashion professor at SCAD who used to formerly work for Versace as the Senior Director of Merchandising for Europe, Middle East and Africa. She has over 15 years of experience in the luxury market having previously worked for Gucci, Bally and Roberto Cavalli. She claims that even though she did not work with Gucci at the time that they introduced fashion jewelry with Creative Director Alessandro Michele, it was a way for the brand to open themselves to a wider range of consumers. The lower-priced entry point designs were successful for the company because they allowed the designer to input a great level of detail and intricacy on pieces made from nonnoble metals. She also had a great impact while at Versace because she was able to grow the jewelry product category significantly.
Some of the most sold items were bobby pins and stud earring which were entry-level priced. She was able to capture more sales by increasing the volume produced and as a result grew the category into triple digits. Roberta explained that even though the absolute value of jewelry is much smaller than that of ready-to-wear, the category can certainly grow to represent 5% of sales for a brand. She also believes that within the fashion jewelry market, branded jewelry and jewelry for men are important trends that brands must implement. Roberta explained that just as important as having branded handbags and accessories, branded jewelry is essential in a fashion jewelry collection. The younger consumer who is usually an aspirational customer is looking for logo pieces. Therefore, branded jewelry should not be underestimated. Neither should jewelry collections for men because from her experience at Versace specifically, a lot of women bought jewelry from the men’s collection. There is also an increase of men starting to wear more fashion jewelry these days and therefore it is a growth area for the fashion jewelry market overall. Roberta feels that it is important for luxury brands to have jewelry as part of their product categories because from a theoretical point of view, jewelry is at the top of the
fashion pyramid. Jewelry serving no functional purpose places this product category at the top of the pyramid because of how aspirational it is. Consumers also expect a high degree of design creativity and for the jewelry to also reflect the brands aesthetics when it comes from a luxury brand. A strong jewelry product category for a luxury brand can increase total net sales for the brand but it has to be well managed. This includes how compelling and big the collection is, if it is a balanced assortment and if it is produced at the right cost. Roberta also believes that the biggest obstacle for a luxury brand when growing their jewelry product category is the visual merchandising displays. She explains that a brand needs to dedicate space within a store where the products can be seen and appreciated instead of tiny cases where customers just pass by without noticing the collection. The category should also be readily available online because a lot of entry-point priced pieces can be sold in large volumes through e-commerce. More so, the jewelry has to be supported by the brand completely by making sure it’s in editorials and magazines, included it in the runway shows, given a small but dedicated launch, and that the sales staff present the collection to consumers. Fashion jewelry should give the customer an experience and ceremony at the time of purchase to make them feel special for buying a product that is so aspirational for them.
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05 # TARGET CONSUMER FOCUS GROUP Time and Place: The focus group took place in Savannah, Georgia on January, 28, 2020 at 1:30pm. Objective: The objective of the focus group was to investigate jewelry buying habits and trends f rom a Saint Laurent target market group. As well as to measure awareness and potential interest for the Saint Laurent jewelry product category and IMC campaign. Limitations: Out of f ive participants, four participants knew that the project was based on Saint Laurent jewelry, nevertheless they were not aware of any specif ic details. Only one of the participants was not a Saint Laurent target customer as they do not own anything f rom the brand, but they have bought luxury goods f rom other brands before. Findings: The focus group was composed of f ive participants between the ages of 24 and 27 years old. There were four females and one male, three individuals f rom China, one f rom the United States and one f rom Venezuela. The conversation began with a discussion about each person’s jewelry habits and behavior. All of the participants admitted to wearing jewelry on a daily basis. The group agreed that the jewelry that they wear everyday they do not change often, and if they do, it is most likely because they have to dress-up for a special occasion. Almost all of the participants agreed to wearing fashion jewelry because it is trendy. More so, they believe that fashion jewelry is also more appropriate for everyday use. Fashion jewelry’s lower price points make it a better option over f ine jewelry as well. When buying fashion jewelry, the design of the piece is important to them since it will reflect their style and personality when they wear it. Quality of the jewelry is equally as important because they are looking for durable pieces that will not tarnish after a couple of uses. When the conversation shifted into brands, some of
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the favorite brands for jewelry among the group were Mejuri, Dolce and Gabbana, vintage Chanel, Ambush and Cartier. The group also mentioned they knew that among luxury fashion brands, Dior, Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega and Carolina Herrera all had fashion jewelry collections. None of the participants mentioned Saint Laurent as their favorite jewelry line. More importantly, only one of the individuals was aware that Saint Laurent had a jewelry product category (they believed I was doing a brand extension). The group explained that when they think of Saint Laurent they predominantly think of shoes, handbags and leather. The participants who had previously made purchases f rom the brand before bought either a handbag or shoes. They bought these items because of the design and because they could use it on a daily basis. Saint Laurent as a brand was also discussed. The group believes that the brand has very strong brand ambassadors because they all embody the style and personality of Saint Laurent perfectly. They also like the young, edgy vibe that the brand portrays in its entirety. Given that the majority was not aware the brand has an existing jewelry collection, they imagine the collection would be dominated by silver and black if the brand had one. If they knew Saint Laurent had jewelry, they would be willing to buy f rom the collection depending on the style and price. They claim the price needs to reflect the quality of the product. No one in the group had any knowledge about the heritage of the brand and its connection to Morocco. When looking at different types of jewelry campaigns the group believes that it is equally important to showcase the pieces styled as well as showing a closeup of the jewelry. What stimulates the group to further investigate about jewelry they notice f rom an advertisement is when they like how it is combined with ready-to-wear and other brand products. When the campaign tries to promote jewelry too obviously, the group thinks that this strategy is not very effective. The participants like jewelry that promotes a lifestyle they identify with.
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CHAPTER 6
KEY FINDINGS & STRATEGY
01 # KEY FINDINGS
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THE JEWELRY PRODUCT CATEGORY REQUIRES HOLISTIC SUPPORT FROM THE BRAND IN ORDER TO GROW AND BE SUCCESSFUL Although Saint Laurent has an existing jewelry collection as part of their product mix, the product category in its entirety lacks awareness. Jewelry has been an essential part of the Saint Laurent brand ever since it was founded in 1961 by Yves Saint Laurent. The designer believed that fashion jewelry was very important at the time of styling, he liked to “put a lot on each look, sometimes he would add two or three necklaces at once, or two or three bracelets” (Fowler). For his jewelry collections the designer liked to collaborate with notable craftsmen and sculptors, and he favored forms and materials f rom nature as well as motifs he considered would bring him luck. Even though he
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did not retain the same jewelry collection for more than one season, one of the brand’s most notable jewelry pieces is an asymmetric heart-shaped brooch inlaid with red gemstones that became the designer’s sort of talisman and even “one of the f irst codes of the house of Yves Saint Laurent” (Fowler). To this day, the heart can still be observed in a variety of their products. The Saint Laurent brand pride’s themselves on their rich heritage and therefore needs to support the product category that helped paved the way for what the brand is today. The last jewelry campaign that the brand promoted was in 2015 and it was
directed by Saint Laurent’s previous creative director, Hedi Slimane. Since then, the current creative director Anthony Vaccarello has contributed his own designs to the existing jewelry collection, but the category is lacking overall attention (Fury). Past fashion shows and campaigns under Vaccarello showcase jewelry very minimally. In the last ad campaign of last year (2019), only one or two of the publicized images included jewelry. Primary research has also conf irmed that the lack of promotion and holistic support for the jewelry product category have made the collection unidentif iable. Three out of four interviews made to Saint Laurent target consumers did not know that the brand has an existing jewelry collection. Four out of f ive individuals who participated in the focus group who were also Saint Laurent target consumers were unaware that the
brand offered jewelry as part of their product mix. In the interview with industry expert Roberta Demeska, she comments that for a brand to have a successful jewelry product category is has to be supported completely by the brand. It should be in editorials and magazines, included in runway shows, given a small but dedicated launch, have space dedicated to it inside the stores and have the sales staff present the collection to consumers. This holistic support has not been fully given by the brand to the jewelry product category and as a result, it is suffering f rom a lack of awareness f rom its target consumers. Further primary research also revealed that the jewelry product category f rom Saint Laurent is not readily available on a global level. From the two Saint Laurent stores visited, only one offered jewelry for both men and women. The Saint Laurent store in Palm Beach
only had jewelry f rom the women’s collection. Overall, both stores had very limited pieces showcased as they shared the enclosed glass display case with small leather goods. Through wholesale distribution, only three retailers worldwide offer the brand’s jewelry collection for men. Wholesale retailers in the USA have the jewelry collection more readily available through e-commerce while in Europe and Asia it is more accessible at brickand-mortar locations. Industry expert Roberta Demeska claims that f rom her experience, other than supporting and promoting the jewelry product category, the brand must increase its volume in order for the category to grow. Given that the Saint Laurent jewelry product category is not readily available, the brand could improve and increase its distribution worldwide while still maintaining high-control.
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THE JEWELRY PRODUCT CATEGORY COULD GROW TO REPRESENT 5% OF THE BUSINESS AND IT IS CURRENTLY VALUED AT LESS THAN 1%
The worldwide fashion jewelry market was worth $40 billion in 2018. It is estimated that the market will reach $52 billion by 2023 and $110 billion by 2035 at a CAGR of 6.7% (Statista, Value of Selected Jewelry Markets Worldwide in 2018 with a Forecast for 2023 and 2035). The fashion jewelry market is forecasted to grow at a faster rate than the global luxury jewelry industry which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.4%. The market will continue to grow due to many non-jewelry brands adding and investing into this product category because more and more consumers are buying luxury goods for themselves (Dauriz, Remy, Tochtermann). At the moment, it is unclear how much of Saint Laurent’s revenues comes f rom their existing jewelry line. It has only disclosed that 8% of their revenue comes f rom the sales of “others,” which includes jewelry, sunglasses, scarves, f ragrance and hats among others (2019 First Half Report). Nevertheless, estimating a percent for each category given the brand’s apparent success with each product, they jewelry product category made approximately 5,579, 200 € in 2018 which is equivalent to 0.32% of the brand’s total revenues. Industry expert Roberta Demesko revealed that if a luxury brand properly manages and supports their jewelry product category, it could come to represent 5% of sales for the brand. Even though the absolute value of jewelry is much smaller than that of other categories such as ready-to-wear or leather goods, high-volume sales of
jewelry could grow to represent triple digit growth for the brand. Saint Laurent is currently in a good place to be able to support their jewelry product category because they are doing very well f inancially. Last year (2019), the brand reported revenues of 1.7 billion euros and CEO Francesca Bellettini claims that Saint Laurent is on target to reach its goal of 2 billion euros by 2022 and ultimately 3 billion euros in the long term. The brand has also explicitly mentioned that future plans for the brand include leveraging their product categories by further developing their eyewear, silk and jewelry categories in order to rely less on leather goods. Their overall goal is to continue improving in sales density through the expansion of aspirational accessories (2019 First Half Report). The outlined positive growth that is estimated for the fashion jewelry industry demonstrates that there is still room for growth in the market. Saint Laurent can greatly benef it f rom this opportunity of projected growth in the market coupled with the correct support and management of the jewelry product category. A combination of these factors can convert Saint Laurent’s jewelry product category into a strong revenue driver for the brand and eventually come to represent 5% of its revenues.
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THE MILLENNIALS CONSUMER IS LOOKING FOR BRANDED JEWELRY THAT FITS THEIR LIFESTYLE AND THAT THEY CAN WEAR ON A DAILY BASIS
The millennial consumer is looking for jewelry that they can use on a daily basis. The jewelry industry is trying to adapt to the Millennial consumer by introducing jewelry pieces that are in line with the generation’s lifestyle. Millennials are known to dress up less for both work and going out. Jewelry is slowly adapting to these trends by creating designs that can be used at any time, and not just bought as the occasional milestone gift. Within the jewelry market, Millennials do not identify with high-end occasion, classic or museum like pieces that previous generations liked. This generation is moving towards fashion jewelry because it is more suitable for daily use (Dauriz, Remy, Tochtermann). Primary research also proved that four out of f ive Saint Laurent target consumers interviewed were daily wearers of jewelry. The f ifth individual that does not wear jewelry because of personal preferences did mention that he buys jewelry as a gift. All f ive participants of the focus group also admitted to wearing jewelry on a daily basis. Both the individuals interviewed and all of the participants in the focus group agreed to not changing
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their jewelry every day. Instead, they only change their jewelry if they have to dress for a special occasion. The jewelry that they wear on a daily basis goes with their style and it can dressed-up or down depending on if they’re going to work, to class or to a party. Given that the Saint Laurent’s target consumer is predominantly made up of Millennials, it is important that the brand manages and promotes this product category in order to benef it f rom the generation’s widespread jewelry use. Fashion jewelry also serves as an entry point to attract the aspirational consumer. Therefore, the jewelry product category can help build brand equity for Saint Laurent because as industry expert Roberta Demeska explained, jewelry is at the top of the fashion pyramid. This is because it is completely aspirational as it serves no real functional purpose. Therefore, it builds by brand equity by capturing consumers at entry-level pricing.
THERE IS LACK OF INNOVATION AND CUSTOMER FOCUSED MERCHANDISING IN MOST LUXURY BRAND’S IN-STORE JEWELRY DISPLAYS
From in-store observations of several luxury brands that sell fashion jewelry as part of their product mix, all of the brands use very similar types of visual merchandising displays to present their jewelry. Primary research unveiled that competitor brands like Tiffany & Co., Gucci and Dior all utilize rectangular glass enclosed cases where the consumer has to look down in order to notice the collection. Since Tiffany’s sells mostly jewelry, they choose to display all of their silver jewelry collection (or fashion jewelry) together. It is exhibited in a variety of grey velvet supports that help present their necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets and pendants among others. Gucci uses rectangular display cases as well, but depending on the store size, they either dedicate one full case to their jewelry or share the space with other small leather goods. The brand enhances their jewelry collection by presenting the jewelry in a variety of brightly colored velvet cushions and supports. Dior also utilizes rectangular glass enclosed cases and like Gucci, depending on space, dedicates either a full or half case to the collection. Dior uses grey suede supports to help them present their jewelry. Saint Laurent currently utilizes the same type of display to showcase their jewelry collection as well. They use rectangular glass enclosed cases and choose to support the pieces with black and gold backings of different sizes. The brand also makes jewelry share the display space with small leather goods. As a result, the jewelry collections of these brands including Saint Laurent many times go unnoticed because of a lack of innovation and customer focused merchandising that the displays lead to. Industry expert Roberta Demeska claims that the biggest obstacle for a luxury brand when growing their jewelry product category are the visual merchandising displays. She explains that a brand needs to dedicate space within a store where the products can be seen and appreciated instead of tiny cases where customers just pass by without noticing the collection. Therefore, because Saint Laurent as a brand has always been known to break with traditions and is always avant-garde, the visual merchandising of the jewelry product category should be altered in each store. The brand should break away f rom rectangular enclosed glass cases and present a new way to display their jewelry collection. A new visual merchandising technique that will not go unnoticed by store visitors and that disrupts the usual displays that lack innovation and customer focused merchandising.
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02 # STRATEGY
OBJECTIVES The objective of relaunching the Saint Laurent jewelry product category is to build brand equity on a global level by widening the target consumer audience for the category. Debuting a stronger jewelry product category that preserves the brand’s rich heritage and helps the brand continue to build an innovative future by acting as a revenue driver.
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GOALS
01
03
05
Widen the brand’s target consumers by debuting a stronger product category at an entry-level price point.
Generate jewelry brand awareness by promoting the product category.
Preserve the brand’s rich heritage by debuting a campaign inspired by Saint Laurent’s roots.
02
04
06
Continue to attract and reinforce the relationship with affluent and high net-worth Millennials by offering jewelry that matches their lifestyles.
Increase revenue through sales volume of jewelry.
Balance the brand’s product mix by growing the jewelry product category to represent 5% of total sales.
IMPLEMENTATION In order to achieve the above goals and objectives, the deliverables for the strategy include a revised distribution plan, a visual merchandising plan and IMC plan. The revised distribution plan will increase the availability of the collection worldwide while still maintaining a high level of control. The visual merchandising plan will include several new options for stores to adapt and display the jewelry product category. The IMC plan will include digital, print, outdoor and influencer marketing as well as public relations and event initiatives to promote the category on a global level.
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CHAPTER 7 INITIATIVES
Based on key findings, the following strategy will help Saint Laurent achieves its objectives and goals in order to successfully relaunch their jewelry product category. Given that jewelry requires a holistic approach from the brand, there is an opportunity for Saint Laurent to improve the distribution, visual merchandising, and promote the product category overall.
01 # PEOPLE
The relaunch of the jewelry product category for Saint Laurent will widen the target consumer for the brand. This is because jewelry can serve as an entry-point for aspirational consumers. In order to understand the target market for this product category it is crucial to identify both the mental space and market space consumer. The mental space consumer represents the ideal customer that will be specifically targeted by the product category, while the market space consumer is not purposely targeted by the brand, nevertheless, may still consider purchasing from the collection.
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MENTAL SPACE The mental space consumer is a female or male between the ages of 20 to 30 years old that likes to express themselves through fashion. Their impeccable tastes, unparalleled style and f inancial fluency allow their wardrobe choices to be nothing but aspirational. They seek luxury experiences and identify only with brands that f it their lifestyle. They wear jewelry on a daily basis because it is the perfect accessory to complement their look. Their jewelry collection is enviable as they own a wide assortment of both statement and everyday pieces. Their desire for innovation, design, and uniqueness are beyond regular expectations.
SOPHIE BERGER -
35 years old Paris, France Contributing Editor at Vogue Paris Net-Worth: 5 million euros Married
Sophie or Soph, as her f riends call her is a Paris born and raised woman who works part-time at Vogue Paris as a contributing editor. She comes f rom a VHNW French family who made their fortune in textiles, therefore fashion has always been a part of her life. She studied art history at the Sorbonne in Paris and moved to Milan for one year to complete a master’s in luxury brand management at Istituto Marangoni. She doesn’t have to work for a living but chooses to do so because it makes her feel happy and accomplished. Sophie never takes of her jewelry and likes to blend vintage family heirlooms with trendy luxury pieces. She loves travelling around the world with her husband and discovering local hidden treasures. Her guilty pleasure is Netflix with a glass of red wine. If she is not out at an event f rom her busy social calendar, she is at a brasserie with her f riends enjoying the good food and company. She loves Saint Laurent because it keeps her young and stylish.
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MARKET SPACE The market space consumer is a male or female between the ages of 20 to 40 years old that doesn’t necessarily follow fashion and all of its trends, nevertheless, is very aware of their wardrobe choices. They guide their apparel choices by the popular pieces worn by the individuals they set as role models; f riends or influencers. This is an individual that works for a living, some are even high earners and every now and then like to indulge in luxury pieces which are worth it. They like being part of a tight group of f riends and that feeling of belonging.
LIAM MILLER 28 years old Los Angeles, California Music Producer Net Worth: $150,000 Single
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Liam is originally f rom San Jose, California but he moved to Los Angeles to study musicology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and stayed in the city to pursue a career as a music producer. He manages his own time because he is his own boss, therefore, when he is not working, he likes to go to the gym or meet-up with f riends at cool cafes. He uses tattoos and jewelry as a way to express himself. He also spends a good amount of time on social media looking for new talent. He is the ultimate boys boy and when he is not in the studio, you can probably f ind him skateboarding in Santa Monica. He is the ultimate bad boy.
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LI (LUCY) JING & WANG (ALEX) YING - 20 and 22 years old - Hong Kong - Students at the University of Hong Kong - VHNW Families - Dating Li and Wang are two Hong Kong natives who have been dating for over a year. They both study at the University of Hong Kong and that is where they met as well. Li is in her sophomore year studying Marketing while Wang is in his senior year and will be graduating with a degree in Business. They come from families with financial fluency, nevertheless their student allowance only permits them to indulge on luxury items every once in a while. They enjoy hanging out with friends, going out to parties and are always on WeChat either chatting or looking at influencer pages. They particularly like jewelry because it is something that they can both wear; Li is always taking Wang’s oversized necklaces.
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02 # PRODUCT
Saint Laurent already has an existing jewelry collection. Nevertheless, for the relaunch of the product category, the brand will release a new jewelry collection inspired by Saint Laurent’s rich brand heritage. The collection will take the customer on a journey to Morocco, the country where the late Yves Saint Laurent spent a lot of his time designing. Yves Saint Laurent became very invested in Morocco because of how much it stimulated him; specifically, the vibrant colors and welcoming spirit of the country. Given the opportunity to relaunch jewelry in order to build brand equity for Saint Laurent, it is fitting to present the new product category closely knit to the brand’s heritage. This will help the consumer understand the essence of Saint Laurent and how relevant it is for the brand. There will be two collections released, one for women and one for men, but given fashion’s gender-neutral inclinations, a lot of the pieces will be unisex. Both men and women will be able to wear pieces from each of the collections. The product mix will include earrings, bracelets, necklaces, rings and brooches given that they are emblematic for the brand as well. There will be a wide merchandise assortment of pieces, especially for earrings, rings and bracelets because of their entry-level pricing. The collection will feature a high level of design, uniqueness, durability and most importantly function, so that the consumer is able to wear the jewelry on a daily basis; either dressing it up or down. Additionally, there will be some statement pieces, particularly necklaces to serve more fashion-confident individuals. The jewelry will showcase the emblematic cool, rock, chic and edgy vibe of the Saint Laurent brand.
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Rich Brand Heritage
Classic
Contemporary
Low Brand Heritage
03 # POSITION
The positioning for the relaunch of the jewelry product category for Saint Laurent is crucial in order to successfully operate in the area where there is a gap in the market. The following perceptual map outlines Saint Laurent jewelry in relation to its competitors. The heritage of the brands were considered, as was their design style towards jewelry; classic or contemporary (given that not all brands are solely jewelry players). It is clear that there is a gap in the market in the area of rich brand heritage and contemporary design given that no other brand has as deep a history as Saint Laurent and is currently designing contemporary, cool and edgy jewelry.
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04 # PRICE
The prices of the jewelry collection for the relaunch will mostly remain the same given that secondary and primary research did not disclose any problems with the brand’s current pricing strategy. The most important strategy for the relaunch is that given the opportunity to widen the target market, it is crucial to have a variety of pieces at entry-level pricing. This is the price at which aspirational consumers without high financial fluency will be able to purchase from Saint Laurent. The below chart outlines the lowest, average and highest price for each category of jewelry, it is constant for both the men’s and women’s collection. The average price also takes into consideration the number of pieces available per category.
Earrings Bracelets Necklaces Rings Brooches
Lowest Price
395 € 195 € 325 € 295 € 395 €
Highest Price
1,495 € 1,195 € 2,195 € 495 € 1,095 €
Average SRP
550.00 € 525.00 € 1,050.00 € 350.00 € 550.00 €
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05 # PLACEMENT Saint Laurent must give the jewelry product category holistic support in order to make the relaunch successful. Given this approach, there is an opportunity for the brand to restructure both its instore visual merchandising and distribution for the product category. Improving visual merchandising in the brand’s directly operated stores and revising its distribution plan for jewelry will help improve the current lack of awareness that exists towards the product category.
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VISUAL MERCHANDISING
One of the key findings from the research revealed that most luxury brands use the same type of visual merchandising displays for jewelry. Saint Laurent along with other competitors currently use rectangular glass enclosed displays to showcase jewelry. Many displays are not even fully dedicated to jewelry, and at times the space is shared with small leather goods. Further research also exposed that the biggest obstacle for a luxury brand when growing their jewelry product category are the visual merchandising displays, because a brand needs to dedicate space within a store where the products can be seen and appreciated. Given this opportunity, for the relaunch of the jewelry product category Saint Laurent will change their in-store visual merchandising displays. Saint Laurent as a brand has always been known to break with traditions and has always been ahead of their time. Therefore, the brand will break away from continuing to use rectangular glass enclosed displays to showcase their jewelry. By disrupting the usual jewelry display, the new showcase will catch the consumers eyes and be noticeable by many more store goers. Another benefit from the new display is the that jewelry will no longer have to share space with other product categories. Dedicating a designated space within all stores will help make the relaunch initiative successful because it will help the jewelry be more noticeable and eventually improve the overall lack of awareness that the product category has. Since each store for the brand is unique in that they are not all the same size or layout, there will be three different ways in which each store will be able to adapt and include the new visual merchandising display for jewelry. One model will be used for flagships since they have the most space available, another for large to mid-size stores and the last one for small store formats and outlets. All new displays will be custom built to completely adapt to the existing store format. They will be finished in the typical white and black marble that
is the archetype of all DOS and include polished gold accents. Option one is a custom dry wall unit designed to cover an empty wall completely. Option two is a custom free-standing wall that can be added to any empty space in the store, not as large as option one. Option three is a custom-built display box that can be attached to any wall and used for when the store does not have the ability to adapt to option one or two. The creative idea behind the new visual merchandising display is that the brand will move away from forcing the consumer to have to look down to admire the collection and instead, place the products at eye level. All the jewelry will still remain enclosed behind glass to give the impression that it is up to par with precious jewelry, but it will be more noticeable and engaging. Consumers will still have to be helped by sales personnel in order to try on pieces, but the new displays will make the overall experience more customer friendly. Additional pieces that were not previously displayed and instead stored in the stock room will now be easily accessible to customers since they will be kept in drawers as seen in options one and two. Options one and two will also have one of the drawers open and be used as a “table� support in order to make the experience of trying on jewelry easier for the customer. Option three does not offer these features given that they will be used for smaller store formats that have very limited areas, nevertheless, they will still be able to dedicate a designated space solely for jewelry. Sales staff will also help upsell the collection while helping customers since they will specifically under-go training to talk about the jewelry collection and the inspiration for the line in order to captivate desire in consumers. The following page showcase design mockups for each new type of display along with its implementation costs. Since they are all custom-built units, the price reflects an estimate given the average space and size that each display would adapt to.
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OPTION 1 - COMPLETE WALL INSTALLATION
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OPTION 2 - FREE STANDING WALL
OPTION 3 - CUSTOM DISPLAY SHELF UNITS
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Budget Budget Budget Custom Dry Wall - 70 sq ft After-Hours Custom Dry Installation Wall - 70 sq ft Total After-Hours Custom Dry Installation Wall - 70 sq ft *€200 per square foot of custom drywall Total After-Hours Installation
*€200 Total per square foot of custom drywall *€200 per square foot of custom drywall Custom Dry Wall - 45 sq ft After-Hours Custom Dry Installation Wall - 45 sq ft Total After-Hours Custom Dry Installation Wall - 45 sq ft *€200 per square foot of custom drywall Total After-Hours Installation
*€200 Total per square foot of custom drywall *€200 per square foot of custom drywall Custom Rectangular Gold Box - 6 After-Hours Installation Custom Rectangular Gold Box - 6 Total After-Hours Installation Custom Rectangular Gold Box - 6 *€600 per custom display box Total After-Hours Installation
*€600 Total per custom display box
OPTION 1 Price
14,000 Price 2,500 14,000 Price 16,500 2,500 14,000
€
€ € € € € 16,500 2,500 € € 16,500 €
Price OPTION 2
9,000 € Price 2,500 € € 9,000 Price 11,500 € 2,500 € € 9,000 11,500 € 2,500 €
11,500 € Price
3,600 €3 OPTION Price 1,000 € € 3,600 Price 4,600 € 1,000 € € 3,600
4,600 1,000 € €
4,600 €
*€600 per custom display box
All DOS stores will not adapt their store formats with the new visual merchandising displays at the same time so that the company does not have to endure such a large expense the first year and will still able to see a profit from the product category. Saint Laurent will allocate three years total in order to completely adapt their 219 locations, renovating approximately one third of their stores each year. The first year the brand will adapt all of its flagship stores and most successful locations, the second year another third of its stores and the last year the remaining one third of locations. The stores will be renovated according to the importance of the location and the area where the product category could see the most improvement and growth. The following tables outline the costs of renovating all stores throughout a three-year time span. The plan covers a total of 230 locations instead of the current 219 because the company has explicitly mentioned that they will be growing and expanding in the years to come. The following page outlines the financial costs of the three year adoption plan.
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rs rs
THREE YEAR ADOPTION PLAN Directly Operated Stores - Flagships Year 1 Directly Operated Stores - Flagships Year 1 Doors to Apply New VM Total Cost Doors to Apply New VM Total Cost Western Europe 4 66,000 € Western Europe 4 66,000 € USA 2 33,000 € USA 2 33,000 € Asia-Pacific 3 49,500 € Asia-Pacific 3 49,500 € Total 9 148,500 € Total 9 148,500 €
*€16,500 per new VM display *€16,500 per new VM display
Directly Operated Stores - Non-Flagships Year 1 Directly Operated Stores - Non-Flagships Year 1 Doors to Apply New VM Total Cost Doors to Apply New VM Total Cost Western Europe 18 144,900.00 € Western Europe 18 144,900.00 € USA 12 96,600.00 € USA 12 96,600.00 € Asia-Pacific 44 354,200.00 € Asia-Pacific 44 354,200.00 € Total 74 595,700.00 € Total 74 595,700.00 €
*Half of these stores will apply new VM display at €11,500, the other half at €4,600 *Half of these stores will apply new VM display at €11,500, the other half at €4,600
Year 1 Total Figures Total Cost
744,200 €
Total Doors New DOS Applying New VM
219
New DOS Applying New VM
37.9%
83 Global Wholesale Retailers Global Wholesale Retailers
Current Current Brick-and-Mortar Doors E-Commerce Platforms Brick-and-Mortar Doors E-Commerce Platforms USA 4 8 USA 4 8 Operated Stores - Non-Flagships Year 2 Canada Directly 3 2 Year 2 Canada Directly Operated Stores - Non-Flagships 3 2 Doors to Apply New VM 11 Total Cost Europe 7 Doors to Apply New VM 11 Total Cost Europe 7 Western Europe 20 161,000.00 € Asia-Pacific 6 1 Western Europe 20 161,000.00 € Asia-Pacific 6 1 USA 10 80,500.0018 € Total 24 USA 10 80,500.0018 € Total 24 Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific Total Total
45 362,250.00 € 45 362,250.00 € 75 603,750.00 € 75 603,750.00 € *Half of these stores will apply new VM display at €11,500, the other half at €4,600 *Half of these stores will apply new VM display at €11,500, the other half at €4,600 Directly Operated Stores - Non-Flagships Year 3 Directly Operated Stores - Non-Flagships Year 3 Doors to Apply New VM Total Cost Doors to Apply New VM Total Cost Western Europe 18 144,900.00 € Western Europe 18 144,900.00 € USA 12 96,600.00 € USA 12 96,600.00 € Asia-Pacific 42 338,100.00 € Asia-Pacific 42 338,100.00 € Total 72 579,600.00 € Total 72 579,600.00 €
*Half of these stores will apply new VM display at €11,500, the other half at €4,600 *Half of these stores will apply new VM display at €11,500, the other half at €4,600
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Brick-and-Mortar Doors Brick-and-Mortar Doors
8 8 6 6 22 22 12 12 48 48
N N
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Global Wholesale Retailers Current Brick-and-Mortar E-Commerce Brick-and-Mortar Doors Platforms Doors USA Canada Europe Asia-Pacific Total
4 3 11 6 24
8 2 7 1 18
8 6 22 12 48
New New E-Commerce Platform
E-Commerce Platform Extension
1 0 4 1 6
6 1 5 0 12
DISTRIBUTION
As part of the strategy to increase awareness and drive the sales of jewelry, there is an opportunity for Saint Laurent to improve the distribution of the product category. Primary research revealed that Saint Laurent jewelry is not readily available through retailers on a global level. Out of 27 retailers worldwide that carry the brand’s jewelry collection, only three distributors sold the jewelry collection for men. The research also disclosed that wholesale retailers in the USA have the jewelry collection more readily available through e-commerce while in Europe and Asia it is more accessible at brick-and-mortar locations. For the new and improved distribution plan Saint Laurent will still have high level of control. As a luxury brand, Saint Laurent needs to carefully select retailers that can successfully sell their jewelry given that they have a reputation and level that they have to maintain so that it does not suffer from negative brand associations. Nevertheless, the new distribution plan will make the collection more available to consumers. Making the collection more available to consumers will help increase brand awareness for the product category and increase sales. The table above outlines the new distribution plan for the product category.
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For retailers that have brick-and-mortar locations, like Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Printemps, Galleries Lafayette, Harrod’s, Selfridge’s, Tsum and Intime among others, the collection will be available in double their locations for the first year. Double the locations does not mean that every brickand-mortar location for each retailer will carry the collection, but it is a way to increase distribution while still maintaining control. This strategy will help Saint Laurent monitor the product category in order to see how it performs that first year and adjust and increase locations for year two given the demand. The distribution strategy for e-commerce will be different than brick-and-mortar given that not all retailers have online platforms. The retailers who sell through e-commerce and do not currently offer the collection online will now carry the Saint Laurent jewelry collection on their platforms. The retailers that have online platforms but only carry the women’s jewelry collection will now extend and sell the men’s jewelry collection as well. This strategy will help the brand double its jewelry sales from wholesale for the first projected year of sales. The increased distribution through wholesale for both brickand-mortar and e-commerce will be measured after the first year through the sales generated by each outlet.
06 # PROMOTION
Saint Laurent’s need to offer holistic support to their jewelry collection gives them the opportunity to promote the product category throughout the entire brand. An integrated marketing campaign will also help to advertise the relaunch of the product category on a global level.
IMC CAMPAIGN
CREATIVE CONCEPT
The creative concept for the marketing initiative will be to showcase one of the most important pillars for the Saint Laurent brand, its rich brand heritage, through the new jewelry collection that will be debuted for the relaunch of the product category. Given the brand’s deep connections to Morocco and all of the stimulation that once stemmed f rom that country, the new jewelry collection will be inspired by Morocco. The country’s colorful landscapes and Berber culture will be reinterpreted for the new designs while still maintaining the edgy, cool, rockand-roll aesthetic of the brand. The new collection will be destined to stand out with a combination of colors, textures, metals and strong personality. The consumer will time travel to Morocco through the campaign’s concept “Rebel Jewels.”
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COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES Brand Oriented: The brand oriented objectives are brand awareness, brand differentiation and brand relevance. The tactics to achieve these objectives are print and outdoor ads. Socially Oriented: The socially oriented objectives are to connect and collaborate. The tactics to achieve these objectives are social media ads, influencer marketing, launch events and public relations initiatives. Pre-Purchase Oriented: The pre-purchase oriented objectives are to create enquiries, web searches and retail visits, as well as to form purchase intentions and facilitate purchases. The tactics to achieve these objectives are email marketing, jewelry relaunch events and further public relations initiatives. Post-Purchase Oriented: The post-purchase oriented objectives are trial and repeat, amount and f requency and encourage consumption. The tactic to achieve these objectives are to continue creating new ads for each new jewelry collection.
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COMMUNICATION MIX PUBLIC RELATIONS Public relations are a crucial element of the strategy because it will ensure that the jewelry product category is holistically supported by the brand. The in-house PR team f rom Saint Laurent will carry out initiatives in order to build brand awareness and drive desire and enthusiasm towards the product category. These include announcing the relaunch of the category through press releases, making sure that it is included in web and magazine editorials, seen on the runway shows, gifted to celebrities and other influential people and ensure that the correct guest list is secured for the launch events, among others.
EVENTS
For the relaunch of the Saint Laurent jewelry product category the brand will host eight kickoff events. Each celebration will be hosted in each of the brand’s flagship stores worldwide, these locations include Paris, New York, Beijing, Tokyo, London, Miami, Milan and Singapore. There will be two types of events given the importance of the flagship location and the size of the event. The most important flagships which include Paris, New York, Beijing and Tokyo will be the larger tier one events. London, Miami, Milan and Singapore will be tier two events given that they are less signif icant locations. Tier one events will cost more than the tier two events and tier one events will be hosted by Anthony Vaccarello. `Each event will be hosted on a different day starting in October following the launch of the new product category at the brand’s runway show during Paris Fashion week. The eight events will then be hosted in all other flagships through November 2020. PR will secure the correct guestlist for each party in order to ensure that it generates buzz on social media. Guests will be able to mingle and discover the new collection and visual merchandising display in each store, as well as capture the event through several photo opportunities. Each party will have a Moroccan theme than can be enjoyed through luxurious food and beverages. Media coverage will also make sure that each event causes desire and stimulates interest for the collection. The effectiveness of each initiative will be measured through sales, user generated content and media coverage.
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INFLUENCER MARKETING Influencer marketing is a good opportunity to generate brand awareness and increase sales given that many consumer’s look for inspiration f rom these role models. Influencers with a highfollower base that are in line with the brand’s aesthetics and values will be gifted jewelry in order for them to showcase it on each of their platforms. Each influencer will style and model the jewelry differently in order to attract a wide range of consumers. The effectiveness of influencer marketing can be measured through swipe-up clicks and leads to the brand’s website as well as cart fulf illments.
DIGITAL MARKETING SOCIAL MEDIA Social media is a particularly relevant medium for this campaign given the brand’s success on various social platforms. Since Anthony Vaccarello was appointed creative director, he has introduced a new strategy that has made Saint Laurent the fastest growing brand on Instagram and Weibo, with triple-digit growth on both social networks. The success of the brand on social media stems f rom fully integrating Saint Laurent’s vision throughout the various platforms. Other than Instagram and Weibo, the campaign will also be featured on WeChat, Facebook and Twitter. The social media strategy for this campaign will include both paid and unpaid media and it will not directly drive sales, instead it will help build brand awareness and cultivate desire. The effectiveness of the social media strategy will be measured through user engagement factors i.e. likes, comments, tags, shares, reposts and use of the campaign concept hashtag #rebeljewels.
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EMAIL MARKETING Email marketing will focus its communication objectives on both existing customers and the category’s target market. This strategy will help build brand awareness by informing consumers about the product category and stimulate purchases. The f irst wave of emails will focus on capturing audience, the second round will be to generate buzz and the third round will reengage the consumers. Each wave of emails will work to consistently keep the audience informed about the product category. The effectiveness of the initiative can be measured through email clicks and leads to the brand’s website and overall cart fulf illment.
WEBSITE The Saint Laurent website will also support the digital marketing strategy by driving traff ic to the brand’s site. Once on the website, visuals will help promote the product category on the home page along with links to promote purchases for anyone that visits the site. The effectiveness of this strategy will be measured through website visits and further analytics will reveal average sessions times, drop-out rates, cart additions, abandonments and fulf illments.
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RETARGETING BANNERS
Retargeting banners will be used to drive site traff ic to the Saint Laurent jewelry website. These will work by activating retargeting platforms so that when someone searches or visits the Saint Laurent jewelry website, other pages will then display the brand’s campaign to these individuals. These banners are eff icient because they target specif ically people who have searched the collection and therefore remind them of their previous search in order to re-engage them with the product. This strategy can be measured through conversion and the amount of redirection clicks.
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NON-TRADITIONAL MEDIA Non-traditional media methods will also be used as part of the strategy for the campaign. Wild postings will be used because they are an effective method that help build brand awareness for the relaunch and f it in with the brand’s typical rebel values.
WILD POSTINGS The brand has previously used wild postings for its campaigns, and it will continue to do so for this relaunch. Images will be posted on sidewalks, construction sites and city centers in order to draw attention to the new launch. The effectiveness of this strategy will be measured through social media shares and hashtag usage as well as website traff ic and purchase intentions and sales.
106 |
LAUNCH TIMELINE Campaign Timeline
Pre-Launch
Launch
Post-Purchase
Re-Engage
2021 Aug
Sep
2022
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
CRM Email Marketing Public Relations Events Influencer Marketing Digital Marketing Social Media Paid Media Website
`
Non-Traditional Media Wild Postings Retargeting Banners
06 # EMPLOYEE TRAINING & GIFTING
As part of the strategy for the relaunch of the product category, the brand will also incorporate employee training and gifting. The training will be completed by each sales associate in all the DOS’s through an informational packet. The packet will include a comprehensive outline of both the women’s and men’s collection as well as information on the brand’s heritage related to Morocco. This will allow sales associates to cross merchandise during sales opportunities and be more knowledgeable about the product category. Additionally, each employee will be gifted one piece from the collection. The table below outlines the cost of gifting each employee. The price per gift represents the average production cost between all categories.
DOS Employee Gifting Flagships
Other Stores
Total Employees
Price Per Gift
Total
9
210
1140
86.43 €
98,530.20 €
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BUDGET The promotional budget for f irst year of the relaunch of the jewelry product category for Saint Laurent is 2,226,975 €. This amount is 15% of the total revenue that the jewelry product category will generate that year which is in total 14,846,500 €. Although Saint Laurent typically spends 7% of its revenue on average for their promotional activities, the brand will allocate 15% of its jewelry revenue for promotion that year given that it has to relaunch the product category. 15% will be used in order to increase brand awareness, cultivate desire, drive sales and continue to build brand equity for Saint Laurent. The majority of the budget will be used for public relations, specif ically launch events and digital marketing given that these are the two most crucial components of the strategy. The following table and chart outline the specif ic cost attributed to each category.
Year 1 Promotional Budget
Year 1 Promotional Budget Total Jewelry Revenue Total Jewelry Revenue Promotional Budget
Total Promotional Budget € Total Promotional Budget € Promotion
Promotion Public Relations Public Relations Events Events Tier 1 Tier 12
Tier 2 Marketing Influencer Influencer Marketing Digital Marketing Digital Marketing Social Media Social Media Paid Media Paid Media Email Marketing
Email Marketing Website Website Non-Traditional Media
Non-Traditional Media Wild Postings Wild Postings Retargeting Banners TotalRetargeting Banners Total
108 |
Cost Cost
€ 14,846,500 € 14,846,500 15% 15% € 2,226,975 € 2,226,975
Percent of Budget Percent of Budget
890,790 € 890,790 334,046 €
40% 40% 15%
445,395 € 445,395 € 66,809 € 66,809 €
20% 20% 3% 3%
334,046 178,158 € 178,158 €
66,809 22,270 € € 22,270 € 111,349 € 111,349 €
111,349 € 2,226,975 2,226,975 €
15% 8% 8%
3% 1% 1%
5% 5% 5% 100%
100%
Promotional Budget 10% Non-Traditional Media
` ` 27% Digital Marketing
63% Public Relations
CHAPTER 8 FINANCIALS
01 # CURRENT SALES Given the disclosed information by Kering group about Saint Laurent’s finances, the following information will demonstrate the projected sales and profit and loss statements for the first three years of the relaunch of the jewelry product category. The financial study was made using several assumptions given industry and market standards because not all of the required information is disclosed by the company.
110 |
CURRENT JEWELRY SALES In order to be able to calculate the projected sales of jewelry, it was first necessary to calculate the current sales of jewelry per category. Beginning with the brand’s overall revenue, the following tables demonstrate how the revenues for the jewelry product category were calculated. The brand only disclosed that 8% of their revenues come from their “other” category which includes makeup, fragrances, jewelry, hats and silk, therefore, percents were estimated for each category given the brand’s apparent strength for each product.
Current Current Revenue Revenue Current Revenue Current Revenue Total Revenue 2018 Total Revenue 2018 € € == Total Revenue 2018 € = Total Revenue 2018 € = Other % = Other % = Other Other % % === Other € €= Other € Other € == = Jewelry Jewelry € €= Jewelry € € === Jewelry Jewelry % %= Jewelry Jewelry % % ==
€ 1,743,500,000 1,743,500,000 € € € 1,743,500,000 1,743,500,000 8.00% 8.00% 8.00% 8.00% € 139,480,000 € 139,480,000 € 139,480,000 € 139,480,000 € 5,579,200 € 5,579,200 € € 5,579,200 5,579,200 0.32% 0.32% 0.32% 0.32%
Revenue Revenue of of the the "Other" "Other" Product Product Category Category Revenue the Category Revenue of of Percent the "Other" "Other" Product Product Category € € Amount Amount Percent € Amount Percent € Amount Percent € Fragrance 35% € 48,818,000 48,818,000 Fragrance 35% € 48,818,000 Fragrance 35% € 48,818,000 Fragrance Makeup 35% € 48,818,000 Makeup 35% € Makeup 35% €€48,818,000 48,818,000 Makeup 35% Jewelry 4% € 5,579,200 5,579,200 Jewelry 4% € 5,579,200 Jewelry 4% € 5,579,200 Jewelry 4% € Hats 3% € 4,184,400 4,184,400 Hats 3% € Hats 3% € 4,184,400 4,184,400 Hats 3% € 27,896,000 Eyewear 20% € 27,896,000 Eyewear 20% € 27,896,000 27,896,000 Eyewear 20% € Eyewear 20% € Silk 3% € 4,184,400 4,184,400 Silk 3% € Silk 3% € 4,184,400 4,184,400 Silk 3% € 139,480,000 Total 100% € 139,480,000 Total 100% € Total 100% € 139,480,000 139,480,000 Total 100%
Earrings Earrings Earrings Earrings Bracelets Bracelets Bracelets Bracelets Necklaces Necklaces Necklaces Necklaces Rings Rings Rings Rings Brooches Brooches Brooches Brooches Total Total Total Total
Earrings Earrings Earrings Earrings Bracelets Bracelets Bracelets Bracelets Necklaces Necklaces Necklaces Necklaces Rings Rings Rings Rings Brooches Brooches Brooches Brooches
Jewelry Jewelry Revenue Revenue Per Per Category Category Jewelry Revenue JewelryPercent Revenue Per Per Category Category € € Amount Amount Percent € Amount Amount Percent € Percent € 35% € 1,952,720 1,952,720 35% € 35% € 1,952,720 1,952,720 35% € 30% € 1,673,760 1,673,760 30% €€1,673,760 1,673,760 30% € 30% 15% € 836,880 836,880 15% € 15% € 836,880 836,880 15% € 836,880 15% € 836,880 15% € 836,880 15% € 5% € 278,960 278,960 5% € 278,960 5% € 278,960 5% € 5,579,200 100% € 5,579,200 100% € 5,579,200 100% € 5,579,200 100% Units Units Sold Sold Per Per Jewelry Jewelry Category Category Units Sold Jewelry Units Sold Per PerQuantity Jewelry Category Category Average SRP Average SRP Quantity Average Quantity Average SRP SRP Quantity 550 3,550 550 3,550 550 3,550 550 3,550 525 3,188 525 3,188 525 3,188 525 3,188 1050 797 1050 797 1050 797 1050 797 350 2,391 350 2,391 350 2,391 350 2,391 550 507 550 507 550 507 550 507 Total 10,434 Total 10,434 Total 10,434 Total 10,434
Jewelry Jewelry Units Units Sold Sold Through Through Wholesale Wholesale Jewelry Units Sold Through Wholesale Jewelry Units Sold Through Wholesale Average SRP Wholesale (Unit) Wholesale Average SRP Wholesale (Unit) Wholesale € € Average SRP Wholesale (Unit) Wholesale € Average SRP Wholesale (Unit) Wholesale € € 275 2272 € 624,870 624,870 275 2272 € 624,870 275 2272 € 624,870 275 2272 € 535,603 262.5 2040 € 535,603 262.5 2040 € 262.5 2040 € 535,603 535,603 262.5 2040 € 525 510 € 267,802 267,802 525 510 € 525 510 € 267,802 267,802 525 510 175 1530 € 267,802 175 1530 € 175 1530 €€267,802 267,802 175 1530 275 325 € 89,267 89,267 275 325 € 89,267 275 325 € 89,267 275 325 € 1,785,344 Total 6678 € 1,785,344 Total 6678 € 1,785,344 Total 6678 € 1,785,344 Total 6678 € € €€ 1,952,720 € € 1,952,720 € 1,952,720 1,952,720 € € € 1,673,760 1,673,760 € 1,673,760 €€1,673,760 € 836,880 836,880 € 836,880 € € 836,880 836,880 € 836,880 € 836,880 € € 278,960 278,960 €5,579,200 278,960 € 278,960 € € 5,579,200 € 5,579,200 € 5,579,200
Jewelry Jewelry Units Units Sold Sold Through Through DOS DOS Jewelry Sold Through Jewelry Units Units Sold Through DOS DOSDOS € Average SRP DOS (Unit) Average SRP DOS (Unit) DOS € In order to calculate the amount Average SRP DOS (Unit) DOS € Average SRP DOS (Unit) DOS € € 550 2414 € 1,327,850 1,327,850 550per jewelry category, 2414an units sold € 1,327,850 550 2414 € 1,327,850 550 2414 € 525 2168 € 1,138,157 1,138,157 2168for average525 retail price was used € 525 2168 € 1,138,157 1,138,157 525 2168 € 1050 542 each 1050 classification. The average € 569,078 569,078 542 € 1050 542 € 569,078 569,078 542 350 1626 price 1050 was calculated given the € 569,078 350 1626 € 569,078 350 1626 € 569,078 price of350 each of the products per 1626 € 550 374 € 205,700 205,700 550 374 € 205,700 550 374 category available through Saint € 205,700 550 374 € 3,809,863 Total 7124 € 3,809,863 Total website. 7124 Laurent € 3,809,863 Total 7124 € 3,809,863 Total 7124
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Jewelry Units Sold Through Wholesale Average SRP
Wholesale (Unit)
Wholesale € € 624,870
275
2272
262.5
2040
€ 535,603
525
510
€ 267,802
175
1530
€ 267,802
325
€ 89,267
6678
€ 1,785,344
275 Total
Jewelry Units Sold Through DOS
€
Average SRP
€ 1,952,720
DOS (Unit)
DOS € € 1,327,850
550
2414
€ 1,673,760
525
2168
€ 1,138,157
€ 836,880
1050
542
€ 569,078
€ 836,880
350
1626
€ 569,078
€ 278,960
550
374
€ 205,700
7124
€ 3,809,863
€ 5,579,200
Total
The brand also published that 68% of their sales come from directly operated stores and 32% from wholesale. Given this information, specific units were allocated to each distribution channel. The wholesale price of each jewelry category was also estimated given industry standards that equate wholesale prices to being half of the suggest retail price.
Jewelry Units Sold Through Wholesale Average SRP 275
Wholesale (Unit) 2272
Wholesale € € 624,870
262.5
2040
€ 535,603
525
510
€ 267,802
175
1530
€ 267,802
275
325
€ 89,267
6678
€ 1,785,344
Total
€
Directly Operated Stores = Wholesale =Jewelry Units Sold Through DOS Average Directly Operated Stores =SRP
68.00% 32.00%
Wholesale = € 1,952,720
550
DOS (Unit) 68.00% 32.00% 2414
DOS € € 3,793,856 1,785,344 € € 1,327,850
€ 1,673,760
525
2168
€ 1,138,157
€ 836,880
1050
542
€ 569,078
Avg SRP
3,793,856 € 1,785,344 € Cost of Goods Sold
Avg Production Units Sold at Full Price Margin Total Profit Cost ofPrice Goods Sold
Units Sold at W
Avg SRP Avg Production Price Units Sold at Full Price€ Margin Total Profit Units Sold 2414 at Wholesale Price Margin Total Profit € 550 79 € 189,693 Earrings 86% € 836,880 € 569,078 350 1626 € 550 € 79 € 189,693 € 178,534 Earrings 2414 86% 2272 71% € 525 € 75 € 162,594 Bracelets 2168 86% € 278,960 € 205,700 374 € 525 550 € 75 € 162,594 € 153,029 Bracelets 2168 86% 2040 71% € 5,579,200 € 3,809,863 Total € 1,050 € 150 € 81,297 542 86% € 1,050 € 150 7124 € 81,297 € 76,515 Necklaces Necklaces 542 86% 510 71% Rings Brooches
Rings
€ 350
€ 550
Brooches
Total Cost of Goods Sold
€ 50 € 350 € 79
€ 550 Total
1,054,364.46 €
Total Cost of Goods Sold
1626 € 374
86% 50
86%
€ 79
Total 1,054,364.46 €
All of these estimates were then used to calculate the cost of goods sold for the jewelry product category. An estimate for the average production price of each category was made using industry standards which approximate the markup of jewelry from luxury brands to be at least seven times the production price. Therefore, the average suggested retail price was divided by seven.
112 |
€ 81,297
€ 29,386 € 544,266
1626
1530 86% 325
374 Total 86%
€ 76,515 71% € 81,297 71%
€ 25,505
€ 29,386 € 510,098
€ 544,266
02 # PROJECTED SALES
Using the estimated current sales, the following projection of sales showcase the merchandise assortment of jewelry for both directly operated stores and wholesale distribution year one, following the relaunch. Given that Saint Laurent will provide holistic support to their jewelry collection and visual merchandising, promotion and distribution efforts will be improved, it is estimated that the company will be able to grow the product category one and half times the first year. The brand will also augment the overall production volume in order to be able to fulfill the increased demand for the product. The tables on the following page represent the merchandise assortment plans for both directly operated stores and wholesale distribution per month.
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2020 Category
Average SRP
Oct
2021
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Earrings
€ 550
500
600
700
600
500
600
500
450
Bracelets
€ 525
450
500
550
500
550
500
450
200
Necklaces
€ 1,050
190
220
250
220
200
220
180
180
Rings
€ 350
350
380
430
360
430
390
360
360
Brooches
€ 550
150
180
200
170
200
160
150
140
MERCHANDISE ASSORTMENT
Total Directly Operated Stores Sales Per Category Per Month
Directly Operated Stores
2020 Units Per Category Per Month Category
Category
Average SRP
Earrings
Earrings € 550
Bracelets
€ 525 Bracelets
Necklaces Rings Brooches
2020
Average SRP
Oct
€ 1,050
€ 550 Rings
Dec
Jan
Nov
Feb
€ 550 600
€ 275,000 700
450
500 € 525
550 € 236,250
500€
350
€ 1,050 380
€ 199,500 430
360
150
180 € 350
200 € 122,500
190
Necklaces € 350
Oct
Nov
500
220
€ 550
Brooches
250
€ 330,000 500
600
€ 82,500
Mar
2021 2021
Dec
Apr
€ 600 385,000
Jan
550 262,500
€500 288,750
450 €
€ 231,000 430
€390 262,500
360
200 133,000
€ 160 150,500
150 €
€ 99,000
€ 110,000
220
170 €
200
Total
220
Feb
May
€ 330,000 450
500
Jun
200 262,500
400 € 288,750
€ 231,000 360
€ 210,000 340
140 126,000
€ 93,500
180
180
€ 550
Earrings
Dec
€ 275,000
€ 330,000
Jan
Feb
€ 385,000
€ 330,000 € 262,500
Mar
€ 189,000 360
4450
145 € 150,500
145136,500 155 €
160 € 126,000
1955 €
€ 110,000
€ 88,000
€ 262,500
€ 236,250
€ 105,000
€ 210,000
€ 210,000
€ 231,000
€ 189,000
€ 189,000
€ 157,500
€ 157,500
€ 150,500
€ 136,500
€ 126,000
€ 126,000
€ 119,000
€ 119,000
€ 110,000
€ 88,000
€ 82,500
€ 77,000
€ 79,750
€ 79,750
€ 262,500
€ 288,750
Necklaces
€ 231,000
€ 262,500
€ 231,0002020 € 210,000
Rings
€ 350
€ 122,500
€ 133,000
€ 150,500
€ 126,000
€ 550
€ 82,500
€ 99,000
€ 110,000
€ 93,500
Category Earrings
Earrings
Average SRP
€ 275
Bracelets
€ 263
Necklaces
€ 525
Rings
Average SRP
€ 275 Brooches
Oct
500
Oct
Nov
500
€ 275 550
400
500
Nov
550 Total
400
Wholesale Retailers
320
Jan
450
60
Jan
450
450
400
Feb 450
90 400
450
300
60
May 300
90 280
300
250
Bracelets
€ 263
Necklaces
€ 525
80
130
120
130
120
80
70
70
Rings
€ 175
300
320
290
320
250
220
220
210
Brooches
€ 275
60
90
60
90
50
40
40
30
400
350
Total
2020 Category Category Earrings Bracelets Necklaces Rings Brooches
Average SRP Earrings
€ 275
Bracelets € 263 € 525 Necklaces € 175
Rings € 275
Brooches
Total Jewelry Revenue
Average 2020 SRP Oct € 137,500
€ 123,750
€ 123,750
€ 42,000
€€ 68,250 525
€ 118,125
€ 52,500
€ 56,000 € 24,750
€ 263 € 175
€ 275
Feb € 151,250
Dec
Mar€
Apr 123,750
Jan 2021
May € 123,750
€ 110,000
€ 82,500
€ 78,750
€€ 63,000 € 68,250 € € 63,000 42,000 68,250
€ 91,875
€ 78,750
€ 42,000 € 36,750€ € 63,000
€ 50,750
€ 56,000
€ 43,750
€ 38,500
€ 38,500
€ 16,500
€ 24,750
€ 13,750
€ 11,000
€ 11,000
€ 131,250
€ 52,500
€ 56,000
€ 16,500
€ 24,750 Total
14,846,500 €
126,000
20175
€ 77,000
Sep
Total € 3,355,000
€ 225,750
€ 225,750
€ 2,814,000
€ 178,500
€ 189,000
2021 € 2,425,500
€ 122,500
€ 126,000
€ 1,557,500
€ 85,250
€ 88,000
400
300
Jun
May
€ 1,075,250
300 € 11,227,250
280
300
250
120
80
70
70
250
220
220
210
280
Total
Apr
350
50
Jul
250
Aug 290
40 350
250
350
Sep
Total
300
40
300
4100
70
70
90
70
1100
220
260
240
3060
40Wholesale 45
Retailers 55
30
4550
210
€ 105,000
Feb
Mar
€Jun 110,000
Jul
50
650 13460
Apr
Aug € 110,000
Sep €
May
Total 82,500
€ 77,000
€ 77,000
€ 79,750
€ 96,250
€ 82,500
€ 1,251,250
€ 65,625
€ 65,625
€ 91,875
€ 36,750 € 47,250 € 63,000€ 36,750 € 42,000
€ 78,750
€ 1,076,250
€ 36,750 € 577,500€ € 36,750
€ 36,750
€ 36,750
€ 38,500
€ 45,500
€ 42,000
€ 535,500
€ 8,250
€ 11,000
€ 12,375
€ 15,125
€ 13,750
€ 178,750
€ 77,000
€ 118,125
€ 65,625
€ 36,750 68,250
€ 50,750
€ 56,000
€ 16,500
€ 24,750
€ 78,750
€ 43,750
€ 13,750 Total
14,846,500 €
€ 189,000
2021
€ 110,000
€ 105,000
2310
€ 220,000
Sales Per Category Per Month
Nov
€ 105,000
€ 16,500
€ 151,250
Oct Dec € 137,500Jan
€ 82,500
5360 € 105,000
Wholesale Retailers
Sales Per Category Per Month
€ 131,250
€ 105,000
Total Jewelry Revenue
114 |
€Nov 275
€ 220,000
Mar
400
130 320
Apr
400
Feb
2021
290
Mar
180
Units Per Category Per Month
450
120 Units130 Per Category Per Month
300
Dec
Dec
500
80
2020
€ 175
€ 288,750
170
Wholesale Retailers Jul Aug € 220,000
€ 236,250
Category
Jun
€ 247,500
€ 199,500
Brooches
May € 247,500
€ 525
May € 247,500
6100
€ 231,000 350
150
€ 275,000
€ 1,050
Bracelets
Apr
€ 275,000 € 330,000
Total
340
2021
Nov
Sep
€ 275,000 400
430 € 236,250
Sales Per Category Per Month Oct
Apr
Aug
Total
2020 Average SRP
Mar
400 430 € 262,500
150
Directly Operated Stores
Category
Jul
€ 275,000 € 330,000 450 400 400
€ 91,875
€ 38,500 € 11,000
€ 78,750
€ 38,500
€ 65,625 36,750
€ 36,750
€ 11,000 3,619,250 € € 8,250
Compared Compared Revenues Revenues for for Jewelry Jewelry Before Launch 2019-2020 After Before Launch 2019-2020 After Launch Launch 2020 2020 -- 2021 2021 DOS Wholesale DOS Wholesale DOS Wholesale DOS Wholesale
Units Units € €
Percentage Percentage
7124 7124 € 3,809,863 € 3,809,863 68.0% 68.0%
6678 20175 13460 6678 20175 13460 € 1,785,344 € 11,227,250 € 3,619,250 € 1,785,344 € 11,227,250 € 3,619,250 32.0% 75.6% 24.4% 32.0% 75.6% 24.4%
Annual Annual Merchandising Merchandising Plan Plan DOS DOS Category Units % Sales % % Category Units % Sales Earrings 30% 30% Earrings 30% 30% Bracelets Bracelets Necklaces Necklaces
27% 27% 11% 11%
Rings Rings Brooches Brooches
25% 25% 22% 22%
22% 22% 10% 10%
14% 14% 10% 10%
Annual Annual Merchandising Merchandising Plan Plan Wholesale Wholesale Category Units % Sales Category Units % Sales % %
Earrings Earrings Bracelets Bracelets
34% 34% 30% 30% 8% 8%
Necklaces Necklaces Rings Rings
r Jewelry
23% 23% 5% 5%
Brooches Brooches After Launch 2020 - 2021
DOS
35% 35% 30% 30% 16% 16%
15% 15% 5% 5%
Wholesale
20175 13460 € 11,227,250 € 3,619,250
Cost of Goods Sold Compared Cost of Goods Sold Compared Revenues Revenues for for Jewelry Jewelry Average SRP Average Production Price Units Sold atCost Full Price Total Cost Units1 Sold Wholesale Price Tota Average SRP Average Production Price Units Sold at Full Price Total Units Sold at Wholesale Price Total at Cost Current Year Change Change Current Year 1 Change € € Change % % 75.6% Earrings 24.4% € 79 Total € 479,286 14,846,500 € 79 € 479,2866100 € 5,595,207 € 357,500 Earrings € 550 € 550 4550 165%€ 6100 4550 Total Jewelry Jewelry Revenue Revenue € 5,595,207 € € 14,846,500 € € 9,251,293 9,251,293 165% € 75 € 402,000 € 307,500 Bracelets € 525 € 75 5360 € 402,000 4100 € Bracelets € 525 5360 4100 Necklaces
Rings
€ 1,050
Necklaces Rings
Brooches
Brooches
€ 350
€ 150
€ 1,050 € 350
€ 550
€ 50
€ 79
€ 550Total
Total Cost of Goods
€ 150
€ 50
€ 79
2310
€ 346,500
4450
€ 222,500
1955
€ 153,607
Total
2310
€ 346,500 1100
4450
€ 222,500
€ 1,603,8931955
€ 153,607 Total
€ 2,637,964
Total Cost of Goods
€ 1,603,893
€ 165,000
3060
€ 153,000
650
€ 51,071 € 1,034,071
1100
€
3060
€
650 €
Total
€ 2,637,964
Compared Revenues for Jewelry Before Launch 2019-2020 After Launch 2020 - 2021 DOS Units €
Wholesale
7124 € 3,809,863
Percentage
68.0%
DOS
Wholesale
6678 20175 13460 € 1,785,344 € 11,227,250 € 3,619,250 32.0%
75.6%
24.4%
Annual Merchandising Plan DOS
Compared Revenues Sales for Jewelry Units % %
Category
Change € Earrings Current 30%Year 1 30% € 5,595,207 € 14,846,500 € Total Jewelry Revenue Bracelets 27% 25% 9,251,293 Necklaces
11%
Change % 165%
The projected sales for the first year of the relaunch of the jewelry product category reveal that the product category grew by 165%. The following tables outline the comparison of the product category for the year before the relaunch and the year after the relaunch.
22%
Rings
22%
14%
Brooches
10%
10%
Annual Merchandising Plan Wholesale Category
Units %
Sales %
Earrings
34%
35%
Bracelets
30%
30%
8%
16%
23%
15%
Necklaces Rings
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03 # PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENTS
Profit & Loss for Year Ended 2021 (Year 1) Revenue Profit & Loss for Year Ended 2021 (Year€1) 14,846,500 €14,846,500 2,637,964 Cost of Goods Sold Revenue Profit & Loss for Year Ended 2021 (Year€1) € 2,637,964 Expenses Cost of Goods Sold € 14,846,500 Revenue € 445,395 Commissions at 3% Expenses € 2,637,964 Cost of Goods Sold € 2,226,975 € 445,395 Promotion Commissions at 3% Expenses 744,200 €€ 2,226,975 In-Store Displays Promotion € 445,395 Commissions at 3% € 98,530 € 744,200 Employee Gift In-Store Displays € 2,226,975 Promotion € 3,515,100 € 98,530 Total Expenses Employee Gift € 744,200 In-Store Displays €€8,693,436 Income Before Tax Total Expenses €3,515,100 98,530 Employee Gift € 2,434,162 € 8,693,436 Tax at Total 28% Income Before Tax € 3,515,100 Expenses €€8,693,436 6,259,274 2,434,162 Profit Tax at 28% € Income Before Tax € 6,259,274 Profit € 2,434,162 Tax at 28% Profit & Loss for Year Ended 2022 (Year 2) € 6,259,274 Profit € (Year 2) Revenue Profit & Loss for Year Ended 2022 25,239,050 € Cost of Goods Sold 4,543,029 Revenue Profit & Loss for Year Ended 2022 (Year 2) 25,239,050 Expenses Cost of Goods Sold 4,543,029 € Revenue 25,239,050 Commissions at 3% 757,172 Expenses € Cost of Goods Sold 4,543,029 € Promotion 3,028,686 Commissions at 3% 757,172 Expenses € In-Store Displays 603,750 Promotion 3,028,686 Commissions at 3% 757,172 Total Expenses 4,389,608 In-Store Displays 603,750 € Promotion 3,028,686 Income BeforeDisplays Tax 16,306,414 Total Expenses 4,389,608 € In-Store 603,750 € Tax at 28% 4,565,796 Income Before Tax 16,306,414 Total Expenses 4,389,608 € Profit Tax 11,740,618 at 28% 4,565,796 Income Before Tax 16,306,414 Profit Tax at 28% 11,740,618 € 4,565,796 Profit & Loss for Year Ended 2022 (Year 3) € Profit 11,740,618 € (Year 3) Revenue Profit & Loss for Year Ended 2022 40,382,480 € (Year 3) Cost of Goods 7,268,846 Revenue 40,382,480 ProfitSold & Loss for Year Ended 2022 Expenses Cost of Goods Sold 7,268,846 € Revenue 40,382,480 € Commissions at 3% 1,211,474 Expenses Cost of Goods Sold 7,268,846 € Promotion 3,634,423 Commissions at 3% 1,211,474 Expenses In-Store Displays 579,600 Promotion 3,634,423 € Commissions at 3% 1,211,474 Total Expenses 5,425,498 In-Store Displays 579,600 € Promotion 3,634,423 € Income BeforeDisplays Tax 27,688,136 Total Expenses 5,425,498 In-Store 579,600 € Tax at 28% 7,752,678 Income Before Tax 27,688,136 Total Expenses 5,425,498 Profit 19,935,458 Tax at 28% 7,752,678 € Income Before Tax 27,688,136 € Profit Tax at 28% 19,935,458 7,752,678 € Profit 19,935,458
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Percent of Total Revenue Year 0 - 2019/2020 Year 1 - 2020/2021 € 1,743,500,000 € 1,850,000,000 Saint Laurent Total Revenue € 5,579,200 € 14,846,500 Jewelry Total Revenue % of Total Revenue 0.32% 0.80% * Saint Laurent's total revenue for year's 1 to 3 are estimated given brand's goals
Year 2 - 2021/2022 € 2,000,000,000 € 25,239,050 1.26%
Year 3 - 2022/2023 € 2,150,000,000 € 40,382,480 1.88%
Using the estimated current sales, the following projection of sales showcase the merchandise assortment of jewelry for both directly operated stores and wholesale distribution year one, following the relaunch. Given that Saint Laurent will provide holistic support to their jewelry collection and visual merchandising, promotion and distribution efforts will be improved, it is estimated that the company will be able to grow the product category one and half times the first year. The brand will also augment the overall production volume in order to be able to fulfill the increased demand for the product. The tables on the following page represent the merchandise assortment plans for both directly operated stores and wholesale distribution per month.
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CONCLUSION Brand relevancy in this digital age is very important because a company may easily become obsolete and forgotten if it isn’t constantly making changes and adapting to today’s modern times. Adapting and changing don’t always mean incorporating something new, it’s also about a brand conducting an introspective analysis and identifying any areas of opportunity where the brand can improve. Saint Laurent Paris is a brand that continues to be highly desirable to this day. Nevertheless, to continue to endure these harsh times, this project suggests and supports the relaunch of Saint Laurent’s jewelry line. A relaunch of the Saint Laurent jewelry line will help the brand continue to build an innovative future by debuting a stronger product category that preserves the brand’s rich heritage and acts as a revenue driver for the company. Primary and secondary research have unveiled that the jewelry product category f rom Saint Laurent needs holistic support f rom the entire brand in order to grow and potentially represent 5% of the company’s revenues. This will be executed through continuous support f rom the brand by cross merchandising the category, giving it a unique launch, an independent campaign and
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dedicated space within the store. Other key f indings also revealed that there is an overall lack of innovation in the showcasing of jewelry f rom luxury brands. Saint Laurent will solve for this introducing new visual merchandising displays in all of its directly operated stores. Furthermore, the research also disclosed that the Millennial consumer is looking for branded jewelry that they can wear on a daily basis. This trend coupled with the forecasted growth of the fashion jewelry market and correct support f rom the brand will ensure that the relaunch is successful. The success of this initiative for Saint Laurent will not only help the brand reach its goal of 2 billion euros in revenue by 2022, but it will also work towards continuing to build brand equity. Saint Laurent should invest its time and money in the relaunch of their jewelry product category because the efforts will ensure healthy growth and relevancy in an industry where brands must adapt and evolve in order to remain signif icant. The jewelry product category for Saint Laurent is a beautiful addition and representation of the brand and its relaunch will continue to create desire for its consumers.
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Moore, Booth. “Saint Laurent.” WWD: Women’s Wear Daily, Sept. 2019, p. 13. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tr ue&db=buh&AN=138927559&site=bsi-live. Palmieri, Jean E. “The Millennial Mind-Set.” WWD: Women’s Wear Daily, Mar. 2019, p. 31. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.as px?direct=true&db=buh&AN=135717848&site=bsi-live. Paul Zimnisky. “Value of Selected Jewelry Markets Worldwide in 2018, with a Forecast for 2023 and 2035, by Market Type (in Billion U.S. Dollars)*.” Statista, Statista Inc., 28 Aug 2018, https://0-www-statista-com.library.scad.edu/statistics/970789/value-forecast-ofselected-jewelry-markets-worldwide/ “Presentation 2018 Full Year Results.” Kering, https://keringcorporate.dam.kering.com/m/445b0aac1c29e215/original/Presentation2018-Full-year-results-.pdf. Raimonde, Olivia. “There Are More than 600,000 Millennial Millionaires in the US, According to Report.” CNBC, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/10/16/us-has-more-than-600000-millennial-millionaires-according-to-report.html. “Reaching Affluent Millennials.” BBC Global News, BBC Global News , www.bbcglobalnews.com/media/2967/reaching-affluentmillennials-one-pager-27-oct-2016.pdf. Reuters. “Tiffany & Co. Sales Take a Hit.” The Business of Fashion, The Business of Fashion, 5 Dec. 2019, www.businessoffashion.com/ articles/news-analysis/tiffany-co-sales-take-a-hit. Richards, Katie. “Jewelry Brand Pandora Is Overhauling U.S. Stores to Focus on Experiences.” Glossy, 18 Nov. 2019, www.glossy.co/ fashion/jewelry-brand-pandora-is-overhauling-u-s-stores-to-focus-on-experiences. Rysman, Laura. “Gucci Moves Its Fine Jewelry Line Upmarket.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Dec. 2017, https://www. nytimes.com/2017/12/05/fashion/jewelry-gucci-alessandro-michele.html. Sherman, Lauren. “Can Balenciaga Become a Megabrand?” The Business of Fashion, The Business of Fashion, 4 Dec. 2019, www. businessoffashion.com/articles/professional/can-balenciaga-become-a-megabrand. “Signet Jewelers Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2020 Financial Results.” Business Wire, 5 Sept. 2019, www.businesswire.com/news/ home/20190905005259/en/Signet-Jewelers-Reports-Quarter-Fiscal-2020-Financial. Smith, Ray A. “To Reach Millennials, High-End Jewelers Try New Products-and Approach.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 19 June 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-reach-millennials-high-end-jewelers-try-new-productsandapproach-1529413898. Spencer, Mimosa. “High-End Fashion Brands Pile Into Jewelry Accessories.” WWD: Women’s Wear Daily, Nov. 2018, p. 24. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=133029905&site=bsi-live. Statista. “Largest Fashion Jewelry Markets Worldwide from 2016 to 2021, by Selected Market (in Million U.S. Dollars).” Statista, Statista Inc., 13 Feb 2019, https://0-www-statista-com.library.scad.edu/statistics/971246/largest-fashion-jewelry-markets-worldwideby-market/ “The Psych Rock Collection from Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane.” Vogue Paris, Vogue France, 9 Jan. 2019, https://www.vogue.fr/ fashion/fashion-news/diaporama/the-psych-rock-collection-from-saint-laurent-by-hedi-slimane/18192. Tashjian, Rachel. “How Sustainability Became a Luxury Value.” GQ, GQ, 26 Aug. 2019, www.gq.com/story/luxury-sustainability-g7. Taylor, Alex J. “Saint Laurent Psych Rock Collection for Men and Women.” HERO Magazine, hero-magazine.com/article/32184/saintlaurent-psych-rock-collection-for-men-and-women/. Team, BoF. “BoF FAQs: Chanel.” The Business of Fashion, The Business of Fashion, 20 Dec. 2018, www.businessoffashion.com/ articles/careers/bof-faqs-chanel. “UHNW Millennials: A Growing Generation of Wealth.” Wealth X, 18 Dec. 2017, www.wealthx.com/report/uhnw-millennials-growinggeneration-wealth/#downloadform. Vidalon, Dominique, and Pascale Denis. “Kering’s Yves Saint Laurent Expects to Double Sales in Mid-Term.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 20 June 2017, www.reuters.com/article/us-kering-saintlaurent/kerings-yves-saint-laurent-expects-to-double-sales-in-midterm-idUSKBN19A2BE. Vogels, Emily A. “Millennials Stand out for Their Technology Use, but Older Generations Also Embrace Digital Life.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 9 Sept. 2019, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/09/us-generations-technology-use/. 122 |
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APPENDIX
APPENDIX A - EMILIANA SIMON 1. Tell me a little bit about yourself? I am 21 years old, I was born in Caracas, Venezuela and I am studying Fashion Marketing and Management at SCAD. I started to be interested in Fashion when I was 16 years old. 2. Why did you start liking fashion? I have had the opportunity to travel a lot and I began to notice and take interest in the different styles of the cities. For example, NY people don’t dress the same as the people in Miami. 3. What are your favorite fashion brands? 3.1 Phillip Lim, Loewe but just its ready-to-wear, old Celine, Jonathan Simkhai, Alexander Wang, Proenza and Saint Laurent. 4. Have you bought anything from these brands that you mentioned? Yes, mainly shoes and bags, I cant really afford their ready-towear at the moment. 5. What about jewelry? Do you use jewelry? Yes, I wear rings, earrings and bracelets, but my favorite is bracelets. 6. Do you change your jewelry often? Yes or no and why? Because all the pieces that I own are multi-functional and I can wear them to class or to a party. Right now my favorite piece is a vintage bracelet that my grandma gave me. 7. Do you own any luxury jewelry? I own a Cartier juste un clou ring and the oui ring from dior. 8. Why did you purchase these rings? The Cartier ring was a graduation present that I chose because I believe it to be a classic yet edgy ring that I can use every day and keep forever. The other one was a gift as well from her family. 9. From the fashion brands that you mentioned you like the most, do you know if they have jewelry collections? I know Saint Laurent and Celine have jewelry but I’m not sure about Alexander Wang or Proenza.
10. Do you know what type of jewelry Saint Laurent and Celine sells? I know Celine has kind of like chunky and edgy jewelry, I only know of one Saint Laurent bracelet, the YSL cuff bracelet and I also feel they use more silver than gold. 11. What do you look for in a brand when buying jewelry? Quality and aesthetics. 12. Do you buy fashion jewelry or prefer fine jewelry? I own more fine jewelry than fashion jewelry, but if I like a jewelry trend that I know will not last, I consider buying it as a fashion jewelry piece. 13. If you had to describe Saint Laurent with three words, what would they be? Edgy, Rockstar and high end. 14. What do you like about Saint Laurent the most? I love their shoes; they are really comfortable. Their clothing is cool because its young but still elegant and anyone at any age can use it. 15. What do you feel the brand is doing right? They have cohesiveness throughout the brand, you can tell when something is Saint Laurent. Oh, and their website is very user-friendly. 16. What do you feel the brand is doing wrong? To my knowledge I don’t think they’re doing anything wrong. 17. Do you think there is something that Saint Laurent could improve? I feel that some of their stores are not very well distributed, for example, the store in Bal Harbor has a bunch of leather goods and the ready-to-wear is at the end and it is not given enough attention
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APPENDIX B - FABIANA DOMINGUEZ 1. Tell me a little bit about yourself? I was born in Caracas, Venezuela and I study furniture design and I am 25 years old. I like the practicity or functionality of things, I like repetitions and colors but not in my clothing and I believe in second chances.
9. From the fashion brands that you mentioned you like the most, do you know if they have jewelry collections? I know Marni has and they are very funky and big statement pieces. I’m not sure about Bottega and I know Givenchy has some jewelry.
2. Do you like fashion? If so, why did you start liking fashion? I like fashion, I think dressing every day is an interpretation of who we are. I like experimenting with different prints or clashing of prints. I like multi-function objects, such as a scarf becoming a shirt or very long pants converting them into culottes. I like dressing comfortably as well, that is very important to me.
10. Would you consider buying jewelry from any of the brands you mentioned above? Yes, I like Marni. My mom has these earrings from them that I always wear, they are a statement piece that elevates a total outfit to another level.
3. What are your favorite fashion brands? I like Marni, Bottega, Vince, Golden Goose, Givenchy and Loewe. 4. Have you bought anything from these brands that you mentioned? Golden goose are my everyday shoes but when I’m not working in the shop because it can get very messy. I have a Bottega purse as well, and even more their new designs and how they are using the heel in shoes in many different ways. I also buy a lot of Vince for everyday looks. 5. What about jewelry? Do you use jewelry? I’m a really basic girl, but when the occasion permits its I do like to wear more statement pieces. But every day I do wear jewelry that I don’t take off.
11. Do you usually buy more fine or fashion jewelry? I think both. I think mixing fashion and fine jewelry is a good combination and a perfect way to style an outfit. It also depends on a person’s budget. 12. What about Saint Laurent, do you know of the brand? I do, I own more than three pairs of heels from them. I really like their style and most of all that they are really comfortable. They are also very good quality because they have been with me for many years and I think that they don’t go out of style. They are also very wearable for both day and night, overall unique quality investment pieces. 13. If you had to describe Saint Laurent with three words, what would they be? Elegant, powerful and cool.
6. Do you change your jewelry often? Yes or no and why? I don’t change my jewelry often unless I have to dress up. If not, I like to wear my jewelry every day that is of good quality and has durability.
14. What do you like about Saint Laurent the most? I like that they are a unisex brand and applies this to a lot of their products, meaning that a lot of their collection for men can be worn by women and vice versa.
7. Do you own any luxury jewelry? Yes I own the Cartier love bracelet, a Tiffany silver ring with roman numerals and a dainty diamond ring from Dior.
15. What do you feel the brand is doing right? Like I mentioned before, their shoes are extremely comfortable, and they have lasted me so many years.
8. Why did you purchase this jewelry? Like I previously mentioned, I like the design and the aesthetics of the brand but also wanted piece that would match my everyday casual looks and that they that doesn’t spoil with use, that they have good durability .
16. Do you think there is something that Saint Laurent could improve? I don’t have sufficient knowledge to respond to that, but I do know what I like about them as I just said.
APPENDIX C - JUAN ANTONIO LLOREDA 1. Tell me a little bit about yourself? I am 22 years old and I was born in Cali, Colombia where I lived up until I was ten, and then I moved to Miami, Florida. Currently, I am living in Madrid, Spain because I am studying Business at the IE University in Madrid.
From Saint Laurent I have bought a large variety of items, mostly shoes, jeans, t-shirts and even their perfume. I own a couple of Gucci shoes and a Rolex watch. I used to own a BMW when I was living in Miami but I ended the lease once I decided to go study in Spain.
2. Do you like fashion? If so, why did you start liking fashion? I like fashion in general, but I wouldn’t say I’m up to date on the latest trends. I am definitely conscious of what I wear and what is generally trendy, but don’t follow the world of fashion very closely.
5. What about jewelry? Do you use jewelry? I only use a watch, if you consider a watch as part of the jewelry category. If not, I don’t wear any jewelry, not even any chain necklaces, bracelets or rings.
3. What are your favorite fashion brands? I like Rolex, Saint Laurent, BMW and Gucci.
6. From the fashion brands that you mentioned you like the most, do you know if they have jewelry collections? I know Saint Laurent has some unisex rings and Gucci has watches and jewelry as well.
4. Have you bought anything from these brands that you mentioned? I do currently own items from Saint Laurent, Rolex and Gucci. 124 |
7. Would you consider buying jewelry from any of the brands
you mentioned above? I would consider buying jewelry from Saint Laurent or Gucci but not for myself, I would buy it as a gift. If I had to buy jewelry for myself, it would probably be a rosary or chain with a cross pendant, something religious, not anything trendy. A while ago I was actually bought a heart necklace at Saint Laurent for my girlfriend. At the time it happened to be Saint Laurent, but in the future I am not tied down to that brand as the only place I would buy jewelry to gift someone, for me it would come to design and whether I like a brand’s jewelry or not. 8. If you had to describe Saint Laurent with three words, what would they be? Stylish, simple and young. 9. What do you feel the brand is doing right? I believe that the quality of the clothing from Saint Laurent is
really good. For me, it is the only brand whose jeans have lasted me for more than 3 years and their shoes last even longer. I like that their store layout is also simple, and everything is easy to see, it is not cluttered. Gucci and Louis Vuitton, I feel display so many items that you really can’t appreciate everything that they have on display. Especially for the men’s section which is what I know best, all of their products are perfectly displayed, they are easy to see, and they offer a little bit of everything. I don’t like when there are too many options for just product. 10. Do you think there is something that Saint Laurent could improve? I can’t think of anything that the brand could possibly improve on, I really like the brand overall. Like I said, their quality for me is the best.
APPENDIX D - CAROLINA PUNCELES 1. Tell me a little bit about yourself? My name is Carolina, I am 40 years old, I have two daughters and I am from Caracas, Venezuela. I am an interior decorator but am very passionate about fashion as well. 2. Why do you like fashion? You can craft your own personality and style with fashion, and I like the visual and aesthetic aspect that this world has to offer. With globalization now a days, everything has a tendency to be the same, but with fashion you can be different, distinguish yourself and just be unique. Fashion gives you the opportunity to be in the know with what is trending, nevertheless there is always room to learn more and it is something that is always changing and adapting. 3. What are your favorite fashion brands? Delpozo, Valentino, Isabel Marant and Dior. 4. Have you bought anything from these brands that you mentioned? Yes, I have bought a variety of ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes and accessories from these brands. Delpozo is more for special occasions and I like it for its architectural flair. Valentino and Dior are lifetime classics but always changing and evolving with a flair. Isabel Marant is the perfect everyday uniform with a bit of a chic bohemian touch. 5. What about jewelry? Do you use jewelry? Yes, I love jewelry. I like simple jewelry for everyday use and more ethnic, avant-garde, art deco statement pieces for a special occasion. 6. Do you change your jewelry often? Yes or no and why? I have bracelets and necklaces that I wear every day and never take off, unless I have to dress up for a special occasion. These everyday pieces I layer, for example I’m wearing three simple chain necklaces with pendants and a variety of bracelets. I mix high end with lower priced pieces; I think it’s the perfect combination. 7. Do you own any luxury brand jewelry? Yes, I have a Cartier bracelet the just un clou and a love bracelet, several Van Cleef pieces and a Harry Winston necklace, and a vintage piece that I bought at auction at Sotheby’s. I also have a lot of jewelry that comes from a variety of jewelers which I have known for a long time now. These jewelers already know my style and they send me pieces that they think I like every so often.
8. Why did you purchase these brand name pieces? I bought these pieces because I believe they are elegant timeless pieces which will never go out of fashion. They are also very easy to wear because I can either dress them up or down, meaning that I can layer them with both higher end or lower end jewelry. 9. From the fashion brands that you mentioned you like the most, do you know if they have jewelry collections? I know Isabel Marant has gypsy fashion jewelry, Dior also has both fashion and fine jewelry, I’m not sure about Delpozo, I know they have accessories but not sure about jewelry and Valentino probably has jewelry as well. 10. What do you look for in a brand when buying jewelry? If it’s an important piece, I would like the piece to be aesthetically pleasing and that it’s a good investment (won’t lose its price over time). But when I buy fashion jewelry, I don’t like to spend that much because it’s something that will go out of trend. So, I do buy fashion jewelry because it’s fun and trendy, but no so expensive then. 11. What about Saint Laurent? Do you like Saint Laurent? Yes, very much. Saint Laurent ever since it was founded has been an important fashion house. A lot of what fashion is now a days is because of him. The brand has always been very avant-garde and breaks with traditions. 12. If you had to describe Saint Laurent with three words, what would they be? Elegant, bold, sublime. 13. Do you know if Saint Laurent sells jewelry? I know they have jewelry but honestly, I don’t know anything about it. 14. What do you like about Saint Laurent the most? I like their tuxedo for women, that is something that is very classic for them and that fashion owes to Yves Saint Laurent for making it trendy. 15. Do you think there is something that Saint Laurent could improve? Honestly, now that you mention jewelry, I would like the brand to publicize their jewelry collection more. I know nothing about it at the moment but would be interesting in learning more. | 125
APPENDIX E - ROBERTA DEMESKO 1. Tell me a little about your professional background? I’ve worked in luxury for fashion in Europe for more than 15 years, my first degree was in Art History and then I did an MBA at the Bocconi in Milan, Italy and from there I decided to focus on Made in Italy, so Italian luxury fashion. I started at Gucci as an assistant buyer and then wholesale account manager and then back to European buying. During that time I worked for the categories from fine jewelry, silver jewelry, fashion jewelry, shoes, household goods like furniture, perfumes, sunglasses, watches, and then my main focus at the end for the last six years was women’s shoes. I was the associate product manager worldwide for the development of the collection, so working with the design team. Then I went to Roberto Cavalli as the worldwide accessories development manager and working with the design team there. I was there for a little over a year and then I went to Bally in Switzerland and I worked there for about 5 years and then I went to Versace and I was the European retail director for the directly operated stores and also overseeing the assortment for e-commerce which I had done while I was at Bally as well. Now I am here at SCAD teaching fashion. There is probably not a position within a luxury company that I have not had related to retail and a company that if I haven’t worked for them, I have definitely interviewed with them. So, I have a lot of knowledge and research on other brands as well for interview purposes. 2. Out of all the brands you have worked with, with which have your worked with fashion jewelry the most? That would have to be Gucci, Versace and Cavalli. Cavalli has a fantastic quality and price point and design content. I know the designer for the brand and know he has his own private label now and has been featured in Vogue and a lot of celebrities were him as well. So, Gucci was for fine jewelry, so when I worked at Gucci they didn’t have fashion jewelry, it was fine jewelry but really very interesting and unique designs that were happened to be made in stones and diamonds. So, really interesting for people who already have the basic diamond jewelry. And then of course for them at the time silver was considered the fashion entry price point just like for Tiffany’s in reality. 3. Do you feel that when the brand (Gucci) later introduced fashion jewelry, do you think that lower priced jewelry served as an entry-point or why were these lower priced lines introduced? Well I wasn’t there when Alessandro Michele introduced fashion jewelry, but I think he introduced it because the type of designs, heavily vintage inspired and retro that are constant with the rest of his designs and aesthetics, they are much more accessible price point wise if they are not done as in precious stones and metals. Also production process wise the level of details for the animals, especially on rings, he loves wearing multiple rings, was much much easier in the non-noble metals. So I think to offer that to a wider range of customers for sure. 4. What is your take on fashion jewelry for men, what can you tell me about that? I think it is definitely a growing part of the business. Versace was the most limited period of experience for me just because I was there the least amount of time in the company (just over a year), but their brand has a very significant component for men. Also because at this point I think you also have to look at unisex jewelry because unfortunately in fashion you have to classify things for an analytical point of view, but much of the men’s classified fashion jewelry at Versace was sold to women. Then there is the trend of men starting to wear more fashion jewelry currently these days, it is more acceptable, it doesn’t have
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gender implications for men who wear fashion jewelry, so I think it is definitely a growth area. I think that from a design point of view there should be more considerations for a unisex approach. 5. What about your experiences within these brands with branded jewelry? What is your take on branded jewelry? Brands absolutely have to have branded jewelry just like in handbags and all accessories, there is a significant part, especially the younger clientele who is looking for the logo design. You could also look at Chanel for this point of view, in fact they have a really big business and resale business for their fashion jewelry which is still very at a high price point as is there average price point in general, but the importance of the logo is not be underestimated. For sure Gucci had the Gucci solo “G” or double “GG” and also the whole name Gucci, that was really present, especially on the silver jewelry. So for entry price point customers who is usually younger and looking for an aspirational aspect so they want it to be branded. 6. Is it important for a brand to develop their fashion jewelry line? What is your opinion? If you look at jewelry classically speaking from like a theoretical point of view, it is the top or apex of the fashion pyramid. It is the most aspirational and especially diamond jewelry, Harry Winston, I mean the fine jewelry part of Chanel is also absolutely amazing and at that point the customer expects a high degree of design creativity. You are not going to Chanel for a diamond solitaire for example, whereas this is not the case for Tiffany. Tiffany’s is part of their brand aesthetic that it is more classic. So it depends on the brands aesthetic principles are, but it should definitely reflect that. I love Gucci jewelry, the fine jewelry because it very unique, playful and creative. So I think there is definitely a space for fine jewelry but it doesn’t fit with all brands. I would have trouble with Balenciaga having fine jewelry, Saint Laurent maybe, you definitely have a customer with a high disposable income, but it would really be more of a stretch for them. I believe fashion jewelry for sure fits in with that kind of hard rock look. That is also something I could picture as accessorizing on the runway, and so it would carry over to completing the look. Accessories should always be something that can be styled into the existing readyto-wear or the whole look that is already presented. 7. From a revenue point of view, do you feel that fashion jewelry is something that can be profitable for a luxury brand? Profit really depends on what exactly you are producing, so cost wise. Today there are a lot more small-scale production facilities that can produce fashion jewelry with a good level of quality so I think in terms of cost wise it can be for sure feasible. It’s an additional product category that can add more to total net sales for sure, it depends how it is managed, how compelling it is, how big the collection is, if it’s a balanced assortment. Customers are definitely looking for that to complete their look. 8. I remember you told me that you grew fashion jewelry significantly for Versace, could you comment on that please. Well without any specific numbers, but for example in terms of logo it’s not just the name of the brand, it’s also the iconic symbols associated with it and for Versace that is the medusa, which is of course part of the logo, but it is so highly recognizable as meaning Versace. Some of the most volume items were bobby pins and stud earrings all with the medusa logo and super entry price and they were the most sold items and had the highest sale through. They sold out and were full price basically, over 80% so it was something that had room to catch more full price sales and they’re not any markdown for them because they
are carry over. So, it is something that is not ever going to have a price reduction or discount. As a strategy, I just simply increased the volume, the quantity ordered to catch more sales and that was enough to grow triple digit. So again, growth in triple digit sounds great but growth in absolute value is smaller versus ready-to-wear of course but the category could certainly grow to represent 5% of sales as far as I’m concerned. No one was paying attention to the stock and it was also the most sold category on FarFetch, and those items were also sold out through FarFetch because of instore fulfillment, so that was an opportunity there. 9. So for Versace it was more about attracting aspirational consumers at a lower price point? I think so. Fashion jewelry can definitely be enticing to attract the Millennial generation and e-customer with sneakers and t-shirts, it’s the same price range. Potentially under $650 or $500. 10. What about the higher end fashion jewelry, because there is entry level at $200-$300 and higher end at $2000 or more, what is your opinion on that? Does the higher end priced fashion jewelry attract a consumer that has a high disposable income? I think that you have to be careful about the inventory investment in that because obviously it is more expensive to make in terms of raw materials, so for example Gucci had an issue with that. They tried to do entry-level gold items and they were seriously overstocked on a worldwide level. So, you have to be careful and really know your customer. I think higher end can definitely be attractive to a customer with a higher disposable income and wants to spend. It will be difficult for it to be high volume business, but you do have customers that are looking for something special. For example, Gucci developed a 200,000
euro piece and it would travel around from store to store and eventually sell a piece, but this is more of an image development type of piece. 11. What about the issue of durability in fashion jewelry? What is your take on demi-fine jewelry? I don’t think that’s constant with luxury goods, I don’t know any brand that does that. It creates confusion and it send the wrong message. You also create confusion for customers if you already offer fine jewelry and then you offer plated fine. So I don’t know of any brand that offers both. It’s a separate brand that offers that and specific jewelry brand that do that. 12. Any advice on a brand for how to grow their fashion jewelry and make it an important product category, what would that be? The biggest obstacle to increasing fashion jewelry, which was also at Versace is visual display. Part of it is making sure that you dedicate space within the store where the product can be seen. It is often just given a little tiny case and customers just walk right by it. So, I think the easiest thing would be to make sure that you support it at 360 degrees by making sure it’s part of the looks on the runway, making sure that it’s in editorials and magazines and giving it a little bit of a launch, making sure its sales staff in stores are presenting it to customers and because they are small items one of the biggest challenges was visual merchandising. Especially if it’s a category that is new to the brand. Also don’t forget about packaging and the overall experience and ceremony of the product category, consumers are looking to feel special and a complete experience when buying a piece that is so aspirational to them.
APPENDIX F - FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS 1. Do you use jewelry?
14. Do you think Saint Laurent could improve on anything?
2. How often do you change your jewelry?
15. If Saint Laurent had a jewelry collection, how do you think it would be?
3. What type of jewelry do you wear? 4. Why do you wear fashion jewelry over fine jewelry?
16. If Saint Laurent promoted a jewelry product category would you consider buying from the collection?
5. When you’re buying fashion jewelry what do you look for? What do you like?
17. At what price range would you consider buying jewelry from the brand?
6. Do you buy jewelry online?
18. When looking at a jewelry campaign? What is important?
7. What jewelry brands do you like?
19. Do you know anything about Saint Laurent’s heritage?
8. Do you know of any luxury fashion brands that also sell jewelry?
20. Do you know what branded jewelry is? Is this something you like to buy?
9. Do you know if Saint Laurent has jewelry as a product category? 10. What do you think of when you think of Saint Laurent? 11. What is your opinion on Saint Laurent as a brand? 12. Have you bought anything from Saint Laurent before? 13. Is there something that you believe Saint Laurent is doing well?
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SPECIAL THANKS Mentors Professor Carin Wightman Professor Alessandro Cannata Collaborators Photographer Grace Pickett Model Jagger Harvey Model Sierra Bischoff Hair/Makeup Jessier Di Pietro
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MAGDALENA ATENCIO FINAL PROJECT M. A . LUXURY AND FASHION BRAND MANAGEMENT SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN WINTER 2020