Jimmy Choo

Brand Strategy

Casey Huth, McKynlie Drummond, Lauren Conn, and Kiesha Burr

Company History

The Jimmy Choo Company was founded by both Jimmy Choo and his niece, Sandra Choi, his creative director.

First brick and mortar store opened in 1996 on Motcomb Street in London.

In 1998, Jimmy Choo expanded to the U.S., opening two stores in New York and Beverly Hills, CA.

Expansion continued in well known places like, London, Paris, Rome, and Tokyo.

Jimmy Choo departed company in 2001

Company history (3 slides)

An iconic luxury lifestyle brand defined by an empowered sense of glamour and a confident sense of style

Has a goal of creating a global luxury business

Attracted outside investment, embarked on expansion across product categories, channels, and geographies

Jimmy Choo have more than 150 store in 32 countries and is present in the most prestigious department and specialty stores worldwide

Company History

Today Jimmy Choo encompasses a complete luxury lifestyle brand. Women’s shoes remain the core product, along with handbags, small leather goods, scarves, sunglasses, eyewear, belts, fragrances, and men’s shoes

As of July 2012, CEO, Pierre Denis and Creative Director, Sandra Choi work together to obtain their vision to create one of the world’s most treasured luxury brands.

Tamara Mellon

Born Tamara Yeardye in London, England

Founder and president of the Jimmy Choo brand

Described as smart, glamorous, wealthy, and a jet-set lifestyle

Mellon is one of the most prolific faces in the fashion industry

Tamara Mellon

Mellon’s business technique, which has proved strikingly successful, is to become a walking, talking, advertisement for her brand

“At the end of the day, the person who has the money has the control.’ ‘I may not have the stereotypical head for business but I have feet that were made for heels.” Tamara M.

Jimmy Choo

➵ Jimmy Choo was born in Penang, Malaysia in 1961 into a family of shoe makers. He made his first shoe when he was only 11 years old.

➵ Choo's humble beginnings can be traced back to his workshop in Hackney, East London, which he opened in 1986 by renting an old hospital building.

➵ His craftsmanship and designs soon became noticed and he came to the verge of international fame when his creations were featured in a record eight pages in a 1988 issue of Vogue magazine.

➵ Jimmy Choo himself is no longer connected with the shoe designing house which he founded in 1996.

➵ In April 2001, he had sold 50 % interest in his company to Tamara Yeardye Mellon, former UK Vogue accessories editor. Jimmy Choo was then a partner but was not involved in running the business.

Jimmy Choo

• The Jimmy Choo London line, also known as Jimmy Choo ready-to-wear run by Tamara Mellon and Sandra Choi.

• The ready-to-wear line has expanded to include accessories such as handbags.

• Choo now resides chiefly in London. He is involved in a project to set up a shoemaking institute in his country of birth Malaysia, where his iconic status is often evoked to inspire budding shoemakers and fashion designers.

Brand Values

The Jimmy Choo’s Brand values:

- Providing top quality products for their consumers - Being ethically responsible with how they make the products

- Create organizations to help those in need

Jimmy Choo Foundation

• Launch in 2011 to offer women the confidence and optimism to dream and achieve

• The foundation is prompted by the growing recognition that if we as a society are to be successful in progressing economically, morally, and philosophically, we need to educate and empower women

• Focuses on women abuse: sex trafficking, prostitution, gender-based violence, maternal health, building confidence and independence through education and economic opportunity

• Through this foundation, increases chance for education, raises economic productivity, reduces infant mortality according to UN development Programme (UNDP)

Business Model

• Interview with Pierre Denis (CEO) April 11, 2013

• “Shoes are the core of our business and brand and always will be but there is a demand from our customers for more ways to wear and experience Jimmy Choo. The diversification of our product categories has been an organic one, each element feels right and allows us to deliver more to existing customers whilst introducing Jimmy Choo to a new, younger audience via fragrance and eyewear.”

Pierre Denis Interview (ctd.)

• “America remains the largest market globally for Jimmy Choo, with a department store and retail presence.”

• “We are experiencing strong like for like growth in Europe, as well as our other main markets. That said our biggest growth opportunity is in Asia where we have a plan to achieve a presence commensurate with that in the West over time. It is also worth highlighting Japan which is really one of our biggest success stories registering one of our highest growths in the world. And, of course, our ecommerce business has been the fastest growing channel for us during the past few years.”

Brand Extension

• Jimmy Choo is not only known for his shoes but these other accessories:

• Sunglasses• Handbags• Perfumes

Co-Branding

• Jimmy Choo’s decision to partner with fashion retailer H&M and Australian boot maker Uggs was his way to reach into a different demographic.

• These partnerships translate to the consumer as attainable.

• This was a great move to broaden his reach.

Co-Branding

"How to build a successful international Luxury Brand in less than 10 years and create a business worth 900 million dollars in less than 15 years?"

3 MOTIVATIONS

➵ SELF ASSERTION➵ DIFFERENTIATION➵ GENUINE APPRECIATION FOR PRODUCT

EXCELLENCE

THE 8 P’S OF LUXURY BRAND MARKETING

➵ PERFORMANCE ➵ PEDIGREE➵ PAUCITY➵ PERSONA➵ PUBLIC FIGURES ➵ PLACEMENT➵ PR ➵ PRICING

➵ PERFORMANCE

At a product level, fundamentally it must satisfy the functional and utilitarian characteristic as well as deliver on its practical physical attributes

Must have quality & design excellence ingredients

➵ craftsmanship➵ precision➵ materials➵ high quality➵ unique design➵ extraordinary product capabilities➵ technology & innovation.

➵ PEDIGREE

Many luxury brands have a rich pedigree and extraordinary history that turn in to an inseparable part of the brand’s mystique. This mystique is generally built around the exceptional legendary founder character of the past, making up an integral part of the brand story and brand personality.

➵ PAUCITY

Over-revelation-and-distribution of luxury brand can cause dilution of luxury character, hence many brands try to maintain the perception that the goods are scarce.

Natural paucity is triggered by scarce ingredients like platinum, diamonds, etc. and/or those goods that require exceptional human expertise, for example handcrafted quality that constraints the mass production.

Technology-driven paucity is as a result of conception-time involved in continuous innovation and research-&- development process.

Tactical- driven paucity are more promotional in nature such as the limited editions or the special series to generate artificial desire and demand.

➵ PERSONA

The persona of a luxury brand is the brand’s communication through its advertising and the consumer’s understanding of its projection.

The visual brand identity captures the brand’s personality, mystique & emotional values in a nutshell.

The distinct and consistent orchestration of the identity is central to establishing the visibility, familiarity & common identifiable brand imagery.

➵ the brand colors➵ design elements like icons & logo➵ identifiable design➵ branded environment ➵ tone-of-voice.

➵ PERSONA

At an overall level, luxury advertising messages can be observed:

➵ As more emotional and sensual to distance it from mass-premium brands ➵ Create a world and an aura that is truly exceptional to their brand signature ➵ Generate major differentiation in its production and execution

➵ PUBLIC FIGURES

• Not only does the public figure’s associated values and personality have to resonate with that of the luxury brand’s aura, but there’s a distinct difference in the way celebrity role is crafted, executed and strategically utilized.

• Accessorization or dressing celebrities on the red carpet

• Celebrity invites to special events

• This strategy attempts to remove the appearance of “selling” while still promoting the product by making it seem as a part of the celebrity’s lives, thereby positively affecting consumer’s attitudes, brand value & purchase intention.

• Long-form-commercials / short-films have also utilized the celebrity-factor.

➵ PLACEMENT

The retail branded environment in luxury branding is all about heightening the consumer’s brand experience and amplifying the brand aura.

Luxury consumers have become more discriminating and demanding due to the increasing democratization of luxury brands and the rapid emergence of ‘prestigious’ brands.

They are seeking a more knowledgeable and professional assistance, a trusted and reliable collaboration helping them to manage their stature and lifestyle.

Luxury brands are increasingly investing in training and empowering their sales staff.

➵ PR

➵ PR in luxury branding plays an enormous role in image proliferation of the brand, thereby subtly influencing public opinion.

➵ It is also employed to convey other supporting messages and attributes of the brand which cannot be explicitly captured in advertising, but by no means are less important to create brand’s personality, mystique and emotional values

➵ PRICING

➵ Pricing plays a quite a big role in the way consumers perceive luxury brands.

➵ Consciously or sub-consciously, consumers tend to generate a mental luxury stature or image with the price-range that the brand operates.

➵ It is important for luxury brands to price themselves right – as setting the price lower than the consumer expectation and willingness to pay can potentially harm the brand value, whereas the reverse can potentially not given enough justification for consumers to go ahead and buy.

➵ Product excellence by itself in not enough, the luxury brand must perform at an experiential level as well.

➵ As luxury consumers evolve, not only these act as points of differentiation, but also as ‘substance’ to justify a premium value and pricing.

➵ While pedigree factor is important to exuberate the years of mastery or lineage, it is crucial to generate ongoing relevance and dynamism through the persona, PR & public-figure factor.

➵ Luxury brands must continue to maintain a certain degree of exclusivity and stature with the paucity factor and the placement factor – from the retail experience to the touch-points it associates itself with.

"Our clothes are quite sophisticated and one of our strengths is alterations," Pavlovsky said. "To be able to wear Chanel clothes, you need to try them on. You need to be in the fitting room. You need to have a tailor who alters the clothes to fit exactly to your

body. I think it's part of Chanel. It's more than just our service. It's part of our differentiation to have ready-to-wear that is perfect for our customers. What we want

today - and the way we use digital - is to have more and more people come to the boutique to see the product, to touch the product, but also to try the product.”

-Bruno Pavlovsky, president of CHANEL

“What luxury is, is naturally a very personal perception. For me, luxury products are a promise. A promise that the product you buy from Montblanc is of highest esteem, based on its timeless, elegant design and the high quality, which is derived from the excellence of our

craftsmen. It’s a promise that you will still love the product in 10, 20 or 30 years, like in many times where you received a Montblanc item as a gift, you still will appreciate and love

the person who gave it to you to show how much this person respects, appreciate or loves you.

It is our most important task to nurture this trust in our brand and our products. Sustainable value, highest quality, excellence in craftsmanship, and creativity make our products elegant and refined objects, which enrich the individual style of our customers. A Montblanc product

is luxury because it’s a lifetime companion that is worthy to be handed down to the next generation. “

-Lutz Bethge, CEO of Montblanc

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Sources