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  • Wedgwood plans China expansion

    Wedgwood plans China expansion

    Wedgwood, one of the world’s best known china brands, is now betting big on China.

    As news broke that Wedgwood’s parent company WWRD was being put on the market by its private equity owners, it emerged that the business is planning a “major” retail expansion in Hong Kong.

    WWRD owns Waterford (crystal), Wedgwood and Royal Doulton china brands. It has 35 stores in China including two flagships in Shanghai.

    Subsidiary Waterford Wedgwood Hong Kong is to buy the assets of its distributor Shanghai Balolong International Trade Co and through that process acquire a number of store leases.

    That move alone will expand the store network to 56.

    “The acquisition of a significant number of Waterford and Wedgwood retail stores from Baolong in China positions WWRD perfectly to engage and meet the needs of affluent Chinese consumers,” group VP Jim Harding said in a statement.

    “This announcement comes at the right time with 2015 set to mark a growing vision for our brands as we continue our commitment to developing the business globally as a leader in luxury goods.”

    WWRD, founded in 1759, was rescued by US private equity company KPS Capital back in 2009 when it collapsed beneath a massive € 800 million burden of debts and pension liabilities.

    Investment bank Goldman Sachs has been appointed to undertake an auction of the business which promises a substantial return on the £82 million it spent acquiring the assets. The business achieved annual sales of US$450 million last financial year and it posted a £36 million profit.

    The financial press tips significant interest in the bidding from Asian investors, given 40 per cent of the group’s revenues come from Asia. A significant number of the group’s products are now manufactured in Indonesia, although the company recently commissioned a new plant in the UK.

    In a statement WWRD said: “As a profitable and strongly performing global business under private equity ownership, options for the next phase of growth are constantly under review. KPS Capital Partners remains firmly committed to achieving the brightest possible future for the brands and employees of WWRD.”

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  • Pizza Hut to double Thai network

    Pizza Hut to double Thai network

    Pizza Hut Thailand plans to double its store network within five years.

    In an exclusive interview with The Nation newspaper, the new GM of Pizza Hut Thailand, Sabina Rizvi, says the company has a five year strategic plan to double its current 97-strong network and to achieve double digit profit growth.

    “We want to more than double the number of our Pizza Hut stores in Thailand in the next five years. We will invest more than half a billion baht (US$15.3 million) in our five-year expansion.”

    She said 70 per cent of the new stores would be delivery outlets.

    Last year Pizza Hut opened its first Express restaurant format in Thailand, in the Mega Bangna shopping centre in Bangkok and a second at Seacon Square. At just 50sqm, these outlets are a quarter the size of the standard 200sqm Pizza Hut restaurants in the country. With smaller footprints, rental rates are considerably lower, but the store’s focus is more on delivery or selling to customers who can dine in shared tables of a foodcourt environment.

    Rizvi said the stores were trading well.

    Pizza Hut Thailand posted eight per cent growth in the first three quarters of last year.

    “My vision is to make Pizza Hut the most loved pizza brand in Thailand,” Rizvi said.

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  • Want to buy a Rolex?

    Want to buy a Rolex?

    Rolex sales are soaring in Singapore, and other Asian cities as the Swiss franc’s value rises rapidly.

    Staff of Singapore’s highest profile luxury watch chain The Hour Glass told AFP sales of Swiss brands have risen markedly in recent days, especially of Rolexes.

    Most of its stores along Orchard Rd sold 25 to 30 Rolexes each day last weekend – far more than the usual five or six. Most sales were of ‘entry level’ models, costing S$10,000 upwards.

    Some stores are running out of stock as shoppers snap up the luxury watches before an inevitable price rise fuelled by a 20 per cent increase in the value of the Swiss Franc relative to the US dollar and the euro.

    Another luxury watch retailer sold 20 Franck Muller watches over the weekend compared to the usual one or two a day.

    “The buyers are aware that retailers would soon raise the prices of our Swiss models,” a spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

    “About half of our customers enquire when it will happen and many are willing to make purchases in anticipation of this price rise.”

  • Marimekko to open two Asian flagships

    Marimekko to open two Asian flagships

    Finnish homewares specialty retailer Marimekko is to open new flagship stores in Bangkok and Singapore.

    The move marks a continuation of a concerted push into the Asia-Pacific region. Over the last three years Marimekko has expanded into China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand.

    In the first quarter of this calendar year the brand will open company-owned stores in Singapore’s new Capitol Piazza mall and in CentralWorld, Bangkok, which attracts as many as 150,000 shoppers per day.

    In Singapore, Marimekko already has a shop-in-shop which opened last November 2014 inside the Tangs department store on Orchard Rd.

    The company says it will open more stores in Asia over the next few years.

    “The opportunities afforded by the growing consumer markets of Asia play an important role in Marimekko’s internationalisation,” said president and CEO Mika Ihamuotila.

    “In our expansion in the international marketplace, we have focused first and foremost on regions with high growth potential. The Asia-Pacific region is our second-largest market area, and we already have a fairly strong foothold in East Asia. We are now aiming for two new markets in Southeast Asia.

    “Singapore is a modern metropolis and very attractive to us, as it is considered one of the region’s top shopping destinations for tourists. As an aviation gateway it also serves as an access point to many Asian countries and the city receives an enormous number of travellers,” he said.

    “The capital city of Thailand, Bangkok, is in an interesting stage of development from the retail viewpoint. A number of high-class malls have been opened in the city recently, and it is rising to be a noteworthy rival to Singapore and Hong Kong.”

    Half of the new Marimekko stores opened in 2014 were in the Asia-Pacific region: two in Hong Kong, one in Chengdu in mainland China, two in Seoul in South Korea and two in Japan. In Australia, Marimekko opened a company-owned store in Melbourne. One shop-in-shop was opened in New Zealand.

  • H&M extends Beckham deal

    H&M extends Beckham deal

    H&M has extended its global branding collaboration with football star David Beckham, with a whole new menswear collection for Spring 2015.

    Beckham will choose his favourite menswear pieces from the Modern Essentials collection at H&M, to create ‘Modern Essentials selected by David Beckham’. This new collaboration is a natural evolution of David’s relationship with H&M, following the unprecedented success of David Beckham Bodywear, and will allow men around the world to share in David’s globally recognised sense of style.

    Beckham is especially popular in Asia where following football is a regional pastime and his Bodywear ranges sold out in many of H&M Asian markets.

    Modern Essentials selected by David Beckham will be celebrated with a campaign shot by the famous film director Marc Forster.

    Beckham has also created a new bodywear spring collection for H&M. Both collections will be launched in stores and online worldwide on March 5.

    “I am thrilled to continue and extend my collaboration with H&M by selecting my favourite pieces from this spring’s Modern Essentials collection. Each piece is a new wardrobe classic that will update every man’s spring wardrobe with great style. Marc Forster is one of my favourite directors – I can’t wait to reveal the new campaign with H&M,” said Beckham.

    “Most of us are familiar with David’s innate sense of style and design, however it was his acute eye for cinematic storytelling that struck me during the filming of this campaign. He doesn’t make H&M clothing look good, he makes it look great,” said Forster known for directing the films Monster’s Ball, Stranger than Fiction, The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace, and World War Z.

    Modern Essentials selected by David Beckham focuses on the important key pieces of the season, each updating a men’s classic in fresh fabrics, colours and fits for spring 2015. Key pieces include a linen bomber jacket; a white chalk-washed denim jacket; a car coat; a sharp linen blazer; a city-slick polo shirt and the perfect poplin white shirt.

    Meanwhile, Beckham’s new Bodywear collection includes loungewear pieces; Henleys, raglan-sleeved shirts, crewnecks and a jersey vest. The collection is centred around navy blue, grey melange and broken white, with accents of orange red. Stripes appear as either trims or across whole garments to add a new classic twist.

    The collection is supported by a brand new print campaign, featuring the star wearing selected looks from the David Beckham Bodywear collection, exclusively available at H&M.

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  • Gloria Jeans heads to China

    Gloria Jeans heads to China

    Retail Food Group has partnered with a Chinese company to establish a joint venture.

    RFG has signed a joint venture with Tian Jin Sen Yong Tai (TJSYT) to take the Gloria Jean’s Coffees and It’s A Grind Brand System to China.

    TJSYT already operates two Gloria Jean’s Coffee outlets in China and its parent, China-based GouBuLi Group, has a 150 year old heritage with an annual revenue of RMB1billion (A$197 million). The GouBuLi Group operates more than 30 high end restaurants across China and is also involved in the food processing, logistics and training industries.

    Under the agreement RFG will hold a 20 per cent interest in the joint venture with the remaining 80 per cent to be owned by TJSYT.

    The agreement gives TJSYT an exclusive, perpetual and royalty free licence for Gloria Jean’s Coffees and It’s A Grind Brand System in China.

    FRG CEO, Tony Alford, said the initial fee of $6 million had been received in full.

    “The joint venture represents the culmination of a 12 month engagement between the Gloria Jean’s Coffees Brand System, Tian Jin Sen Yong Tai and their respective associates, and affords RFG immediate revenues in terms of the initial licence fee paid, together with scope for future earnings by way of profit share and supply side opportunity,” Alford said.

    “Importantly, the joint venture unites RFG with a substantial and motivated local partner, well able to apply sufficient resources, retailing expertise and resolve to ensure the success of the enterprise.”

    GouBuLi was established over 150 years ago as a small stuffed-bun shop in Tianjin, outside of Beijing and has grown to become one of the larger catering brands on the Chinese mainland. The company operates more than 30 high-end restaurants across the country and is also involved in food-processing, logistics and training. GouBuLi Group chairman Yan Sen Zhang also has interests in the Chinese Pharmaceutical industry, where he is the controlling shareholder of both TianJin Tong Ren Tang and Tian Jin Hong Ren Tang, brands with more than 200 years heritage.

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  • Van Heusen to target women

    Van Heusen to target women

    The Indian business of Van Heusen is planning a network of stores targeting solely women.

    Van Heusen, owned by Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, also plans to focus on repositioning its essentially denim-based youth fashion range Vdot.

    Brand head Vinay A Bhopatkar says the company will open up to 25 stores annually exclusively for women. It also plans another 50 stores annually for its menswear collection as it moves to target tier 2 and 3 cities, currently underserved and home to people with growing spending power.

    The company says womenswear accounts for about 10 per cent of its sales now but is the fastest growing segment of its business and projects it to grow by 50 per cent in the next three to four years.

    The Vdot retail network will also be expanded by 15-20 stores annually from the current network of 10. Currently a clubwear brand, the Vdot range will be expanded to provide clothing for more casual occasions as well.

    Van Heusen’s clothing is  sold through about 2000 points of sale, including 250 exclusive stores and 200 department stores.

  • HTC wants to boost retail network

    HTC wants to boost retail network

    HTC will boost its retail store network in its home market of Taiwan this year as it expands its handset range.

    The Taiwanese brand has achieved solid success with its topline smartphone models, but is still trading in the red as its product range is skewed towards the top end and is not perceived as meeting the mass market.

    HTC says it will changes that with North Asia president jack Tong promising a full range of products in 2015: from entry-level, mid-level and top end.

    To support its broader brand positioning the company will boost its solo-brand store network from 72 to more than 100 by Christmas.

    HTC has 19 distribution partners selling only its brand and accessories to match. Tong expects retail sales in Taiwan to double this year due to the expanded range and increased store network.

    Retail stores accounted for just 20 per cent of Taiwan’s mobile phone sales last year, but analysts expect that share to double in 2015 due to shorter product replacement cycles and falling smartphone prices. Consumers in Asia are increasingly preferring to buy their phones from independent retailers rather than phone networks, due to broader choice, sometimes sharper pricing and no commitment to contracts.

    “Our new brand vision is to expand HTC’s reach to everywhere,” Tong told a press conference at an HTC flagship store in Taichung this week.

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  • Picky consumers spur growth in online fresh food sales in China

    Picky consumers spur growth in online fresh food sales in China

    China’s urban consumers, prodded perhaps by a series of food-safety scandals, are becoming much more picky about what they eat. They are increasingly willing to pay a premium for imported products and are being drawn in larger numbers to retailers that deliver fresh fruit and vegetables to the doorstep.

  • Alibaba, Tencent spend billions in race to be China’s one-stop online shop

    Alibaba, Tencent spend billions in race to be China’s one-stop online shop

    Alibaba and Tencent spent more than USD8 billion last year alone backing often strikingly similar ventures, as the Chinese Internet giants race to create online one-stop-shops to win the digital loyalty of a tenth of the world’s population.

    Before China became the biggest smartphone market, there was little overlap between the businesses of e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, social networking firm Tencent Holdings Ltd and search engine provider Baidu Inc.

    Now, as more and more Chinese use their phones for everything from shopping to booking restaurants, the three companies are increasingly stepping over each other – and investing in the same services – to attract the same users.

  • How Roger Dubuis’ video campaign achieved low cost per view, per action

    How Roger Dubuis’ video campaign achieved low cost per view, per action

    This was the tagline of one of the videos published by Swiss luxury watchmaker Roger Dubuis under its innovative #GoodbyeCuckoo; #HelloExtraordinary marketing campaign.

    At around this time last year, the watch brand unveiled 30 films, each 50 seconds long showing various ways how o destroy 30 cuckoo clocks. The videos were posted on YouTube for over 30 days as a teaser to mark the countdown for Roger Dubuis’ main event for the year.

    The videos, according to Alvaro Maggini, Creative Director, Roger Dubuis, in a YouTube video testimonial, is very important for the brand because it is a means of conveying emotion. “There is a lot of humour, there is a lot of mystery, there are a lot of references that call to mind Fritz Lang, which gives a bit of a surrealist side,” he said in a video testimonial.

    So how do you destroy a cuckoo clock? In the video series, it was axed, set on fire, batted by a golf ball, submerged in water, blasted to smithereens, tied to a tree branch and chainsawed, bulldozed, microwaved.

    Highlighting the concept “undoing the past to create the future,” the taglines for each video were more powerful and aligned to the concept. Take this one: “Crushed to pieces, rebuilt into a masterpiece.”

    Alessandro Marcolin, Head of Media & Event, Roger Dubuis, said in an email interview, that the concept is about ripping apart established codes to better reinterpret them.

    “Ring out the old, ring in the new.” This is the essence of what Roger Dubuis does in Haute-Horlogerie, a contemporary reinterpretation of this secular art, with a total respect of the traditions. It was also to celebrate the rebirth our Hommage collection, and announce our incredible booth at the Salon International de la Haute-Horlogerie (SIHH) fair: a giant cuckoo clock. Everything is linked and makes sense when you see it under this angle,” he explained.

    Video, according to Marcolin, encapsulates a lot of messages and it is an impactful immersive visual medium. “People tend to read less and watch more videos, hence the trend towards video as marketing vehicle,” he said.

    Roger Dubuis has an in-house creative center and the filmography and communication visuals – including the “GoodbyeCuckoo; #HelloExtraordinary” campaign – are created internally.

    “We love to communicate with video, and we strive to be always innovators in this marketing channel,” Marconi said.

    The videos became a YouTube case study because of the record low cost per view and has appeared in the “Limitless Creativity” film showcased at the YouTube Brandcast Paris last September. It was received an award in the “Brand Content” category at the Grand Prix Stratégies /Amaury Médias du Luxe 2014 in France.

    Sequel: The Asian thrillers

    In September last year, the #GoodbyeCuckoo campaign was back. Seven new videos were uploaded on Facebook as part of the countdown to the second edition of Asia’s finest Haute Horlogerie Watches & Wonders Exhibition held in Hong Kong.

    The first video, entitled “Don’t mess with the Ming,” showed two swinging Ming vases crushing the Cuckoo clock. The second video, “Don’t tickle the dragon,” showed a dragon breathing fire to the Cuckoo. The other videos include a chef preparing a dimsum chopping the Cuckoo, while another was set on fire; the ashes used as an ink for calligraphy.

    Marcolin said Facebook was already used during the first campaign. The company used twice the same set-up: Youtube, Facebook and video seeding in blogs (through Ebuzzing and Unruly).

    “The first campaign had a record low cost per view, hence the Youtube case study, and the second campaign had a record low cost per action on Facebook,” he said. “But both campaigns performed extremely well on all three platforms.

    Marcolin disclosed that the two campaigns reached around 1.2 million views among all the platforms and 200,000 actions (clicks, shares) if the the Watches and Wonders and SIHH campaigns were integrated.

    In both campaigns, the target audience was a mix of opinion leaders in the world of fashion, design, creation and luxury/watch lovers. “The main objective was to create buzz around the presence of Roger Dubuis at the SIHH in Geneva and Watches and Wonders in Hong Kong, highlighting the differentiation of Roger Dubuis,” Marconi said. “We are an unconventional fine watchmaking brand and we communicate also in an unconventional manner.

    Following these successes, the company is now broadcasting a new thrilling digital countdown for the SIHH 2015, dubbed “The Astral Gateway”.

    Roger Dubuis has a strong presence in Asia and Marcolin said the company will continue to establish the brand through retail and communication, while it also develops other markets such as Middle-East or the Americas.

    Video marketing on Facebook

    According to Facebook, the number of video posts per person has increased 75 percent globally and 94 percent in the US over the past year. Globally, the amount of video from people and brands in News Feed has increased 3.6 times year-over-year.

    In Hong Kong, more than 50 percent of people who come back to Facebook in Hong Kong watch a video every day. Meanwhile, a TNS survey of Facebook users in Hong Kong revealed that 42 percent have posted videos or links to videos.

    “Facebook today is not just a social media platform. It is a mass media with over 4.5 million Hong Kongers accessing it monthly, and about 89 percent accessing via their mobile devices. Brands today can use Facebook to reach people they want to target anytime, any day,” said Anita Lam, Head of FMCG & Retail, Greater China at Facebook.

    Business used to be personal, Lam added, but then the coming of media made brands less personal though it was wonderful for scaling brands.

    “We are at the beginning of a big marketing shift. We now have the opportunity to do both – Facebook as a platform can help make marketing personal again,” she explained.

    Improved video metrics will help you understand the success of each video, to help guide your content strategy on Facebook.

    Metrics include: video views, unique video views, the average duration of the video view and audience retention. People will be able to see how many views your video on Facebook has received. Views will be shown on all public videos from people and Pages, to help people discover new, popular videos.

    “The Cuckoo is Dead. Long Live the Cuckoo.”

  • Aldi Australia vows to maintain pressure on rivals

    Aldi Australia vows to maintain pressure on rivals

    Discount retailer Aldi Australia has vowed to maintain pricing pressure on rivals in the AUD85 billion (USD69.58b) grocery market, after increasing sales by 13 percent in 2014, outpacing food and liquor sales growth at Coles and Woolworths almost three-fold.

    Aldi Australia’s sales reached AUD6 billion in the 12 months ending December 2014, compared with AUD5.3 billion in 2013. The growth was underpinned by strong same-store sales growth and 25 new stores.

    In comparison, Woolworths’ Australian food and liquor sales grew 4.7 percent to AUD41.7 billion in fiscal 2014 and Coles’ food and liquor sales rose 4.6 percent to AUD29.2 billion.

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  • Alibaba invests in Israeli QR code firm

    Alibaba invests in Israeli QR code firm

    Alibaba said on Tuesday that it has made an unspecified investment in Israeli startup Visualead as the e-commerce giant seeks to leverage the latest QR code technology.

    Visualead will use the capital from Alibaba to develop the next stage of “offline-to-online” technology.

    The investment marks Alibaba Group’s first in an Israeli company as the Middle East country boasts prolific technology startups.

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  • Outback Steakhouse aims to double growth in Indonesia

    Outback Steakhouse aims to double growth in Indonesia

    Singapore’s Universal Success Enterprises, the franchise holder of Australian-themed Outback Steakhouse chain in Southeast Asia, aims to double its sales growth this year as new stores opens amid a recovery in customers’ purchasing power.

    Outback Steakhouse opened its fourth restaurant in Indonesian last week inside the Lippo Mall Puri, a shopping centre in West Jakarta.

    The new restaurant is expected to nearly double the Indonesian franchise’s annual sales growth to 40 percent this year, compared to average growth of 20 percent, USE chairman Prasoon Mukherjee told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

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  • Tommy Hilfiger launches innovative digital showroom

    Tommy Hilfiger launches innovative digital showroom

    Tommy Hilfiger on Wednesday launched an innovative digital sales showroom at its global headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The interactive system blends collection information, sales tools and brand content in one seamless touchscreen interface.

    “Our digital showroom revolutionizes the buying and selling journey for our retail customers and internal sales teams,” said Daniel Grieder, CEO, Tommy Hilfiger. “We are passionate about providing our clients with the best service, experience and quality.

    Our new digital showroom concept completely reimagines the traditional buying approach and establishes a new fashion industry benchmark for business to business sales. The concept also supports our ongoing focus on efficiency and will significantly streamline and enhance the Tommy Hilfiger sales experience.”

    The centrepiece of the digital showroom is an interactive half-meter by one-meter touchscreen table set in a sleek walnut frame, which connects to a four-meter-high wall-to-wall grid of ultra-high-definition 4K screens. Customers can digitally view every item in the Tommy Hilfiger sportswear and Hilfiger Denim seasonal collections and create custom orders with all product categories laid out across a single screen. They can view head-to-toe key looks, zoom in with incredible detail to see unique design features, and click on a garment for specific information such as colour offerings and size ranges.

    The product selection and ordering experience builds on a traditional sales approach, reimagined through the digitalised system that streamlines and simplifies the process. The interactive interface allows for in-depth discussions on styling, merchandising and deliveries that are tailored to each client. Furthermore, by complementing traditional sales tools with an array of brand information, the digital showroom effectively immerses the customer in the complete Tommy Hilfiger brand experience.

    The digital showroom concept also supports Tommy Hilfiger’s ongoing sustainability mission, as it reduces sample production, eliminates the need for printed order forms, and diminishes the ecological impacts of shipping. In turn, the environmental impacts of sample creation are significantly reduced, from the supply chain and manufacturing to packaging and international shipping.

    The fashion retailer is establishing a global roll-out plan to expand the concept into markets worldwide.

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