INSIDE BARBOUR'S GLOBAL STRATEGY: QUIET LUXURY, LOCALIZATION & GROWTH WITH NEIL PARKER
Luxury has been under pressure both globally and importantly, in China.
As pressure mounts, it's becoming clear that too many luxury and premium brands have lost touch with the core of who they are, and what they focus on.
With this as a backdrop, we were very pleased to welcome Neil Parker, Managing Director Global Distributors for Barbour - to Commerce Beyond Borders.
In this past week's episode of the Podcast, Renee Hartmann and I explored a high-level view on luxury brand management with Neil.
Neil's experiences with Barbour and previously with a wide range of retail brands in Asia and Globally offered valuable perspective on some of the keys to effective brand management - in China, Asia and Globally.
HINT: Barbour and Neil have been doing an excellent job of navigating luxury headwinds!
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Neil's Key Insights:
🔹 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀
"It's well reported that luxury fashion brands are experiencing a bit of a wobble - particularly in China. Hermès reporting downturns in China, Louis Vuitton and Gucci closing Shanghai stores. At the same time, Japan has been emerging as a bright spot with 10.5M Chinese tourists in Q1."
🔹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 '𝗹𝘂𝘅𝘂𝗿𝘆' 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝘂𝘅𝘂𝗿𝘆'𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝗸𝗲
"We're very happy not to be called luxury even though we have rock stars to royalty as our customer base... we're also very happy not to be mainstream and we deliberately don't be. This authentic positioning has been key to our success."
🔹 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱𝘀
"Barbour maintains strict control over discounting and carefully curates its influencer relationships. We don't use celebrities. We don't discount online. Even in China, we're whitelisted and we have a relatively small business, but it's more of a brand vehicle for us."
🔹 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆
"Influencers and brand collaborations represent powerful strategic innovations for us. Collabs offer a 'pulse moment' for Barbour in a season. We have partnered with brands like APC and Maison Kitsune. And, while we are scaling these up, we carefully evaluate each opportunity in order to maintain a vision for who we are as a brand."
In today's evolving luxury landscape, I think Neil's insights underscore the importance of staying true to brand values while thoughtfully navigating market challenges.
Maintaining a stellar brand image during a slowdown might mean moving ahead in the long term.
🚀 Listen to the full episode on Commerce Beyond Borders. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and wherever you listen.
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Commerce Beyond Borders - Decoding the Future of Commerce & Retail
Hosted by marketing, retail and ecommerce vets, Renee Hartmann & Chris Baker, “Commerce Beyond Borders” offers global audiences a pithy glimpse into key strategies for success.
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