Nailing luxury
Please click here to register for the second annual Luxury FirstLook: Strategy 2014 conference in New York on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014
Registration is open for the second annual Luxury FirstLook: Strategy 2014 conference Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014 featuring speakers from Peninsula Hotels, Barneys New York, La Prairie, L’Oreal Luxe, Pratesi, American Express Publishing, Brian Atwood, Richart, Hearst’s Veranda, Martini Media, The Gate Worldwide and former executives from LVMH and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Organized by Luxury Daily, this daylong New York event is a must-attend for luxury brands, luxury retailers, ad agencies and publishers looking to develop and implement luxury marketing and retail strategies and tactics in 2014, a year where luxury brands are anticipated to post strong growth while gearing themselves for a soft landing in certain markets. Limited to 150 executives, the summit’s attendees will listen to and meet with key executives moving the needle for luxury marketing and retail.
“While luxury brands and retailers have registered enviable growth over the past year riding a return to global economic stability, there are concerns over prospects in emerging markets,” said Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief of Luxury Daily, New York.
“What will keep demand strong and sustained is careful attention and client grooming in Asia, particularly China, while not taking the eye off U.S., Japanese and European customers who have long stood by luxury brands and retailers in their markets,” he said. “That said, a more digitally savvy consumer will demand more of luxury brands and experiences, and 2014 seems to be a key year to test old relationships with new technology.”
On the same page as customers
Editorially led deep dives
This summit with keynotes and sessions will help luxury marketers and retailers learn from peers and network with them.
Topics under discussion include positioning at the intersection of luxury hospitality, retail and experiences; shopping strategies of the wealthiest U.S. shoppers; how to be exclusive without being exclusionary; what luxury content should look like; contemporizing a heritage brand; and creating a customer-first digital strategy.
Also included are a fireside chat with the former chief marketing officer of Saks Fifth Avenue and a state-of-luxury address by the former chairman of LVMH U.S. A panel discussing the outlook for luxury marketing and retail will round out the daylong event, preceded by a raffle for a Dom Perignon Champagne.
A leg-up
The event is priced at $695 for the day, which includes breakfast, lunch and cocktails. Refunds will not be given 72 hours before the event or for no-shows on the day of the conference.
For sponsorships, please contact events@napean.com for prompt attention.
Luxury FirstLook: Strategy 2014 is part of this publication’s exclusive summit series.
This summit agenda can also be accessed via http://www.luxuryfirstlook.com.
The agenda is below.
AGENDA
Luxury FirstLook: Strategy 2014
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014
A Napean presentation
Venue
National Museum of the American Indian
Diker Pavilion
Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004
(Directions: Directly across from Battery Park in downtown Manhattan and at the beginning of Broadway)
7:45 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Registration and Breakfast
8:30 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.
Welcome
Speaker:
Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief, Luxury Daily
8:45 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Peninsula Hotels: Positioned at the Intersection of Luxury Hospitality, Retail and Experiences
Hotel shuttle
Asia’s oldest hotel company and the first luxury hospitality brand, The Peninsula Hotels has a remarkable story of vision and evolution that has unfolded since 1866. The company will reach a milestone in 2014 with the debut of The Peninsula Paris – its first property in Europe – taking the number of hotels in the group to 10. Stateside, there are Peninsula hotels in New York, Chicago and Beverly Hills, CA, and overseas, the flagship Hong Kong property is still a standard bearer for the seamless meshing of hospitality and luxury shopping. For Peninsula, its philosophy is not just about four walls and a hotel room, but rather its position as the entry point to the city. The emphasis now is on carving a holistic lifestyle brand, as attendees will learn in this session. Also under discussion are:
Heritage, glamour, quality and passion: the story of the Peninsula brand
Insights from China: How the Chinese luxury travel segment is changing
Leveraging new channels to bring the Peninsula experience to life
Ushering in a new era: The Peninsula Paris
Creating a multi-dimensional lifestyle brand: Retail, real estate and branded events
Luxury hospitality trends in the year ahead
Speaker:
Robert Cheng, vice president of marketing, The Peninsula Hotels
9:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Break
9:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Research
Gleaning the Shopping Strategies of the Most Refined U.S. Shoppers
Looking out for the haves
The world of affluence and wealth consists of families who consider themselves independent economies. Successful families have harbored cash, conservative investments and changed the way they make shopping decisions to protect themselves against what they see as inevitable return of hard times. As families have become more driven by need, quality, the search for service and the quest for artistic merit, they have developed shopping strategies that use in-store, digital, mobile devices and advertising to make sure that the things they buy map to a state of real need. Strategic shoppers have a new attitude. Their most important focus is on contentment, a fulfilling life and happiness. They do not value consumption for its own sake, but for the degree to which it secures good will within the four walls of their highly managed life. This phenomenon is dubbed enlightened self-interest. In this session, attendees will learn:
Quantitative evidence of the predictive power of qualitative self-interest
Seven key trends that enlighten the retail and luxury communities
A clear view of the shopping strategies of America’s most refined consumers
What to expect in the year ahead
Speaker:
Cara S. David, senior vice president of corporate marketing and integrated media, American Express Publishing, a division of Time Inc. Affluent Media Group
10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Break
10:45 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
La Prairie: Switching Focus from Product to Customer, Being Exclusive but not Exclusionary
More skin in the game
One of the world’s most exclusive cosmetics brands is on a mission to get closer to its customers. For more than 50 years, La Prairie has provided skincare advocates access to a real-life fountain of youth. Its secret? La Prairie’s exclusive Cellular Complex which lives at the core of each one of its products. Now, at a time when many brands are reaching the masses, La Prairie is tapping into the power of personalization and customer-centric messaging to build closer relationships with its customers. By staying true to its Swiss heritage, sharing unique brand stories and getting familiar with the next generation of luxury shoppers, La Prairie is securing its place as a top luxury skincare brand for years to come. In this session, attendees will learn:
Past and future: Building on brand heritage while constantly innovating to stay relevant for 2014 and beyond
Holiday season 2013 recap
Exclusive but not exclusionary: Leveraging the power of paradoxical brand attributes in communications
Head and heart: Surpassing customer expectations and boosting rational and emotional appeal
Mothers and daughters: Connecting with luxury customers across the generational divides
Make it work: Orchestrating product launches together with customer centric marketing
Speaker:
Sharon Osen, senior vice president of global marketing and brand strategy, La Prairie
11:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Break
11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Barneys New York: What Luxury Content can and Should Look like
Content with the bag
Established in 1923, Barneys New York is touted as a classic Manhattan institution that has long been a destination for the fashion-forward and style-conscious. No stranger to innovation, in its early years the department store diverged from selling reduced price men’s suits and evolved into a beautiful showroom of the finest threads offered by top-name designers for both men and women. Often depicted as a playground for the elite, Barneys has maintained its roots in personal attention and detail to every customer. The retailer has 37 store locations including several flagships nationwide and an unprecedented digital presence. The iconic retailer, now more than ever, is more in-tune with its customers and seeks to deliver high-level luxury content that transcends all channels. This session will touch on:
Barneys New York’s outlook for 2014
The Barneys customer profile
Nurturing a year-round customer relationship through sharing the Barneys story
The concept of content as customer relationship marketing and conversion
Fabulous and functional: The DNA of high-level, luxury content that crosses all channels
Speaker:
Matt Woolsey, senior vice president of digital, Barneys New York
12:30 pm. – 2 p.m.
Sponsored Lunch
2 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
LVMH U.S. ex-Chairman: Analyzing the State of Luxury
A handle on luxury
Heading the U.S. arm of the world’s largest luxury conglomerate gave Renaud Dutreil an idea of what appeals to consumers in the world’s largest luxury market. The former French minister and MP has taken that knowledge and expertise to set up Belleville Investments to invest in lifestyle and retail brands. He is also president of the Parsons School of Design Paris. In this session, the speaker will discuss:
State of luxury apparel, footwear, watches and accessories as well as automotive, real estate and airplanes
Evolving social trends and luxury consumption
Banalization and exception: a challenge for successful brands
Emphasizing the core of the luxury experience
Is luxury a European monopoly?
Speaker:
Renaud Dutreil, former chairman, LVMH U.S., and president/CEO, Belleville Investments
2:30 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Fireside Chat
Saks Fifth Avenue ex-CMO: Deploying Exceptional Luxury Experiences in a Digital Era
Out
Running marketing and launching the ecommerce store for one of the nation’s most storied luxury department store chains taught Denise Incandela a lot about shoppers and the experiences they expect. From its landmark store on New York’s Fifth Avenue to its 41 locations nationwide, Saks Fifth Avenue is synonymous with elegance and class. The retailer’s lavish selection of designer apparel, footwear, handbags, accessories and perfumes can only be rivaled by one thing: Saks’ customer service programs, first launched in 1924. In January 2013, the SaksFirst customer loyalty program was revamped to include additional perks. However, luxury retailers such as Saks are challenged with maintaining their high standard of service and customer experience while adapting to a digital age. In this session, attendees will learn:
What should luxury brands and retailers consider a priority in 2014
How digital is changing the way luxury retailers do business
Lessons learned from holiday 2013
Best-practice tips for luxury retailers and brands
Speaker:
Denise Incandela, former chief marketing officer, Saks Fifth Avenue
3 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Break
3:15 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Pratesi: Contemporizing a Heritage Italian Luxury Linens Maker
Linens and things
Founded in 1896, Pratesi is known for its exquisite linens – based on cotton known as Angel Skin for obvious reasons – that furnish the homes of royal families worldwide, Old Money, luxury hotels and celebrities. Past customers included the incredibly picky Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor. Now in its fourth generation passed down from father to son, Pratesi is the original luxury brand for the home, with a portfolio comprising bed sheets, pillow cases and covers, towels and robes, quilts, table cloths and placemats and items for children as well. All products are made in Italy in a factory just west of Florence. But as other luxury brands from leather goods, fashion and accessories enter the home space, older brands have to reinvent or tailor their experiences to open new markets while defending their turf. This session will discuss:
How Pratesi holds on to its standards in this era of outsourcing and mass-market luxury
The role of the family in maintaining high standards
Modernizing a heritage luxury brand to meet challengers
Roadmap for heritage brands to stay competitive as conglomerates dominate the discussions and budgets
Speaker:
Rebecca Miller, executive vice president, Pratesi Linens
4 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Break
4:15 pm. – 5 p.m.
L’Oreal Luxe: Evolving Digital Strategy Putting the Customer First
Cosmetic touch
Delivering superior customer experience is a critical driver of competitive advantage in the beauty industry, and developing cohesive value-added experiences as opposed to a disconnected web of individual touch points can be challenging in a large product-centric organization. Yet, by centralizing digital expertise and developing transversal best practices, L’Oreal is making strides to deliver experiences that align consumers, context, content and conjecture. This session will discuss:
How L’Oreal is approaching digital and ecommerce from a customer-first perspective
Key digital areas of opportunity for 2014 across cosmetics, fragrance and skincare
How to leverage transversal ecommerce functionalities and media best practices across brands to deliver unique experiences that reflect and create value based on the individual brand value proposition as opposed to a one-size-fits-all framework
The evolving role that various channels and devices play in the path to purchase across beauty categories
Speaker:
Rachael Johnson, vice president of digital strategy and ecommerce, L’Oreal Luxe
5 p.m. – 5:15 pm.
Break
5 p.m.
Raffle for Dom Perignon
5:15 pm. – 6 p.m.
Panel
Outlook 2014: Key Luxury Marketing and Retail Trends
Taking the right steps
Traditional luxury brands enter 2014 having fared well in the year before. The same, however, cannot be said for luxury department stores nationwide, particularly Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. Both chains were sold, casting even more uncertainty on the future of that retail model as more luxury brands open their own shops. On the other hand, the United States market has held up even as signs of weakening emerge in China and other Asian markets. Among other issues, this panel will dissect:
Holiday 2013 recap
Outlook for the economy in 2014: what luxury marketers should anticipate
U.S. and international markets: where does growth lie
Digital and the integration of online and mobile marketing and commerce with stores
Country of label origin: does that matter anymore?
Luxury shoppers and marketing: what is working
Theme for the year ahead
Panelists:
Amy Rapaway, senior vice president of marketing, The Jones Group – Brian Atwood
Benjamin Auzimour, president/CEO, Richart
Beau Fraser, CEO, The Gate Worldwide
Tom O’Regan, president, Martini Media
Katie Brockman, associate publisher, Hearst Magazines’ Veranda
Moderator:
Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief, Luxury Daily
6 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Sponsored Cocktail Hour
Please click here to register for the second annual Luxury FirstLook: Strategy 2014 conference in New York on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014
Hotels in the Lower Manhattan neighborhood (from nearest to farthest):
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New York City – Financial District, 8 Stone Street, New York, NY 10004; tel: 212-480-9100; please click here for the Web site
The Ritz-Carlton Battery Park, Two West Street, New York, NY 10004; tel: 212-344-0800; please click here for the Web site
New York Marriott Downtown, 85 West Street at Albany Street, New York, NY 10006; tel: 212-385-4900; please click here for the Web site
W New York Downtown, 123 Washington Street (entrance on Albany Street), New York, NY 10006; tel: 646-826-8600; please click here for the Web site
Millennium Hilton, 55 Church Street, New York, NY 10007; tel: 212-693-2001; please click here for the Web site
Pool of knowledge
For car service to and from venue, please either hail a yellow cab taxi or take the 4 and 5 subway lines downtown to Bowling Green or the N or R subway lines downtown to Whitehall Street. For car service, please call 212-666-6666 or 212-777-7777. During evening hours, it takes about 30 to 45 minutes to get to La Guardia Airport from the museum, and about 45 minutes to an hour to John F. Kennedy International Airport or to Newark International Airport in Newark, NJ. The journey in maybe slightly shorter. A room has been set aside in the museum for summit registrants to leave their bags.
Please click here to register for the second annual Luxury FirstLook: Strategy 2014 conference in New York on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014