The ultra-exclusive Centurion 2011 jewelry show has rolled out digital programs across several platforms designed to enhance the trade fair’s technological footprint and help luxury jewelers navigate the digital landscape. The trade fair will be held, January 29 – February 2 in Tucson, Ariz.
First there’s the Centurion App for iPhones and Android phones. The free app is customized for Centurion through The Conventionist app, which provides practical, mobile solutions for those attending events, such as trade shows.
To locate, search for The Conventionist app. Download and install the app on your smart phone. Then search for Centurion within The Conventionist app and download the guide to the Centurion Show. (Shown on an iPod Touch.).
The customized Centurion app contains:
* Centurion Schedule at a Glance
* Show Floor Map,
* Key Events list,
* To-Do list,
* General Info,
* Exhibitor’s list, and
* My Schedule.
The second initiative is the Jewelry Industry Internet Forum, an education program geared to help ensure that high-end retail jewelers, designers, manufacturers and service providers have the knowledge and tools to succeed in the fast-moving world of the Internet.
The JIIF is designed for the industry to learn and share best practices, information, insights and intelligence in online marketing and merchandising, including analytics, design, multi-channel integration and e-commerce, according to show organizers. As a forum for retail and manufacturing executives, JIIF will offer regular access to useful and targeted education and information sharing on a year-round basis. The effort will include at-show education as well as on-line forums and more.
For its first official event, JIIF will highlight a keynote presentation by Mike Gottfried, Head of Industry for Retail & Luxury, from Google to give Centurion participants an insider’s view of what it takes to succeed in today’s ultra-competitive environment and how to take advantage of the Internet as a marketing vehicle.
Gottfried will headline separate sessions for retailers and designers/manufacturers at Centurion 2011.
The third initiative is the Centurion Showcase, an online extension of the luxury trade fair that is being launched during the show.
The Centurion Showcase has up-to-date digital catalogs of participating branded exhibitors, updated show information, and news and events. During the show and throughout the year, retailers will be able to use the catalogs at the point of sale and to e-mail to and print product pictures and details for their customers. Branded manufacturers will be able to use the catalogs to show new product and provide ongoing support for their Centurion retailers.
Despite the economic downturn, several luxury companies were able to increase the value of their brands in 2010, according to the 11th annual ranking of the "Best Global Brands," by Interbrand, a global brand consulting firm.
Among luxury brands, LVMH ranked the highest on the list at 16th, followed by Gucci (44), Hermes (69), Tiffany & Co (76), Cartier (77), Armani (95). All of these brands saw growth this year because they continued to invest “in their heritage and legendary status,” Interbrand said in a statement. “Outstanding customer service and a focus on unique in-store and online experiences allowed them to stay strong, even while consumers cut back spending.”
Burberry, which ranks 100 on the list, saw no change in its brand value this year.
For the 11th year straight, Coca-Cola retains its top spot as the number one ranked brand on the list. But the bigger story is the growth of technology brands, with IBM (2), Microsoft (3), Google (4), Intel (7), HP (10), Apple (17) and BlackBerry (54).
Apple increased brand value 37 percent “through carefully controlled messaging and an endless wave of buzz surrounding new product launches,” Interbrand said. Google saw a 36 percent increase in value over last year, “bringing the brand closer than ever to rival Microsoft.” Meanwhile, HP, despite a challenging year, “made smart additions to its product portfolio and swiftly expanded the HP brand to protect its ranking on the list. BlackBerry’s brand value grew 32 percent and it remains “the most popular smartphone for business users, despite pressure from Apple as it edges into the corporate world.”
A number of prominent brands faced extraordinary crisis in 2010 resulting in stalled growth, value loss and in the case of BP, failure to make the ranking this year. BP's environmental disaster and inability to make good on its brand promise of "Beyond Petroleum" led to it falling off of the list and helped competitor Shell emerge as an industry leader, now ranked number 81, up from number 92 in 2009. Although the Toyota (11) recall caused the brand to lose -16 percent of its brand value, its long-standing reputation for reliability, efficiency and innovation helped it weather the crisis better than expected. Goldman Sachs (37) was once the envy of Wall Street, but now faces the dichotomy of strong economic results and an angry public that will continue to lash out until the company begins to demonstrate that it is making sincere efforts to better align its ethics with its brand.
During a difficult year for the auto industry, Mercedes Benz (#12) and BMW (#15) were able to sustain and build their value through innovative design and a focus on delivering premium value vehicles with luxury features. Using customer feedback, largely drawn from YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and Facebook to launch the 2009 Fiesta, Ford (50) stands out as one of the best example of how to use social media. Award-winning products like the Q5 and rich heritage help Audi (63) lead industry growth this year with a 9% increase in its brand value.
"2010 was the beginning of a long road back towards economic recovery," said Jez Frampton, group chief executive at Interbrand. "From real-time customer feedback through social media to increased transparency about corporate citizenship, brands were faced with a profound change in the way they relate to customers and demonstrate their relevance and value. Despite this new paradigm of brand management, the advantages of building a solid brand remain the same."
In the financial sector, legacy brands Citi (40) and UBS (86) lost double-digits in brand value, while Santander (68), Barclays (74) and Credit Suisse (80) made their debut on the list for the first time. “Their ability to stay true to brand promises in unsure times, and avoidance of the subprime mortgage crisis, helped them stay the course, Interbrand said.
Interbrand publishes the ranking of the top 100 brands based by analyzing the many ways a brand touches and benefits an organization, from attracting top talent to delivering on customer expectation. Three key aspects contribute to a brand's value; the financial performance of the branded products or services, the role of a brand in the purchase-decision process and the strength of the brand to continue to secure earnings for the company.
Caption: Diane von Furstenberg (right) answers a question during a panel discussion at the FT Business of Luxury Summit. From left are Gillian de Bono, editor of the Financial Times How to Spend It section; Deepak Ohri, CEO of Lebuna Hotels & Resorts; Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products & User Experience, Google Inc; and Edgar Huber, CEO of Juicy Couture.
You could say that fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg was into social media before it was cool. In fact she was into communicating with her customers in an open, honest and organic way before there was an Internet, much less Web 2.0. So while many luxury and fashion companies are struggling to take advantage of social media tools, for von Furstenberg, it was just another way of doing what she has always done. In other words, she gets it, because she always understood the value of open communications with her customers.
“I started when I was very, very young,” the 63-year-old owner of DVF fashion house said during a panel discussion titled, “Communicating Strategies,” at the recently held FT Business of Luxury Summit. “For whatever reason, I established a relationship with women. And it was very caring, it was very real. And people have a personal relationship with me… And the reason why it works is because it’s real, it’s authentic, it’s harmless. My mission in life is to empower women. It’s more important for me that she feels empowered and then I sell her a dress. The dress is afterward. It’s a consequence that if she wears it she will be happy with it.”
Von Furstenberg told the audience of luxury professionals that she loves to use Twitter but she will never use it to tell people to buy DVF products. She spoke about a time when one of her employees tried to use the social media tool to recruit 60,000 followers.
“I got so upset. I don’t want to force people to do that. It has to happen organically. In my work and how I run my business, it’s organic, it’s real. And that is part of having a reputation and that’s how people believe in you,” she said. “So I feel that it can’t be forced. Not everything starts with marketing. For me it’s making the best product for the best price, the best design to make women happy, and therefore the sale is the consequence of a good product, the marketing is a consequence of the demand. But if everything you do is market driven then it’s no longer real and somehow the consumers will know that and they will not believe you anymore.”
The creator of the wrap dress also told the audience of a revelation she had six months ago when it came to how she views her company’s Web site.
“I always thought that our headquarters was in the (New York) meat packing district,” von Furstenberg said. “We were having a meeting with everybody and I said, ‘You know what? Our headquarters is really on the Web.’ So, we are now in the process of changing our Web site—which is very successful in both editorial and e-commerce—because you forget about it, but anybody who wants to know about anything: whether they want a job with your company, or have to do a paper on you, or they want to buy something, or whatever it is, they go on the Web and therefore the Web site is you image to the universe.”
Under the questioning of Gillian de Bono, editor of the Financial Times How to Spend It luxury magazine, who was the most probing of the FT editors who led panel discussions, von Furstenberg discussed how she views her own boutiques and department stores.
“Boutiques offer a way to control your destiny, a way to control your brand,” she said. “How you sell it, how you show the experience of a woman. My goal in my shops is to make sure that a woman who walks in leaves happier than she was when she came in. It’s not about how much I will sell her. It’s how happier I can make her. And that works for bricks and mortar and it also works for the Net. It’s an environment where I want a woman to come in and I want to make her happier.
On department stores: “Department stores also are a brand and they are larger brand and they do some editing for you, I mean for the consumer. Department stores are like editors, they edit, they buy, they choose, they decide who goes next to whom so I think they are important, too. And if you don’t think they do a good job, you pull out.”
Von Furstenberg even talked about an increased need for editors in this new communications age.
“I think that now we live in a world where everyone has access to everything,” she said. “You can reach everything, reach everyone, know everything. And strangely enough, I think that makes the need for editors even more important. Because we have access to everything, because we can reach everything, I believe that editors should not be afraid. The value of editors will increase. Some of them start are bloggers, they call themselves bloggers, but their dream is to be editors. And the editors now start to blog, so there are all kinds of merges … and therefore you have to respect those editors who say, ‘I like it because.’ I think that editors should absolutely not be afraid of what’s going on in this huge revolution.”
The von Furstenberg brand remains as popular as when she burst onto the fashion scene in the early 1970s, particularly with a younger clientele. She claims to be somewhat mystified with her appeal to young people but, no doubt a part of the reason for this is her ability to talk directly with her customers using modern communications tools.
“I really don’t know how it happens, but the older I am, the younger my consumer base is.”
The FT Business of Luxury Summit, hosted by the Financial Times, was held June 14 and 15 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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