Luxury, Retail, FMCG and Media News & Trends: Dec Week 2
Luxury, Retail, FMCG and Media News & Trends: Dec Week 2
1. Business Moves
i. Baoxiniao Partners with Woolrich to Enter the Outdoor Segment
Woolrich International entered a strategic partnership with Chinese men’s business wear company Baoxiniao to expand its brand presence outside Europe. Under this agreement, Baoxiniao will acquire the intellectual property rights for Woolrich in all regions outside Europe, while Woolrich International will retain control over the European market. The partnership also includes a five-year procurement and brand consulting agreement, and the deal is expected to close by year-end.
Takeaway: This move aligns with Woolrich’s goal to expand globally, particularly in Asia, as the partnership will allow Woolrich to leverage Baoxiniao’s strength in the mid-to-high-end apparel sector. The acquisition reflects Baoxiniao’s ongoing strategy to diversify through multi-brand acquisitions, and it follows Baoxiniao’s recent purchase of South Korean brand Hazzys.
It is expected to strengthen Baoxiniao’s presence in the rapidly growing outdoor apparel market, particularly in China, where outdoor sports are seeing a boom. Woolrich’s outdoor heritage, coupled with its distinctive American retro and workwear-inspired design, offers a differentiation advantage. However, analysts caution about challenges in operating the outdoor brand, given its limited experience in this segment.
ii. LVMH Invests in French Hospitality Group Les Domaines de Fontenille
LVMH acquired a significant stake in the upscale boutique hospitality group Les Domaines de Fontenille, a French hotel chain known for its luxury properties in France, Italy, and Spain. While the exact size of the investment remains undisclosed, reports suggest LVMH holds around 20%. The investment will fund the acquisition and renovation of additional properties.
Takeaway: This move aligns with LVMH’s broader strategy of expanding its hospitality portfolio, which also includes Belmond and its collaboration with French hotel group Accor to develop the Orient Express brand.
iii. Icon Luxury Group and CP Brands Group Buys Thomas Pink
British luxury brand Thomas Pink, previously divested by LVMH, was acquired by the New York-headquartered Icon Luxury Group and CP Brands Group. The brand is founded in 1984 and is renowned for its classic and elegant design.
Takeaway: The acquisition will build on the strong international brand recognition developed by Thomas Pink Limited and its former parent company to further expand the brand’s global influence. Plans are already in motion to strengthen its presence in the UK market. This includes a collaboration with renowned shirt manufacturer Richard Gibson and menswear industry veteran Nick Preston in the UK. The brand also intends to expand beyond its flagship store on Jermyn Street in London to other regions in the UK by the first half of 2025 and will add more stores in the Middle East and Asia. The brand’s strategy will focus on leveraging licensing agreements for categories like fragrances and eyewear.
iv. Cospal Buys Two Cosmetics Brands from L’Oréal
L’Oréal sold its cosmetics brands Decléor and Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc to the newly created French group Cospal led by Matthieu Lesieur.
Takeaway: Decléor, known for its aromatherapy expertise, was acquired by L’Oréal in 2014 and has now been divested as part of L’Oréal’s strategy to streamline its portfolio and make room for its dermocosmetics brands. Cospal aims to rejuvenate these iconic brands and restructure its distribution. Meanwhile, Cospal will leverage synergies between Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc’s European spa operations and its product line.
v. Jil Sanders Debuts its First Fine Jewellery Collection
Jil Sander launched its first fine jewellery collection, which features pieces crafted in 18-karat gold and lab-grown diamonds. The debut is exclusive to its Ginza flagship before rolling out globally.
Takeaway: This move makes Jil Sander the first OTB luxury brand to do so. The collection, inspired by nature and designed with irregular, organic forms, aims to boost visibility and provide new styling opportunities for its clientele. Additionally, Jil Sander is set to launch its first prestige fragrance in January 2025, following a 10-year licensing agreement with Coty.
2. People Moves
Maison Margiela: John Galliano is stepping down as creative director of Maison Margiela after a successful 10-year tenure. During his leadership, Margiela saw significant growth, with sales increasing by 24% in 2022 and 23% in 2023. Galliano’s final year was marked by the success of the 2024 Artisanal collection, which garnered attention from high-profile celebrities. Galliano, who joined Margiela in 2014 after leaving Dior, has not yet revealed his next career move but hinted at future plans when the time is right. His successor at Margiela has not yet been named.
Chanel: Chanel appointed Matthieu Blazy as its new artistic director, effective in 2025. Blazy previously held creative roles at Raf Simons, Maison Margiela and Céline (under Phoebe Philo). He was most recently the creative director at Bottega Veneta. His appointment marks the fourth designer in Chanel’s history to lead the house, following Karl Lagerfeld, Virginie Viard, and founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. Chanel aims to blend its rich heritage with modernity under Blazy’s direction. His appointment is seen as a long-term strategy, signalling a new chapter for the brand, which is poised for further growth following Viard’s record sales performance.
Bottega Venetta: Louise Trotter is set to leave her role as creative director at Carven, effective January 24, 2025. She joined Carven in February 2023, following her tenure at Lacoste and Joseph. During her time at Carven, Trotter revitalised the brand with a fresh, sophisticated approach and received positive reviews for her wearable and chic designs. Despite her departure, the autumn/winter 2025 collection will proceed as planned at Paris Fashion Week in March.
Dries Van Noten: Dries Van Noten appointed 33-year-old Belgian designer Julian Klausner as creative director. Klausner, who joined the brand in 2018 and worked closely with Van Noten on women’s collections, is seen as a natural fit to continue the legacy. He will succeed the founder in overseeing both women’s and men’s collections. His first women’s collection will debut at Paris Fashion Week in March 2025, and his first men’s show will follow in June.
3. Marketing and Advertising
i. TikTok: Europe Live-Stream Shopping, US Shop Credits
US: TikTok is also ramping up its in-stream shopping efforts by launching a new rewards programme in the US, which offers TikTok Shop credits to users who invite friends and shop within the app. The programme, which shares similarities with a European campaign earlier this year, allows users to earn significant credits for their activity, which can potentially amount to hundreds of dollars daily.
Europe: TikTok is launching a renewed shopping initiative in Europe, starting with TikTok Shop in Spain. The platform aims to expand its eCommerce features by enabling live-stream shopping and access to product showcases, affiliate programmes, and shop ads.
Takeaway: Its move in the US is aimed at increasing its user numbers and in-app shopping activity to strengthen its position in the ongoing debate over its future in the US, where it could face a ban if the forced sale proceeds. This strategy also reflects TikTok’s broader efforts to make in-stream shopping a more central feature of its platform.
Meanwhile, its shopping push in Europe follows a failed attempt in 2022, which was impacted by internal issues and a lack of consumer interest. However, with rising interest in in-stream shopping, TikTok hopes to replicate the success of its Chinese counterpart, Douyin, which generates substantial revenue from in-app shopping. TikTok is targeting the European market to counter potential losses from a possible US.
ii. Instagram: Trial Reels
Instagram is testing a new “Trial” feature for Reels that allows creators to share their content with a select group of non-followers before posting it to their main audience.
Takeaway: This aims to help creators gauge how well their content will perform without the risk of alienating their existing followers. After 24 hours, creators can view key engagement metrics like views, likes, comments, and shares. If the trial performs well, it can be shared with a wider audience. The feature is currently being rolled out to select creators, with global availability expected in the coming weeks. This provides a valuable tool for testing new content ideas with a fresh audience.
iii. Microsoft: Ads Platform Updates, Cache Link Removal, Copilot Launch
Advertising: Microsoft is enhancing its advertising platform with key updates:
- Household Attribution: This feature allows advertisers to track ad interactions across devices within the same household, offering deeper insights and better optimisation for cross-device campaigns.
- Consent Compliance Tools: This aims to help advertisers meet privacy regulations in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland. The tools include UET Consent Mode, the Transparency and Consent Framework 2.0, and Google Tag Manager integration for smoother compliance management.
However, Microsoft is pausing certain store traffic measurement features, including Store Visits and Footfall Measurement.
Bing: Concurrently, Bing rolled out two initiatives:
- Cache Link Removal: The cache link is officially removed from its search results. The change comes after months of testing and is now fully implemented. Previously, users could access a cached version of a page by clicking an arrow next to the URL in search results, but this feature is no longer available.
- Copilot: The beta version was launched within Bing Webmaster Tools. This AI-powered feature allows users to ask specific questions about their websites and receive instant, contextually relevant answers based on their website’s data. Copilot is designed to streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and provide deep insights into site performance and issues within Bing Search.
Takeaway:
- Its ads platform updates aim to help businesses improve targeting accuracy and customer tracking while ensuring regulatory compliance.
- Bing’s removal of cache links follows Google’s similar move earlier in February 2024. While some SEOs relied on cache links for troubleshooting, they have now been eliminated.
- Copilot may help marketers and webmasters quickly identify site performance trends, resolve issues, and leverage Bing’s data more effectively. It is still in beta but may offer improved insights as it evolves with time.
iv. Google: Video in Assets, Gemini 2.0
Video Ads: Google Ads is testing a new “Video” option in the Assets section, streamlining how advertisers manage and upload video content.
Gemini 2.0: Google launched its upgraded AI model, Gemini 2.0, which will enhance AI Overviews and Search capabilities. Gemini 2.0 enables more advanced reasoning, allowing it to handle complex topics, multi-step questions, advanced math, multimodal queries, and coding. The new model is already being tested and will be more widely available in early 2025, expanding across different countries and languages.
Takeaway:
- Google’s new video option hints at a shift toward integrating more video in Google Ads campaigns for 2025, potentially influencing ad strategies and improving click-through rates. While the feature is currently in a small pilot with select customers in the UK, US, and Europe, it could lead to broader video integration in search ads.
- Google’s Gemini 2.0 upgrade will be particularly relevant for search marketers, as the improved AI Overviews aim to provide more powerful and useful search results.
v. Youtube: Expanded Auto-Dubbing, Channel Insights, CTV
Auto-Dubbing: YouTube is expanding its auto-dubbing feature, which allows creators to translate their videos into different languages automatically.
- Availability: This feature is now available to hundreds of thousands of channels in the YouTube Partner Programme, particularly those focused on knowledge and information, with plans to expand further.
- Languages: Currently, translations are offered in languages such as French, German, Hindi, and Spanish, with Google ensuring automatic translations from English and vice versa. While there may be inaccuracies in the translations, YouTube provides warnings about auto-generated content.
Channel Page: YouTube is introducing updates to enhance the management of channel pages directly within the main app.
- Layout: New creators will start with a simplified channel layout, with tabs automatically added as new content types are created.
- Follower Overview: Creators will soon be able to view their public subscriber list and see all videos (including private and unlisted) directly on their channel page.
- Analytics: The platform is also adding “Data Stories” analytics.
CTV: To enhance Connected TV (CTV) engagement, YouTube is rolling out several features.
- Watch With Option: This offers live commentary during games.
- Parent Code: This feature offers parental control.
- Simplifying Subscription: It is also easier for viewers to subscribe to channels directly from the TV interface, which boosted subscriptions by 40% in early tests.
Takeaway:
- The expanded auto-dubbing feature can help creators reach broader audiences, similar to how the success of “Amazing Digital Circus” was boosted by its availability in 20 languages.
- The updates to the channel pages make it easier for creators to access key features and stay updated on audience behaviour without needing to use YouTube Studio.
- YouTube’s CTV updates come amidst rapid growth in its usage, with users now watching over a billion hours of content daily on their TVs. The platform has capitalised on this trend, with a 30% year-over-year growth in sports content watch time, thanks to features like multi-view and NFL’s “Sunday Ticket.” This rise in CTV usage is partly driven by younger viewers who are more aligned with YouTube creators than traditional TV celebrities, providing fresh opportunities for brands to engage with new audiences.
Discover More Industry Trends with JC
For the latest industry trends or to explore new career opportunities, connect with our luxury & retail recruitment consultants for a chat. With executive search firms in Singapore and China, and operations in key business hubs like Hong Kong, you can count on our team for timely access to regional insights that can create synergy for your career and operations.
For employers: Beyond the luxury, retail and consumer goods industry, we also have dedicated desks for several sectors that enable us to meet your varied recruitment needs: