Interview – Maison Francis Kurkdjian (continued)
Fostering “the genius of creativity”
As with technology, China immediately embraced the niche category without having to go through the ‘masstige’ phase, Chaya observes. “People in China didn’t wear perfume for a very long time, it was all about skincare. So China missed the entire 80 years that we had to go through in Europe, embracing first ‘masstige’, then niche, and then becoming more selective in niche to see only a few brands succeed in what became the ultra-high-end luxury fragrance world where we are a recognised global leader.”
In contrast to Europe, the China mass market immediately embraced the niche category – “which is booming in China” – and bringing many new concepts to market, Chaya observes. However, most are marketing concepts, serving a purpose in a booming market as newcomers to the fragrance world want to learn more about it, he adds.
“I believe that eventually this will also go through the same maturity curve that we’ve seen in Europe. The more consumers learn about the industry, scents – how to smell them, wear them, interact and live with them, the more they will mature.
“They will move away from the simplistic, ‘instant reward’ marketing message to the more complex, more rewarding, more sophisticated, creative message. That is where we sit and where we foster. It’s going to take time, but it’s a matter of when not how in my humble point of view.”
“We want to bring our deepest knowledge, which is a creative vision of our craft, which is to open beautiful stores where people have time to step away from chaos and enter into meaningful stores and discover extraordinary scents,” says Chaya of the brand’s China strategy {a Hainan boutique pictured}
And time is precisely what Maison Francis Kurkdjian intends to take. The brand’s strategy is to ensure everything it does in China is within what Chaya dubs “the genius of creativity”.
“We do not come to China with simplistic ideas just because we want to be competitive in a heavily marketing-led environment,” he explains. “We’re not going to use celebrities to endorse the brand just because we want people to know about the brand. We never use celebrities but we are very proud to see many celebrities naturally talk about the brand [globally] and this happens in China too.
“We believe that rushing into launches and succumbing to launch fever can be destructive and toxic, resulting in a chaotic product lifecycle”
Maison Francis Kirkdjian Co- Founder & CEO Marc Chaya {Photo: François Roelants}
“We want to bring our deepest knowledge, which is a creative vision of our craft, which is to open beautiful stores where people have time to step away from chaos and enter into meaningful stores and discover extraordinary scents. We have started conversations with artists in China, where Francis and they will come up eventually with something that is beautiful and extraordinary.
“All of this takes time and isn’t immediately visible, but it builds up step by step. It’s like a love story – you meet someone, fall in love, and eventually one day you get married. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
Avoiding launch fever
Pivotal to that belief is how Maison Francis Kurkdjian approaches product launches. Chaya is on record describing “launch fever” as a “weapon of mass destruction”.
“The day you turn your back on your philosophy is the day you turn your back on your brand purpose,” he explains. “The way we handle product launches is integral to our approach and philosophy. We believe that rushing into launches and succumbing to launch fever can be destructive and toxic, resulting in a chaotic product lifecycle where new products replace old ones without due consideration or time for them to truly exist and be appreciated by customers.”
Chaya relates a telling anecdote of Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s growth in the key US local market as niche fragrances boomed.
“When we entered the US and the market was booming, every time we introduced something new, the question from people who worked in the stores, our product specialists, the entire sales infrastructure, the buyers would be ‘What’s next?’.
“It’s scary. And at some stage, we were pushed into this destructive, toxic momentum, where we would see brands throw in collections after collections. The new simply replaces what was new the day before, which becomes old and the lifecycle of the product becomes chaotic.”
“Multiplying our sales by five was not through opening new doors; it was about multiplying our sales by five in every door where we are,” explains Chaya {Photo: Alban Pichon}
Recognising the downward spiral this represented, Maison Francis Kurkdjian decided to step back. The rationale was multi-fold, Chaya explains. “Firstly, if we are not ready, we cannot launch. By launching a lot we are denying our creative identity; and in creation it doesn’t happen overnight. You need time to let a beautiful idea come to life.
“So, step one, I decided to move away from launches to re-educate my team – that it was not with the novelties they needed to do their business, but by celebrating the wealth of what we already had. It took us time, but eventually we prevailed, and it was a very, very smart thing to do.
“Secondly, we moved away from the pressure of marketing calendars. You announce something to the market, then you have to deliver. But what if I’m not ready? Francis is the creator – what if he’s not ready? What if the scent is not perfect as he wanted?
“So, we’ve learnt to move away from that to refocus on our key franchises, beautiful stories such as A La Rose, Gentle Fluidity, Oud Satin Mood, Grand Soir. These are all treasures and extraordinary creations that didn’t have enough time to exist because the market was constantly pushing for more, more, more.
“Today, we spend the bulk of our time celebrating what we already have. And from time to time, every two years or so, a new fragrance will come to us when Francis is inspired and we feel it will add desirability and value to our brand.
“A lot of brands want to open an entire network overnight. We don’t believe in that: we believe in opening door by door, focusing on the experience, and climbing our way up to the top in every door. This offers a lot of value. Because you learn more and you build greater interaction with your customer and give them a more beautiful experience. You don’t stretch yourself over a huge, huge distribution network overnight. It took us 16 years to open 800 doors globally, some brands open 300 doors overnight!
“We believe that when you are a creative brand which focuses a lot on craftsmanship, quality, genuine equity and excellence that focuses a lot on a value, that is return on investment rather than instant reward.
“In essence, our approach is all about taking the necessary time to create beautiful things, you need time to market beautiful things, and you need time to let them foster and grow. We believe that this is the foundation of a sustainable, successful brand.”
How LVMH helped scale while reaffirming the creative principles
Chaya’s and Kurkdjian’s long-held resistance to being driven by the market and instead leaning vehemently to your principles is admirable. I ask whether that changed after the LVMH acquisition in 2017? After all, LVMH is a mega-sized corporate and one with quarterly results to report. Did that put greater pressure on Maison Francis Kurkdjian to launch more often? To be less measured?
“Absolutely not,” Chaya replies instantly. “And I will tell you why. One, when we joined LVMH, it was something that we and Francis wanted – we didn’t have to as we were already extremely successful. We were cash generating and very profitable. So, it wasn’t a financial goal. It was a transmission and we were looking for a place where the brand could foster and grow, attract talent, learn and become smarter.
“LVMH is indeed a big corporation, but it’s not a single entity like many of its competitors. Rather, it’s an agglomeration of many heritage maisons.
“This is true about Hennessy that has been here for 300 years; it is true about beautiful houses like Loro Piana and Louis Vuitton, Dior and Celine – every brand is unique and every brand is independent. We are not run as business units, but as maisons.
“The group has gathered some of the greatest creative minds in history. The greatest designers have, are and will be working within the LVMH maison. It’s an extraordinary space for creativity.
“LVMH also celebrates the freedom of entrepreneurship. So we are entrepreneurs, we are creative, and our success comes because we are in the right ecosystem. The group has helped us a lot to grow, learn, accelerate the learning curve, and attract key talents that bring the best of themselves.”
Selectively growing the network: A Maison Francis Kurkdjian brand counter at T Galleria Beauty by DFS in Hysan Place, Causeway Bay
Chaya describes the alliance with LVMH as “an extraordinary journey” during which the house has succeeded in coping with dramatic growth. “We multiplied ourselves by five in the past five years. It is a huge endeavour to deal with growth and change management. To grow from 20 people to 300 globally; open subsidiaries; become more focused on quality; embrace change topics like sustainability.
“All this while Francis and I are still at the helm of the company. And we are celebrated for what we do. It has been an extraordinary journey.
“We have managed to scale without in any way eroding our principles,” Chaya continues, citing the brand’s largest market, the US, which accounts for about half of global sales.
“Multiplying our sales by five was not through opening new doors; it was about multiplying our sales by five in every door where we are. There’s a big difference there – you don’t stretch yourself out, you stretch yourself up.
“For instance, we have doors at Neiman [Marcus] that used to generate US$300,000 a year and now reach US$3-$4 million. Our productivity per door is unprecedented and is the consequence of desirability. It is the consequence of everything that I have mentioned before – the fact that our customers recognise our maison as being something very authentic, genuine and creative.
“This makes them want to love the maison further and experience our collections further. Our growth has been a direct consequence of what is done religiously – focus on creativity, quality, ingenuity and same-store/strong growth.”
(Continued on next page.)
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The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 334 | 12 May 2024
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 14 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (Moodie International Ltd). © All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the Publisher. To find out more visit www.moodiedavittreport.com and to subscribe, please e-mail kristyn@moodiedavittreport.com