Jimmy Choo

Brand Strategy

Casey Huth, McKynlie Drummond, Lauren Conn, and Kiesha Burr
Company History
The Jimmy Choo Company was founded
by both Jimmy Choo and his niece,
Sandra Choi, his creative director.

First brick and mortar store opened in
1996 on Motcomb Street in London.

In 1998, Jimmy Choo expanded to the
U.S., opening two stores in New York and
Beverly Hills, CA.

Expansion continued in well known
places like, London, Paris, Rome, and
Tokyo.

Jimmy Choo departed company in 2001


Company history (3 slides)
An iconic luxury lifestyle brand defined by an empowered
sense of glamour and a confident sense of style

Has a goal of creating a global luxury business

Attracted outside investment, embarked on expansion across
product categories, channels, and geographies

Jimmy Choo have more than 150 store in 32 countries and is
present in the most prestigious department and specialty
stores worldwide

Today Jimmy Choo encompasses a complete luxury
lifestyle brand. Womens shoes remain the core product,
along with handbags, small leather goods, scarves,
sunglasses, eyewear, belts, fragrances, and mens shoes

As of July 2012, CEO, Pierre Denis and Creative Director,
Sandra Choi work together to obtain their vision to create
one of the worlds most treasured luxury brands.
Tamara Mellon
Born Tamara Yeardye in
London, England

Founder and president of
the Jimmy Choo brand

Described as smart,
glamorous, wealthy, and a
jet-set lifestyle

Mellon is one of the most
prolific faces in the fashion
industry
Tamara Mellon
Mellons business technique, which
has proved strikingly successful, is to
become a walking, talking,
advertisement for her brand


At the end of the day, the person who has the money has the
control. I may not have the stereotypical head for business but I have
feet that were made for heels. Tamara M.
Jimmy Choo
Jimmy Choo was born in Penang, Malaysia in 1961 into a family of shoe makers. He made his first
shoe when he was only 11 years old.

Choo's humble beginnings can be traced back to his workshop in Hackney, East London, which he
opened in 1986 by renting an old hospital building.

His craftsmanship and designs soon became noticed and he came to the verge of international fame
when his creations were featured in a record eight pages in a 1988 issue of Vogue magazine.

Jimmy Choo himself is no longer connected with the shoe designing house which he founded in
1996.

In April 2001, he had sold 50 % interest in his company to Tamara Yeardye Mellon, former UK
Vogue accessories editor. Jimmy Choo was then a partner but was not involved in running the
business.

Jimmy Choo

The Jimmy Choo London line, also known as Jimmy Choo ready-to-wear run
by Tamara Mellon and Sandra Choi.

The ready-to-wear line has expanded to include accessories such as handbags.

Choo now resides chiefly in London. He is involved in a project to set up a
shoemaking institute in his country of birth Malaysia, where his iconic status is
often evoked to inspire budding shoemakers and fashion designers.
Brand Values
The Jimmy Choos Brand values:

- Providing top quality products for their consumers
- Being ethically responsible with how they make the products
- Create organizations to help those in need
Jimmy Choo Foundation
Launch in 2011 to offer women the confidence and
optimism to dream and achieve

The foundation is prompted by the growing
recognition that if we as a society are to be
successful in progressing economically, morally,
and philosophically, we need to educate and
empower women

Focuses on women abuse: sex trafficking,
prostitution, gender-based violence, maternal
health, building confidence and independence
through education and economic opportunity

Through this foundation, increases chance for
education, raises economic productivity, reduces
infant mortality according to UN development
Programme (UNDP)


Business Model
Interview with Pierre Denis (CEO) April 11, 2013

Shoes are the core of our business and brand and always
will be but there is a demand from our customers for more
ways to wear and experience Jimmy Choo. The
diversification of our product categories has been an organic
one, each element feels right and allows us to deliver more
to existing customers whilst introducing Jimmy Choo to a
new, younger audience via fragrance and eyewear.
Pierre Denis Interview (ctd.)
America remains the largest market globally for Jimmy Choo, with a
department store and retail presence.
We are experiencing strong like for like growth in Europe, as well as our
other main markets. That said our biggest growth opportunity is in Asia where
we have a plan to achieve a presence commensurate with that in the West over
time. It is also worth highlighting Japan which is really one of our biggest
success stories registering one of our highest growths in the world. And, of
course, our ecommerce business has been the fastest growing channel for us
during the past few years.

Brand Extension
Jimmy Choo is not only known for his shoes
but these other accessories:
Sunglasses
Handbags
Perfumes
Co-Branding
Jimmy Choos decision to partner with fashion
retailer H&M and Australian boot maker Uggs
was his way to reach into a different
demographic.
These partnerships translate to the consumer as
attainable.
This was a great move to broaden his reach.
Co-Branding

"How to build a successful international Luxury Brand in less than 10 years and
create a business worth 900 million dollars in less than 15 years?"
3 MOTIVATIONS

SELF ASSERTION
DIFFERENTIATION
GENUINE APPRECIATION FOR PRODUCT
EXCELLENCE

THE 8 PS OF LUXURY BRAND MARKETING

PERFORMANCE
PEDIGREE
PAUCITY
PERSONA
PUBLIC FIGURES
PLACEMENT
PR
PRICING










PERFORMANCE

At a product level, fundamentally it must satisfy the functional
and utilitarian characteristic as well as deliver on its practical
physical attributes

Must have quality & design excellence ingredients






craftsmanship
precision
materials
high quality
unique design
extraordinary product capabilities
technology & innovation.








PEDIGREE

Many luxury brands have a rich pedigree and extraordinary history that turn in to an
inseparable part of the brands mystique. This mystique is generally built around the
exceptional legendary founder character of the past, making up an integral part of the
brand story and brand personality.













PAUCITY

Over-revelation-and-distribution of luxury brand can cause dilution of luxury character, hence
many brands try to maintain the perception that the goods are scarce.

Natural paucity is triggered by scarce ingredients like platinum, diamonds, etc. and/or those
goods that require exceptional human expertise, for example handcrafted quality that constraints
the mass production.

Technology-driven paucity is as a result of conception-time involved in continuous innovation
and research-&- development process.

Tactical- driven paucity are more promotional in nature such as the limited editions or the special
series to generate artificial desire and demand.













PERSONA

The persona of a luxury brand is the brands communication through its advertising and
the consumers understanding of its projection.

The visual brand identity captures the brands personality, mystique & emotional values
in a nutshell.

The distinct and consistent orchestration of the identity is central to establishing the
visibility, familiarity & common identifiable brand imagery.

the brand colors
design elements like icons & logo
identifiable design
branded environment
tone-of-voice.














PERSONA

At an overall level, luxury advertising messages can be observed:

As more emotional and sensual to distance it from mass-premium brands
Create a world and an aura that is truly exceptional to their brand signature
Generate major differentiation in its production and execution














PUBLIC FIGURES

Not only does the public figures associated values and personality have to resonate with that of the
luxury brands aura, but theres a distinct difference in the way celebrity role is crafted, executed and
strategically utilized.

Accessorization or dressing celebrities on the red carpet

Celebrity invites to special events

This strategy attempts to remove the appearance of selling while still promoting the product by
making it seem as a part of the celebritys lives, thereby positively affecting consumers attitudes,
brand value & purchase intention.

Long-form-commercials / short-films have also utilized the celebrity-factor.













PLACEMENT

The retail branded environment in luxury branding is all about heightening the
consumers brand experience and amplifying the brand aura.

Luxury consumers have become more discriminating and demanding due to the
increasing democratization of luxury brands and the rapid emergence of prestigious
brands.

They are seeking a more knowledgeable and professional assistance, a trusted and
reliable collaboration helping them to manage their stature and lifestyle.

Luxury brands are increasingly investing in training and empowering their sales staff.







PR

PR in luxury branding plays an enormous role in image proliferation of the brand,
thereby subtly influencing public opinion.

It is also employed to convey other supporting messages and attributes of the brand
which cannot be explicitly captured in advertising, but by no means are less
important to create brands personality, mystique and emotional values











PRICING

Pricing plays a quite a big role in the way consumers perceive luxury brands.

Consciously or sub-consciously, consumers tend to generate a mental luxury stature
or image with the price-range that the brand operates.

It is important for luxury brands to price themselves right as setting the price lower
than the consumer expectation and willingness to pay can potentially harm the brand
value, whereas the reverse can potentially not given enough justification for
consumers to go ahead and buy.











Product excellence by itself in not enough, the luxury brand must perform at an
experiential level as well.

As luxury consumers evolve, not only these act as points of differentiation, but also
as substance to justify a premium value and pricing.

While pedigree factor is important to exuberate the years of mastery or lineage, it is
crucial to generate ongoing relevance and dynamism through the persona, PR &
public-figure factor.

Luxury brands must continue to maintain a certain degree of exclusivity and stature
with the paucity factor and the placement factor from the retail experience to the
touch-points it associates itself with.


"Our clothes are quite sophisticated and one of our strengths is alterations," Pavlovsky
said. "To be able to wear Chanel clothes, you need to try them on. You need to be in
the fitting room. You need to have a tailor who alters the clothes to fit exactly to your
body. I think it's part of Chanel. It's more than just our service. It's part of our
differentiation to have ready-to-wear that is perfect for our customers. What we want
today - and the way we use digital - is to have more and more people come to the
boutique to see the product, to touch the product, but also to try the product.

-Bruno Pavlovsky, president of CHANEL











What luxury is, is naturally a very personal perception. For me, luxury products are a
promise. A promise that the product you buy from Montblanc is of highest esteem, based on
its timeless, elegant design and the high quality, which is derived from the excellence of our
craftsmen. Its a promise that you will still love the product in 10, 20 or 30 years, like in
many times where you received a Montblanc item as a gift, you still will appreciate and love
the person who gave it to you to show how much this person respects, appreciate or loves
you.

It is our most important task to nurture this trust in our brand and our products. Sustainable
value, highest quality, excellence in craftsmanship, and creativity make our products elegant
and refined objects, which enrich the individual style of our customers. A Montblanc product
is luxury because its a lifetime companion that is worthy to be handed down to the next
generation.

-Lutz Bethge, CEO of Montblanc

http://chooconnection.jimmychoo.com/content/story-jimmy-choo

http://katyakovtunovich.com/node/41

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/feb/04/fashion.olivermarre

http://www.brandchannel.com/images/papers/533_8ps_of_luxury_branding.pdf

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/luxury-branding

http://www.luxurydaily.com/spotify-helps-luxury-brands-build-identities-engage-with-consumers/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/arieladams/2013/03/14/montblanc-on-how-to-be-a-luxury-brand-for-many/

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-28/chanel-s-sold-out-dresses-show-that-scarcity-sells-amid-
slowdown.html

http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2012/10/23/chanel-will-not-sell-ready-to-wear-collections-online

http://us.jimmychoo.com/en/us/icons/jimmy-choo-the-foundation/page/foundations/

http://www.cpp-luxury.com/pierre-denis-ceo-of-jimmy-choo-an-exclusive-interview/


Sources