Latest / The Future of Luxury Podcast with Dr Daniel Langer / Torsten Müller-Ötvös: Former CEO of Rolls-Royce Motorcars

Transcript

Torsten Müller-Ötvös: Former CEO of Rolls-Royce Motorcars · The Future of Luxury Podcast with Dr Daniel Langer

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[Music]
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welcome to the future of luxury podcast
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where we explore The Cutting Edge of the
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luxury industry with the world's leading
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Authority Dr Daniel
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longer Dr longer is the founder and CEO
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of e Brands the world's leading brand
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strategy and activation firm and
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professor of luxury at Pepperdine
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University join us as we dive into
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Trends shaping the future of luxury from
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Millennial and gen Z influence to
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digital
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disruption with unique perspectives
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shared from the world's most
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knowledgeable experts in the
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field brought to you by eot intelligence
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the global leader in luxury strategy and
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brand
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Innovation this podcast is your
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backstage path to the world of extreme
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value creation and luxury's next big
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moves so without further Ado Dr Daniel
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longer
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so it's my great pleasure to um welcome
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to this episode of the podcast I have to
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say um to I don't think that I said this
1:17
personally to you yet but I have to say
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an idol uh of mine um and to Miller atsh
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um the former CEO of Rolls-Royce motor
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car of obviously a company that doesn't
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even need an introduction and also a
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personality that doesn't need an
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introduction and toon why I say to me an
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idol is that um you know having observed
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the the industry and also worked with a
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few brands in the industry over the last
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um couple of years uh you were always to
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me um you know the maybe the the the
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person in luxury Automotive who was
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always the most consequent in thinking
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not just about the car but you know also
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in being very transformative in thinking
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about um you know not only what luxury
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really is
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but what the storytelling behind the the
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the brand should be and um I I have used
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quite often the the example of inspiring
2:22
greatness um that you created with with
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your team as to me a best-in-class
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example of how to to make something that
2:32
already is in a sense from a product
2:34
perspective the Pinnacle of luxury but
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also relevant and tangible how to make a
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transformation from the previous
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generation of of owners who in many case
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where still at least this was the myth
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chauffeured in their cars to um you know
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people that really enjoy themselves
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driving such a wonderful vehicle um so
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it's my absolute pleasure to have you
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here today and discuss with you I think
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something that we are both very
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passionate about actually two topics in
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at the same time one is luxury and the
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same the second is Automotive so welcome
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yeah thank you very much Daniel uh and
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thanks a lot for your kind words but I
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can also replicate them in a way that I
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think you are known as one of the big uh
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luxury thought leaders worldwide so for
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that reason I thought great to join your
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podcast and I'm very much looking
3:27
forward to our talks here yeah wonderful
3:31
and and tolon um maybe describe a little
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bit your um for for for everyone who who
3:37
knows you but maybe doesn't know all the
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details of your career maybe describe a
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little bit um in in a few words your
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career but also you know maybe the
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transformation that you were able to
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initiate at
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Rolls-Royce all right um couple of words
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I mean I would consider myself being a
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brand afficionado somebody who really
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understands branding building brand
4:00
revitalizing Brands uh I was for a long
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long time with the BMW group got the
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chance to revitalize Mini at times and
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relaunch mini and then was later asked
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uh I mean now nearly 15 years 16 years
4:15
ago if I could imagine to take the helm
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at rollsroyce MotoCast oh wow something
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obviously I didn't need to sleep on I
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mean that brand is world famous as you
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said Daniel and it's a brand by the way
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that is the expression of luxury anyhow
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in itself yeah many use it as the TV or
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the roll-royce of TV sets or the
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Rolls-Royce of kitchens or whatever so
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when I came at times and that was
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January 2010 I found a brand and the
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brand was already owned by the BMW group
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that was I would call it back at the
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Pinnacle of Automotive business mhm but
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probably not at levels where you see the
4:57
brand today because when I joined the
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brand was very much male nearly 100%
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male pretty much on a pedestal pedestal
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so also perceived as arrogant pretty
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conservative slightly
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old-fashioned and uh for that reason in
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my view a change was needed and what I
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did at times I interviewed a lot of
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private Banks when I joined and just to
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find out more about alrin atw worth
5:28
individuals and there was quite some
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surprising overlap in their opinion and
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that was they all predicted the pretty
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fundamental change in the demographics
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and psychographics of the ultran adverse
5:40
individuals they would get far younger
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money will be made in new ways different
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ways digital new business venture less
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inherited
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money far more
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females casual behaviors would be name
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of the games and they all are hungry to
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in enjoy life spend the money and to
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enjoy life and also enjoy life is for me
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that hunger for
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experiences and to cut it short it came
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exactly as they predicted in January and
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February 2010 when I conducted all these
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interviews but for me also it became
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immediately obvious that this would
6:19
require a fundamental change in the
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brand positioning and product strategy
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for Rosas mocon so in a nutshell major
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steps at times uh and during my time
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with Ry Roy where that we did a
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systematic change in our client
6:36
relations posture so really lifting
6:40
client centricity Daniel to an
6:42
outstanding level I'm I'm I'm fully
6:45
convinced that this is super important
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in the luxury business that you are
6:50
extremely close with your clients that
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you are basically reading their wishes
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before they even know their wishes and
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obviously we also changed brand identity
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and we put you mention it already we put
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inspiring
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greatness into the core of that brand
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identity I mean it's a big promise yeah
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inspiring greatness because everything
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you do needs to be inspiring greatness
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but it worked extremely well
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particularly funny enough with uh uh
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younger clients and uh that obviously
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then we complement it with a visual
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identity that also embodies that house
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of luxury Aesthetics very important for
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me to get away from the typical
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Automotive atmosphere into that house of
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luxury Aesthetics then I'm a big
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believer in storytelling I think people
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are hungry for Brian stories so the
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whole press and comm's work was shifted
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into what I call a storytelling machine
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over times and then obviously during my
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time we also changed the model policy
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focusing on a far younger and
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self-driving clientele you said it well
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joined 80% of all clients were sitting
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in the back so being
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chauffered and after I left it was
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exactly the opposite 80% were sitting
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behind the wheel driving themselves and
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20% in the back and that is also due to
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the fact that the clients became very
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very young over time M changed average
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age at times from 56 when I joined
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average age down 42 43 when I left so it
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was a massive rejuvenating project uh uh
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that happened here over nearly 15 years
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and I would say we were also able to add
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uh the cool and must have factor to the
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brand very important in particular with
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social media so that was a great story
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and a great journey I must say obviously
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not only out of my own brain but
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together with my team but it really a
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fundamental change in the brand
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perception m one wonderful and um you
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know you already mentioned you already
9:03
mentioned uh when when you spoke about
9:06
the clients um how the clients have been
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changing and and how client expectations
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have have changed maybe let's elaborate
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a little bit on on that um and
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especially now if you think about the
9:18
last the last couple of years um as You
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observe the clients and also as I know
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that you have been always very very
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close to uh to your clients um how would
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you describe you know from
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um if you if you take the era the era
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around maybe you know the early 2000s
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and and maybe to the transition to now
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um if you speak about if we speak about
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high net worth individuals um what would
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be maybe a few tangible things that that
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you have observed that that changed in
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their behaviors in their
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aspirations I would say Daniel when let
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let's say 15 years ago in my perception
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luxury was still pretty much bling to
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call it like that very status oriented
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and also I call it off the shelf yeah
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you were just shopping something and
10:10
luxury Brands were simply just the
10:13
symbol of exclusivity and status and the
10:16
more expensive the higher the status
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basically very easy very simple and that
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has obviously not gone away but was
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enriched massively over time with things
10:29
uh like importance of
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craftsmanship importance of
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Storytelling uh new levels of customer
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centricity engaging clients taking
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clients into a journey with your brand
10:45
giving clients the chance to see behind
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the curtain of your
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brand understanding how important
10:52
sustainability will be also for luxury
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Brands yeah offer unique
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experiences I think there is in the
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meantime a strong Wish by the clients
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alra High net worth individuals in
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particular to belong to the brand you
11:06
are part of a family you're not just
11:09
shop shopping something so the product
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itself is still important but as much as
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important today is all the services
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everything you do around for them
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everything you do in terms of invitation
11:22
giving them the chance to tour the plant
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seeing how you manufacture telling
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stories about your craftsmanship levels
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that has become so important over times
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and I would say most important and now
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I'm back to Rolls-Royce is probably the
11:38
development of be spoke so nobody any
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longer wants to buy something off the
11:45
shelf that is something that is no
11:48
longer relevant everybody wants to put
11:51
their own Masterpiece together together
11:53
with designers together with the brand
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to say this is my special Rolls-Royce
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I've crafted it I've designed it that c
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is my story very very important I dare
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to say that without be spoke uh
12:08
Rolls-Royce would not exist any longer
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yeah and this is this is uh this
12:13
fascinating and maybe let's let's let's
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dive a little bit in into that um
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because I think also for for one of the
12:21
the the um to me the projects that and
12:25
and I think there were in in in the in
12:27
in the department that you created or in
12:29
in the I think I think you call it coach
12:31
is it was Co is coach coach building
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coach build is the Pinnacle of
12:37
bepoke is obviously that was always in
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my dream uh shortly after I joined
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because I also read a lot about the
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history of the brand and in former
12:46
former times the Roaring 20s coach Bel
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name of the game everybody designed his
12:52
own Rolls-Royce so the chassis was
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delivered by Rolls-Royce Motorcars and
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then Coach bers came and designed to
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together with you the body that
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unfortunately was technical wise not any
13:04
longer possible and my dream was one day
13:07
I want to bring it back the reason
13:08
behind it is a lot of let's say legal
13:10
constraints and uh legal requirements
13:14
you need to fulfill with crash tests and
13:16
everything in the metime in the
13:17
automotive industry for that reason
13:19
coach build is and we reinvented it at
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times really the Pinnacle of be spoke By
13:26
Invitation uh of the CEO own only so it
13:30
is something
13:31
that a normal client or regular client
13:34
or somebody who is not let's say already
13:37
in the process with Ros Ros motor cars
13:40
for many years would not get the offer
13:42
you need to be a top top notch client to
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get the offer to participate in the
13:46
coach bu project yeah yeah and I was I
13:49
was um I was very in impressed by the by
13:53
by some of these these uh you know
13:56
extraordinary projects that that you
13:58
realized with was coach build and to me
14:00
it was I had always the feeling as an
14:03
observer of course um that to me it was
14:08
really like these rare opportunities
14:10
where you could really show the world
14:12
something that they've never seen before
14:15
yeah I I feel how would you say that
14:18
this also influenced the the perception
14:20
of of Rolls-Royce he made it quite I
14:22
think a powerful statement before where
14:24
you said maybe Rolls-Royce without be
14:26
spoke would not exist anymore today so
14:29
how important would you say were these
14:32
these extraordinary projects for the
14:33
brand extremely important because
14:36
extraordinary projects are marveled by
14:39
the client and the Press worldwide was
14:42
in awe when they saw it obviously it is
14:45
Testament that you really go extra miles
14:49
many many extra miles and it
14:52
underlines all the investment we have
14:54
put into uh uh bepoke because that was
14:57
not an easy game that was changing
15:00
production employing new skills into the
15:04
company uh facilitating new ideas in
15:07
design and so on looking for new
15:09
materials and new technologies to make
15:12
that all happen yeah so it is Testament
15:16
for what I would call the normal bespoke
15:19
business that when you are a client who
15:21
is not coach building EUR R Royce you
15:23
are bespoken EUR rose-royce you know
15:26
that you are part of that unbelievable
15:29
dream that you can build your own car
15:31
your dream that commission something
15:33
that is out of your brain so it was
15:36
imagewise very important also in a hello
15:39
way for our normal bread and butter
15:42
bepoke business at times and then
15:45
obviously it also created an
15:48
unbelievable hype around uh the
15:52
pricing and we never talked in any way
15:55
about the pricing uh of these cars but
15:58
the Press started to speculate who is
16:00
the owner 20 million we heard 20 million
16:04
and so on and we never commented on it
16:07
so that also helped to set price
16:12
levels higher levels it allowed the
16:14
brand to move up in a way of
16:17
unbelievable the most expensive car ever
16:21
built came from Rolls-Royce Motorcars I
16:24
mean that is a testament not from
16:26
outside but by the Press worldwide
16:29
which is gold standard and obviously
16:32
particular for a luxury brand gold
16:34
standard yeah for that reason I think it
16:36
was fundamentally important to position
16:39
the brand yeah you know you um it was it
16:42
was quite interesting and I think it's
16:44
something that um that um you don't know
16:48
yet but it was very very early in my in
16:51
my kind of early days is tapping into
16:53
into luxury when I started um with a
16:55
doctoral thesis in into the topic I had
16:58
the idea of because I I was always
17:00
fascinated by by pricing and by how how
17:03
do you price something and I had the
17:04
idea to create um what I called the
17:07
luxury index uh and this is basically a
17:10
way how to um compare categories um with
17:14
each other in terms of pricing so in a
17:16
in a sense it's it's a it's basically a
17:18
proxy for the luxuriousness in a
17:20
category I'm taking the the kind of Base
17:24
product that has the barebone
17:25
functionality so let's say if we would
17:27
speak about shoes you would look at a
17:29
category for is it the cheapest shoe and
17:32
the kind of the most simple shoe that
17:34
that still allows you kind of to to walk
17:38
with with your feet protected and then
17:40
you take the most extreme shoe and the
17:42
most extreme um in in a way of of what
17:47
was the willingness of a customer to pay
17:49
the price and so we basically the the
17:52
most extreme and divided it with the
17:55
with the price point of the cheapest one
17:57
and then I compareed
17:59
um 100 categories with each other some
18:02
categories were durables um so they were
18:05
like um cars for example and then I was
18:08
also fascinating and said what if I look
18:10
into categories that are um in a sense
18:13
let's call imp perishable or the
18:15
disappear like you know when you when
18:17
you go to a restaurant have a dinner or
18:19
when when you buy maybe a bottle of wine
18:21
and then you know after after
18:23
consumption the bottle is empty and and
18:26
so then I was thinking are there are
18:28
there um correlations so can I say
18:30
basically maybe one category is is
18:33
nondurable maybe the the the
18:35
luxuriousness is somehow limited this
18:37
this logic would would suggest it and I
18:40
found a couple of of um really
18:43
fascinating insights the first was it
18:45
didn't matter whether durable or
18:46
nondurable we F find really you know I
18:48
think one of the the I I wrote a couple
18:51
of articles about that was a breakfast
18:53
omelette that a hotel in New York City
18:55
was um was serving um and this omel let
18:59
was originally um um sold for
19:03
$1,000 um making it the most expensive
19:05
omelette in the world and uh and then
19:08
you take let's say a breakfast omelet
19:10
that you can get in a coffee shop around
19:11
the corner and then you make the mess
19:13
and you see there's a there's a huge
19:15
Delta in value creation between that um
19:18
extreme omelet and the normal one and
19:21
then I looked into also the car category
19:23
and looked at that time what was the
19:25
most expensive car which I believe and
19:28
this was around around um I think we
19:30
spoke speak around 2008 2009 I think it
19:33
was probably the Bugatti um the Bugatti
19:36
veon at that time who got to wear on
19:38
yeah right and uh and so and then we we
19:41
we compared that with the with the
19:43
cheapest car um money can buy which at
19:46
that time I think was the tataa I think
19:48
the Tata Nano on on the market and um
19:51
and you got to quite interesting um
19:54
results and one of the results was that
19:57
actually and this was cor clear cor
20:01
correlated between The Omelette and cars
20:03
um I Saw The Omelette category could
20:06
actually be price here if I compare this
20:08
with some other categories um and also
20:11
cars were in interestingly low in terms
20:13
of price and at that time we spoke about
20:15
a Bugatti Veron for I think it was a
20:17
million a million EUR so roughly um and
20:22
I remember um being interviewed by um
20:25
Auto Motor and sports by by the German
20:27
car mag at that time and I made a
20:30
provocative statement said the most
20:32
expensive cars are too cheap and I
20:34
remember being roasted uh then
20:36
afterwards said this this idiot cars are
20:40
already too expensive and then comes
20:41
this this luxury researcher and says
20:43
cars should be more expensive and I run
20:46
the numbers and um I thought that that
20:49
time just comparing categories so for
20:51
example now you take the handbag
20:52
category or you take shoe categories and
20:55
so on I I was saying if I apply just the
20:58
the same logic of how much luxury value
21:01
was created in other categories in a
21:03
relative term cars could be be priced up
21:07
to about100 million this was kind of
21:09
what the meths was saying and so and
21:11
then I I I published a couple of
21:13
Articles saying there should be a 20 or
21:16
30 or $50 million car um but the the the
21:21
the the thing is someone has to figure
21:23
out how to do it and uh even if there's
21:27
maybe no official comment on what those
21:29
coach building cars cost but I think you
21:31
went relatively close to to that at
21:34
least to that dimensions and that for me
21:36
was really um you know I I was very in a
21:39
sense very proud of of what you you guys
21:41
were doing there at at Rolls-Royce
21:43
because it showed that if you apply the
21:46
right storytelling if you apply the
21:48
right um um how do you say that also the
21:52
right um creativity Ingenuity uh and
21:56
also the right inspiration you actually
21:58
can and can build products that create
22:02
so much value that people actually pay
22:05
for for those values although maybe for
22:08
millions of people that seems to be
22:10
absorb price points but if the story is
22:12
right for that one person who you now
22:15
create something truly personal and
22:17
unique it's absolutely worth that price
22:19
point I I fully agree Daniel I I would
22:23
also add that obviously clients today in
22:26
the luxury segment are pretty savy
22:28
pretty svy about product substance they
22:31
understand what do they buy for the
22:33
money and they want to understand what
22:35
do they buy for the money so coming back
22:37
to your omelet point of uh 2000 or
22:40
whatever The Omelette was I must I must
22:42
say there must be something superb
22:46
behind it in terms of Storytelling or
22:48
some other additional services that make
22:51
these omelets so perfect that you are
22:54
prepared to pay the price I I think the
22:57
biggest Danger for luxury Brands
22:59
currently is a kind of overpromise and
23:02
underd deliver yeah and uh just to say
23:05
ah we can ask for skyrocketing prices
23:09
and then later when you look into the
23:10
substance and when you look into what
23:12
you really buy and what kind of sorry to
23:16
say cache image you are buying you
23:19
scratch your head and you think no guys
23:21
that's no longer in my view Justified
23:24
and you overpriced it uh because
23:27
storytelling was not not great substance
23:29
is not great uh uh the value is not
23:33
really in the product and that is
23:35
something that in my view has changed
23:37
massively that was at your time when you
23:39
did your see this that was 15 20 years
23:43
ago there I think and that is why I
23:46
mentioned bling was important for people
23:49
the brand logo in itself carried so much
23:52
power that it didn't matter what the
23:55
substance was the main thing was I own
23:58
this brand and that is now not longer
24:03
possible in my way you have very
24:05
educated highly skilled people
24:07
particularly social media made a lot out
24:11
uh about what is the true substance
24:13
behind the brand what are you really
24:15
buying what do you against you invest
24:18
five six million into rollsroyce or
24:21
whatever the number is and uh I think
24:24
rightly so and if you don't observe that
24:27
and if you don't follow that kind of
24:29
intelligence then you might end up in
24:31
overpromise and underr yeah yeah and I
24:35
think this is something that um right
24:37
now if we look at the you know the the
24:39
current state of of the luxury industry
24:41
you know heading heading now into this
24:44
this new year you know the the the last
24:46
Bane study came in um you know a few
24:49
weeks ago and and to me it was almost
24:52
like a wakeup call for for the industry
24:55
because the the what what ban um ident
24:58
ified was that about half of luxury
25:02
customers that they that they um
25:04
surveyed were saying luxury Brands as a
25:07
kind of general statement are overpriced
25:11
and um this is something that um in you
25:14
know all my years as an observer and and
25:17
um also in a sense a participate in this
25:20
industry um I've never seen numbers like
25:23
like that yes luxury has never been
25:26
perceived as you know cheap so to to
25:28
speed but that 50% of potential
25:31
customers say that certain brands are
25:33
overpriced goes exactly in the direction
25:35
that that you are saying and I think
25:37
that a mistake that has been done in the
25:39
last probably two three years also after
25:42
the pandemic when also you know demand
25:45
was was starting to skyro roting I had
25:48
have the feeling there were probably
25:50
simply some brands that um that said
25:53
took and I use now the word on purpose
25:55
maybe a little bit advantage of the
25:57
clients uh and of the demand and said
25:59
okay we can we increase price because we
26:01
can to a point where people say okay if
26:05
I don't understand like what you just
26:07
said the value proposition if I don't
26:09
understand why I should pay the money
26:13
they're not going to do that and I think
26:14
this is also something and I would be
26:16
curious about your your experience on
26:18
that because you have been probably
26:20
closer to many um High net worth
26:23
individuals than probably most other
26:25
luxury Executives as he had been very
26:27
very you know your travels you've always
26:29
met with so on I I I'm I'm pretty sure
26:32
that you probably never ever met anyone
26:35
who would want to waste your their money
26:37
they they all want to
26:39
know guess what the reason why they are
26:42
so let's say successful and why they are
26:45
ultra high netw worth individuals are is
26:48
because they're extremely smart with
26:49
money and for that reason they clearly
26:53
understand what substance means to them
26:56
and they also have a longlasting memory
26:58
if they feel cheated by a brand they
27:00
will never forget I can tell you and uh
27:03
this will bite you
27:05
later some Brands as you rightly said
27:08
Daniel made a kind of profit uh after
27:11
the pandemic Time by unreasonably
27:15
raising prices because demand was given
27:18
but uh that was a very short notice
27:21
strategy in my view and completely
27:24
neglected that clients are intelligent
27:27
and they are shrew to use that
27:31
expression in a positive meant way and
27:33
that they would not be fooled by any
27:36
things you are doing with them so and
27:39
that is now a kind of period where all
27:42
the brands who overid it are now
27:45
retuning and
27:47
readjusting on or back to levels where I
27:51
would say substance brand image and
27:54
price is back into a balance and that
27:57
obviously brings many analysts and many
28:00
observers into that feeling that oh
28:02
luxury is dead luxury is in a problem
28:06
and uh uh the luxury Brands uh stock
28:09
markets tanks with luxury Brands and so
28:13
on yeah rightly so because again an
28:15
overpromise at times yeah now they're
28:18
under
28:19
deliver yeah it's in the end it's always
28:21
fasina because you know in the end it's
28:24
not rocket science if if the value to to
28:27
me in in Lu luxury is always about
28:29
extreme value and as long as brands are
28:32
able um to deliver extreme value then
28:36
there will be clients that are willing
28:37
to to Value the value and then to also
28:41
pay the price points but if they feel um
28:44
they're not getting um what people are
28:47
asked to pay for then it's very natural
28:50
then it feels it feels uh it feels
28:52
overpriced it reminds me a little bit
28:55
for example in when I advise Hospitality
28:57
brands um one thing that I see sometimes
29:00
you know traveling um is you always I
29:04
would say in most cases you forget how
29:06
much you paid for the hotel room and you
29:08
know if New York City for example um now
29:12
today I'm I'm in Shanghai yes it's it's
29:15
it's natural that you pay a few hundred
29:17
for for for a room but don't charge me
29:20
$10 for the the bottle of water because
29:24
you know we know how much a bottle of
29:25
water cost so if uh and then we have
29:28
experiences in other hotels where maybe
29:30
the bottle of water is complimentary and
29:31
now I go to one hotel where Suddenly
29:34
It's this ton dollars and then I ask
29:35
myself really and these are the these
29:37
are the things I think where so much
29:39
many mistakes are done by um being Yeah
29:43
by not delivering value but then
29:45
charging for it and these are as you
29:47
said people things that people will
29:48
never forget no I mean that's Penny wise
29:51
but pwn foolish that's for sure yeah and
29:54
I also on top came and maybe going back
29:57
to that per period where the whole
29:58
Market was in full swing that many
30:01
Brands uh neglected uh also that I call
30:06
it now scarcity uh uh theme which is
30:10
highly highly important for luxury
30:12
Brands so the more you push volume into
30:15
the market uh the less attractive it is
30:18
for many many clients to acquire your
30:21
brand and that was also happening right
30:23
after the pandemic people flooded the
30:26
shops with on the flooded the shops with
30:30
stuff and uh I think always keep your
30:35
brand rare and uh live up to
30:40
yeah the promise of scarcity and luxury
30:44
yeah I want to go get back to something
30:46
that you said a little bit earlier in in
30:48
our conversation the the
30:50
impressive um the impressive
30:53
Rejuvenation that you managed to to
30:55
bring into to Rolls-Royce motor cars and
30:59
I part of this Rejuvenation of course
31:02
was a transition of the portfolio um
31:05
with the launch of kinan and and Spectra
31:07
under under your leadership and I I
31:09
would I would love to talk to you a
31:12
little bit about you know this the how
31:14
you were able to bring Inspire greatness
31:17
and and the idea around this into the
31:19
launches of of both um of both Brands
31:22
and um I have to say I found personally
31:25
also when when I observed the launch of
31:28
cinan to me it was really a best class
31:32
best and class example of a of a line or
31:35
portfolio extension because I I would
31:37
imagine that um the challenges for
31:40
kalinin were quite were quite
31:42
significant and this could have been a
31:44
project that could have also bro broken
31:46
the company if it's not executed in the
31:49
right way so maybe if you could share a
31:51
little bit the the personal learnings of
31:54
of that launch and what were like kind
31:55
of critical factors to to to help
31:59
customers that probably W were not even
32:03
you know I assume a lot of colan
32:05
customers were not even Rolls-Royce
32:07
customers before so maybe customers who
32:09
knew the brand but never really
32:12
experienced the brand um how do you
32:14
bring the yeah let's let's let's use the
32:17
word the story of the brand to someone
32:19
who never saw the brand yeah very good
32:22
point I mean rightly so as you said it
32:25
was something where during my time time
32:28
we took a long time to really develop
32:30
the right product that is true for kinin
32:33
but also was true for Spectre the
32:35
electric roll-royce
32:37
both products are controversial and
32:41
we're highly controversial in the
32:43
beginning when first ideas uh us mulling
32:46
plans about it leaked into the Press oh
32:49
is this really possible I mean nobody
32:51
would say no if you offer a convertible
32:54
or Coupe or a lovely limousine that is
32:58
the natural Turf of Roso motor cost but
33:00
an SUV at times definitely wasn't M so
33:04
what we did and now I come to a point
33:06
which I personally think is super
33:08
important and that is storytelling if
33:10
you don't
33:12
investigate a certain rational behind
33:15
the product and a link between product
33:18
and brand and we have done it and guess
33:21
walk we found a very interesting and
33:24
marvelous story and the story is
33:26
Lawrence of Arabia and Lawrence of
33:30
Arabia used to drive together with his
33:33
army armored rolls-royces through the
33:36
deserts and that was a fantastic story
33:40
and these rolls-royces were so reliable
33:42
that he said the rollsroyce in the
33:45
desert is more worse and more valuable
33:48
than rubies and this is a common say and
33:52
we started to develop that story and we
33:54
told everybody that there is Big
33:56
credential in us doing it because
33:58
formerly Rolls-Royce was everywhere even
34:01
in the deserts with rans of Arabia or in
34:04
the Outbacks of Australia so the cars
34:08
were extremely capable always that was
34:10
the history of the brand so an SUV is a
34:13
kind of natural development in that area
34:16
so that went down extremely well then on
34:19
top came what I call a marvelous story
34:21
around the naming cinin the largest ever
34:24
found raw diamond in the world sits in
34:26
the crown jewels of her
34:29
majesty in the UK and all that in
34:34
conjunction with the authenticity of yes
34:37
we can go Offroad and we can go
34:40
everywhere made it easy to find
34:42
something that was very very convincing
34:44
and then obviously we also got the
34:46
design pretty right I would say in the
34:49
beginning it was Julia rollsroyce
34:51
because one thing I also believe is
34:54
never give up your soul never give off
34:56
un your credential it needed to be a
34:59
Rolls-Royce a Rolls-Royce first and an
35:02
SUV second and that means Magic Carpet
35:05
Ride also needs to happen in a Ros Ro as
35:08
cinin uh everything you are used to is
35:11
also happening in a cinin in
35:14
a used to from a Ros R so that in the
35:20
end opened up new garages for people who
35:23
observed us for quite some time and also
35:27
said I guess not yet I'm too young maybe
35:31
in 10 15 years I'm in for a Rolls-Royce
35:34
or whatever and kalinin changed
35:36
massively that perception that this is
35:38
suddenly something that is the number
35:40
one car in the uh in the garage and a
35:44
car that was used for all let's say
35:48
travel Alternatives School runs going
35:51
down to the yach harbor with the family
35:54
using the car as your number one car in
35:56
the household that that is also highly
35:58
unconventional and was very
36:00
unconventional for us at times because
36:03
lines in the segment of Roso is normally
36:06
do have seven eight nine cars in
36:09
the at least so for every certain
36:12
purpose a special car and we were able
36:16
to push other SUVs out of the garage and
36:19
to enter with kalinin and that was
36:21
important for us that we were not
36:23
cannibalizing the existing M range but
36:26
we wanted to look out for new clients
36:29
clients who never had ever before in
36:31
their life the Rolls-Royce in the garage
36:34
MH yeah I I think um here I can just say
36:38
also again from from a personal
36:39
experience I have a friend who um who
36:41
bought a kalinin and um he he also told
36:46
me that the this idea of inspired
36:48
greatness is something that he feels
36:50
every time when he he goes into to the a
36:53
very he's Al a very success entrepreneur
36:55
but so it's for him almost a reminder
36:57
every day um of that he has to deliver
37:00
greatness so also a great link and I I
37:03
remember also that um and and also again
37:06
kudos to that um when when you launched
37:09
kalinin there was there were also like I
37:11
think you had a collaboration with
37:13
National Geographic I remember there was
37:14
some some video that showed that showed
37:18
the car in this uh in this Mission I
37:20
think and then there was like a long
37:21
video almost like 17 minutes or so yeah
37:24
we had different sequences of videos
37:26
where the car two
37:28
basically superb off-road areas in the
37:32
world in the in the Scottish
37:36
Highlands uh all over in Australia in
37:40
the Outbacks 100% well remembered Daniel
37:43
you are right that was I would call it
37:45
genius marketing story as well yeah and
37:48
gave the car massive credibility that it
37:50
was possible to really do what we
37:53
promised the car would deliver M yeah
37:56
and I I remember I uh I I've shown that
37:59
video to some of my marketing students
38:02
in in my luxury MBA classes and I would
38:05
say uniso the the the feedback was after
38:08
they they were were tortured I have to
38:11
say because you know was the attention
38:13
span today of um of of of genes that
38:16
typically are six seconds uh then you
38:19
give them a 17 minute video to to watch
38:23
almost everyone afterward said when the
38:25
video came to the end said I want this
38:28
car and that for me was you know a
38:31
remarkable Testament how as you said
38:33
before how critical storytelling is but
38:35
also how critical almost like to me this
38:38
that that video particularly was was
38:41
really giving in in so many different
38:43
dimension a logic and a reason why
38:46
someone needed that car and but without
38:50
without basically begging for that just
38:52
there was like a there was like a um
38:55
yeah to me just a naturalness an
38:57
effortlessness uh to to that uh and and
39:00
still um it was something very very
39:03
convincing and you know so many other um
39:06
car videos or so um I don't even
39:08
remember but this was one where I
39:10
thought it's so it was so unusual and so
39:14
I would say um also bold in in a way how
39:18
it was done and I think correct me but I
39:21
think that the the the entire launch
39:23
campaign also and this to me also was
39:26
even Revolution
39:28
like a revolution in the automotive
39:30
space was mainly digital if I remember
39:32
well 100% yeah it's anyhow that we and
39:36
at my time mainly went digital because
39:40
uh it is highly cost
39:42
effective and uh is something obviously
39:45
we also had events with clients
39:46
worldwide because I'm a True Believer
39:48
that uh you need to uh throw quite a lot
39:51
of events and experiences with your
39:53
client here and your upcoming
39:56
prospects uh that was also where we
39:58
invested substantial money into but the
40:01
rest was all into let's say as you say
40:04
social media and digital uh channels all
40:07
over the world yeah in speaking about
40:10
events that brings me I think to another
40:12
um critical I would success factor and
40:14
critical Topic in in luxury um the
40:17
experience and um you know I personally
40:21
and this is probably because I'm I'm
40:23
personally not yet a client of
40:26
Rolls-Royce um so I'm I'm a client of
40:29
some other brands that most people would
40:31
would call probably luxury car brands um
40:34
but I have to say that for me in in
40:37
luxury Automotive maybe one of the
40:39
Achilles heel can often be the customer
40:41
experience especially in this indirect
40:44
model that so many um brands are
40:46
dependent on where you have dealership
40:49
and we all know some are better than
40:50
others and I'm always seem to be the The
40:53
Unlucky One that get the bad dealers so
40:55
to speak wherever I move to
40:57
but but talk a little bit about the the
40:59
dealership experience because I I I know
41:02
from my own um from from my own history
41:06
with car brands whenever I broke up with
41:08
a brand it was always because of the of
41:12
something that happened in the
41:13
dealership experience service and very
41:16
often as he said service you know you
41:18
you arrive the service place and you
41:20
have an appointment and then they tell
41:21
you no you don't have an appointment
41:23
it's silly things that in the end let
41:26
this experience break down so I would be
41:28
be curious because I can imagine that
41:31
you had faced exactly the same
41:33
challenges
41:35
um what were what were things that you
41:37
particularly paid attention to what
41:40
would you maybe recommend others to to
41:42
do what what are kind of the the the
41:44
ingredients to make the client
41:46
experience at at the dealership or the
41:48
point of sale in general
41:51
extraordinary I mean just to put it
41:53
simple I would say training training
41:55
training training
41:57
that is he obviously you need to develop
42:01
a training that teaches people how to
42:04
behave in the luxury atmosphere and how
42:07
to deal with these very Discerning
42:10
clients what do you need to do so we
42:12
developed uh uh during my time uh a
42:17
program uh that was teaching basically
42:20
everybody in Goodwood in our worldwide
42:24
partner networks how to deal with
42:26
clients
42:28
and that is obviously something where
42:30
you can't rest you need to do that
42:33
constantly and you also need to select
42:36
the right people who are offering the
42:38
services not everybody is capable to
42:41
talk to the clients in the way how you
42:45
want them to talk to the clients and I
42:47
think you also need to make decision who
42:50
is fronting clients and who is not
42:52
fronting clients because the one who is
42:54
fronting clients definitely needs
42:58
the feeling and needs the capabilities
43:00
to speak with clients on eye level and
43:03
needs to read all the wishes from their
43:05
eyes whilst speaking to them that's what
43:09
they all expect from you if you fail you
43:12
have a problem I can't agree more for
43:15
that reason that is the Achilles heel as
43:17
you said and if you are not training
43:20
your Achilles heel regularly it might
43:23
break and then you have a problem yeah
43:26
so I also o think that it is and you see
43:29
that with many Brands they all invest
43:32
into brick and water shops shops shops
43:34
but that's easy and uh what not what is
43:39
not easy is to find and train the right
43:41
people who interact on highest levels
43:44
and uh to find them is difficult so I
43:48
think as a luxury brand it requires that
43:52
you are permanently on your toes
43:55
permanently and that you are reaching
43:57
out for new experiences that you are
43:59
training your people constantly on new
44:01
levels new ideas and fascinating ways to
44:04
impress the client if you don't do that
44:07
and if and now it comes that's my final
44:09
point you also need to pay your people
44:11
properly because you need good people to
44:15
do that and if you're not prepared to
44:17
pay you won't get the right level of
44:19
people but this service is crucial is
44:22
for me the neck breaker for luxury if it
44:25
isn't executed in a prop way yeah yeah I
44:28
I can't I can't agree more and you know
44:30
that makes me also so enthusiastic that
44:32
we will also do master classes together
44:35
yeah I'm very much looking forward to
44:37
that yeah and I think we have a lot to
44:39
teach here some other luxury Brands who
44:42
might want to get a bit of guidance here
44:45
also from our side what is important
44:47
when it comes to service levels how do
44:49
you want to what do we need to say how
44:52
do we teach the people and so on and I
44:54
think we both have lots of knowledge
44:56
around that
44:57
yeah yeah I think it's it's it's going
44:59
to be it's going to be very very
45:00
exciting and it it's it's it's so what
45:03
you said also resonated so much with me
45:05
because sometimes you know when I I I
45:07
did a lot of um over the last couple of
45:09
of of of years but specifically in in in
45:12
the last maybe six seven months a lot of
45:14
trainings for example in in Hospitality
45:17
or you know when take luxury Hospitality
45:19
branded residences and so on and so very
45:23
um investment heavy categories where
45:26
sometimes companies spend on one
45:28
property sometimes billions when you
45:30
take huge huge real estate developments
45:33
and then you know the one thing that
45:34
always flabber against me is there's no
45:38
problem to spend a billion in real
45:40
estate but then all the factors that you
45:42
just mentioned uh paying the staff that
45:45
then delivers the the to the client
45:48
paying them properly and putting the
45:51
right incentive systems in place that
45:53
are not focusing on um on something
45:56
trans actional but focusing actually on
45:58
the client experience really thinking
46:00
strategically how to incentivize that
46:03
but then also even even trainings the
46:06
discussion that then sometimes are about
46:08
training budgets um somewhere where
46:11
again you know unbelievable amount of of
46:13
of money is spent on the hardware and
46:15
then you have a a let say a beautiful
46:18
palace but within that beautiful palace
46:22
there is basically no no content uh in
46:25
there or no soul to to to to use the
46:27
word that you said said before and and
46:30
that is basically destroying so many
46:32
things that could otherwise be
46:35
mindblowing it takes something
46:37
mind-blowing to something that is you
46:39
know just maybe a a far cry from from
46:42
its potential 100% I can't agree more
46:45
and unfortunately that is people very
46:48
often or Brands very often think brick
46:50
and mor is safe it's a good investment
46:53
while it's training is not a good
46:55
investment because our people might
46:56
leave us tomorrow I think that is very
46:59
very wrong in its opinion because
47:03
well-trained people and also well-paid
47:05
people will stay extremely loyal to you
47:08
because they enjoy working for you
47:11
because you have put effort into them
47:13
and you have trained them and they will
47:15
pay that back I'm I'm I I'm very
47:17
convinced about it uh at my times at
47:20
rollsroyce we open so-called private
47:22
offices worldwide because not everybody
47:25
could travel to Goodwood to see see it
47:27
all with their own eyes so we
47:29
opened uh private offices in all major
47:33
capital cities in the world and uh we
47:35
invested here as well heavy into
47:38
training and heavy into how to interact
47:40
with people and I can tell you when I
47:43
left 95% of the people in the private
47:46
offices were still the people we uh
47:48
employed at times when we generated the
47:51
idea so I'm a True Believer that
47:54
investment and people pays back in a
47:57
very positive way for your
47:58
brand yeah and I'm also yeah I'm I'm
48:01
also convinced that uh that if someone
48:04
basically also feels it in the end it
48:07
comes everything we are discussing comes
48:09
back to how can we create value and how
48:13
can we make someone feel valued so and
48:16
this is basically the perspective of the
48:18
client that you know when they walk
48:20
let's say to a car dealership or to what
48:23
you just described the private office
48:25
that they feel valued but it's also the
48:27
employee because if they get the right
48:29
training if they get basically the right
48:32
um support system at at the hand if and
48:35
if they basically um get the right
48:38
structure then also they as as a person
48:41
can develop so it's basically if I think
48:43
if if luxury is done right that to me is
48:47
is actually the most exciting category
48:49
to be in because then it's it creates
48:52
like an ecosystem of value where from
48:55
the client to to every everyone involved
48:58
value is created and if it's not done
49:00
right then it goes back to what you said
49:02
earlier um when when you talk about
49:05
talked about you know Brands not
49:07
delivering on their promise then it's
49:09
just a a beautiful frame without any
49:12
without anything in that frame and and
49:15
then this Frame is going to collapse
49:16
people are not going to stay customers
49:19
customers are not going to believe in it
49:20
and then going to run away I think in
49:23
the luxury business you need to be a
49:25
perfectionist I'm a perfectionist that's
49:28
also why I love that business because
49:30
you constantly need to go extra miles
49:32
and something that was right today is
49:35
not any longer right the next day for
49:38
the client that also brings me back to
49:40
points like events yeah Daniel and uh
49:43
itations for clients so if you had let's
49:47
say good experiences with the kind of
49:49
event format this year don't bet on that
49:52
for the next year uh next year is next
49:55
year and you need to develop new new
49:56
ideas new things to attract your clients
49:59
all the clients in that highend sector
50:01
have invitations from many many other
50:03
brands and they have the chance to
50:05
constantly compare and many people don't
50:08
think about it that your clients are
50:12
blooded with many ideas from other
50:14
luxury Brands so you need to be on your
50:16
toes to be always ahead of the curve and
50:20
to find new ways to attract them and to
50:23
use your clients M I think one thing
50:26
that impressed me always is um that
50:30
you're probably from from all the the
50:33
from from most of the leaders in in the
50:35
in the automotive industry and
50:37
potentially even in the luxury industry
50:39
at large probably the one that spend
50:41
most time with oneon-one uh with with
50:45
clients and maybe share a little bit
50:47
your your insights there how how
50:49
important this this personal touch and
50:52
this personal time is for the client
50:54
also for you inspiring yourself in in
50:57
your day today I would say Daniel that
51:00
was my lifeblood so uh that gave
51:04
me the thought and gave me the ideas
51:08
what I did and I traveled a lot whenever
51:10
I was on travels uh we invited 10 to 15
51:15
clients couples uh for a beautiful
51:17
lovely evening dinner and we ched
51:20
everything we chatted business we didn't
51:22
chat out the motive we chatted business
51:24
we chatted what's going on currently in
51:27
the country what is
51:29
important and also for me amazing to
51:32
hear what other luxury Brands they favor
51:35
for what reason do they favor them and
51:38
what was their latest and greatest
51:40
experience with other brands and that
51:42
gave me superb insights and I would
51:46
consider myself as really pretty sevy in
51:49
understanding the clientele and I mean
51:51
after 14 years and at least two travels
51:54
each month I've seen quite a lot of
51:56
clients I wouldn't say I know every
51:59
single client within Rolls-Royce motorc
52:01
cars but the organization definitely
52:03
knows every single client and one of my
52:06
core beliefs at times when I joined Wars
52:09
if when the client is the king and the
52:11
client is the king because only the
52:13
client brings the money nobody else then
52:17
we are serving that King and that is the
52:19
client and for that reason I wanted that
52:22
all people ideally get as much contact
52:24
with clients as possible
52:27
so we allowed clients to see the
52:29
production line to really look over the
52:32
shoulders of the clients and uh to talk
52:37
with them and uh to to Really interact
52:40
with them to hear it from the horse's
52:43
mouth yeah things need to be perfect and
52:48
and the reason they are marveling
52:51
Rolls-Royce is perfection in every
52:53
single detail and when you hear that
52:56
from a client then you have a complete
52:58
different attitude and mindset suddenly
53:01
than somebody who just started training
53:03
on that right yeah yeah this is this is
53:06
fantastic and this leads me to to you
53:09
know probably another challenge that
53:11
many luxury Brands will will are facing
53:15
today and this is the differences in
53:18
culture and I can imagine you know on
53:21
your travels um and similar to to to me
53:24
um right now also traveling almost every
53:27
week some somewhere it it is so
53:29
remarkable how different every region in
53:32
in the world is every every place and
53:35
then even within countries you know
53:36
sometimes we speak uh even in uh in
53:39
general terms about a country like China
53:41
and then sometimes we forget that in
53:43
China we have more than 140 cities of
53:45
over a million people and sometimes I
53:49
have to when people say oh it's so just
53:50
a tier four City yeah okay come on a
53:53
tier four city is bigger than the
53:54
biggest cities in some well-known in
53:56
some well-known countries so it's it's
53:59
it's interesting and and so for for how
54:03
would you say um or what are maybe
54:06
critical success factors for for luxury
54:09
Brands when it comes to serving
54:13
customers all over the world where
54:15
there's so many different expectations
54:18
different uh rituals different ways of
54:22
um utilizing products um sometimes even
54:26
um you know different tastes I can
54:28
imagine especially when it comes to cars
54:31
um there's so many different tastes you
54:33
know if I look at for example Japan uh
54:36
Middle East the Americas uh you know
54:40
Germany and and so on 100% pres I mean
54:44
um I mean for me personally it's
54:46
extremely important that you adapt to uh
54:49
local or country specific cultures that
54:53
you also spend time in the country to
54:55
better understand why clients are
54:58
choosing this and not choosing that we
55:01
spoke I said it a couple of times now in
55:03
our little podcast here is is for me
55:07
very very important and be spoke gave us
55:10
all the opportunities obviously to cater
55:13
for each individual taste pattern and to
55:16
do whatever clients were asking us they
55:19
wanted to see commissioned in their
55:21
rosro so on top comes I think that you
55:25
also need to make an effort that you
55:27
engage more with maybe local other
55:31
brands other luxury Brands local ones
55:34
that you are starting to cooperate maybe
55:38
also in countries with local brands that
55:41
you make an effort to position your
55:44
brand as eye opened to other foreign
55:47
cultures and I think that is super
55:49
important particular for younger
55:51
Generations out of those countries it is
55:54
important that Western brands are at
55:58
least making an effort to adapt to local
56:02
cultures and to make an effort to get a
56:05
certain I call it now Chinese cliche as
56:08
well into their brand proposition in
56:11
China which is not artificial which
56:14
needs to be authentic but obviously you
56:17
make an effort to adapt yourself to a
56:19
local culture yeah um maybe maybe one or
56:24
two more more more questions because
56:26
this has been such a fascinating such a
56:29
fascinating discussion with so many
56:30
where we already have so many insights
56:33
that that that you shared um if you
56:36
basically reflect on on your tenure at
56:39
at rollsroyce um when you think about
56:42
maybe your personal learnings about
56:44
luxury but also in terms of leadership
56:46
and some you have in in the different
56:48
questions already referred to but what
56:50
where in in your point of view when you
56:52
think about what you know today about
56:55
luxury and maybe what were your
56:57
assumption going into th into those
57:00
roles what were maybe the most
57:02
significant personal learnings and what
57:04
can can you share maybe to others who
57:07
aspire to become leaders in in the
57:09
luxury world I mean it is not easy to
57:13
put that into a nutshell that takes
57:15
hours to talk about that what needed to
57:18
really get into uh the luxury segment
57:20
but I would say one of my fundamental
57:24
learnings is client centricity and uh
57:27
client centricity in a way that the
57:29
client is not only in your mind the
57:32
client is constantly at your heart and
57:35
that is something what you need to live
57:37
and what you also need to Showcase to
57:39
your own people every day every single
57:42
minute that only the client counts
57:44
nothing else and that is I think
57:48
extremely crucial in the luxury sector
57:50
extremely crucial learning number one
57:53
number two is bepoke in my view is
57:55
crucial
57:57
because luxury today isn't any longer
57:59
off the shelf you need to give clients
58:01
the chance to interact to be part of the
58:04
brand also to give them the chance to
58:07
put their own taste patterns into the
58:09
brand and to fulfill own dreams with the
58:13
brand and then you mentioned it I
58:15
mentioned it storytelling I mean many
58:19
Brands don't make an effort to reflect
58:21
on what great stories they could
58:23
potentially tell me personally I think
58:26
when you make the effort and when you
58:28
really dwell into history and when you
58:30
dwell into how you build product and so
58:32
on there are lots of stories your
58:34
clients will be interested
58:36
in wonderful and maybe one one last one
58:40
last question is um if you reflect on
58:44
it's it's kind of funny to use the word
58:46
reflect on the future but if if you kind
58:49
of um think a little bit about where for
58:53
you the future of luxury is from from
58:55
what you've seen
58:56
uh you already spoke about you know
58:58
coming from maybe the world of let's
59:01
call it maybe a little bit of more
59:02
superficial luxury The Bling Bling
59:05
towards maybe a world of more content
59:08
today of more relevance you also spoke
59:11
about being part of something so the
59:13
community aspect so we're mov moving
59:16
from from from product to to creating
59:20
value for the client as a whole uh so if
59:23
we now go another 10 years years or 20
59:26
years into the future um where would you
59:29
say would be one or two things that you
59:32
expect to become much more relevant in
59:34
the future than they are
59:37
today I would say probably
59:39
sustainability ethical practices are
59:42
more and more important in future
59:44
digital Innovation is super important
59:46
not only using advanced technology but
59:49
also what I would call a seamless Omni
59:52
Channel
59:53
experience we talked already about
59:55
customization and personalization that
59:57
is going up to new levels in future I'm
1:00:00
pretty convinced about it cultural
1:00:03
relevance we talked a minute ago so put
1:00:05
local insights into your
1:00:07
brand generate an authentic storytelling
1:00:11
what makes you great in
1:00:12
China why is your bright so relevant for
1:00:15
China just to stick with China now or
1:00:17
Middle East or whatever health and
1:00:20
wellness is something I'm personally
1:00:22
extremely convinced about is something
1:00:25
that plays the role in future that
1:00:28
holistic well-being approach the
1:00:30
wellness
1:00:31
integration incorporating Wellness
1:00:34
elements into your product design all
1:00:36
that becomes important in my view and
1:00:38
then obviously I said in the beginning
1:00:40
the whole social responsibility thing
1:00:42
Community
1:00:43
engagement inclusive inclusivity
1:00:47
diversity very very important for
1:00:50
luxury all these facets obviously needs
1:00:53
need to be played in a luxury way and
1:00:56
and uh have quite some ideas in my mind
1:00:58
how that could all be done but uh that
1:01:01
would be now a podcast for the next
1:01:03
eight hours yeah wonderful so so no this
1:01:07
was this was was great and you know just
1:01:10
reflecting while you were you were
1:01:12
giving those those points in a very
1:01:14
precise way you know from sustainability
1:01:17
you spoke about digital customization
1:01:19
personalization the cultural relevance
1:01:21
authentic storytelling and then then um
1:01:24
you know what really resonated with me
1:01:26
was this idea of Health Wellness the
1:01:29
holistic well-being so in a sense we can
1:01:31
really see if if we maybe maybe put this
1:01:34
holistic well-being almost like the
1:01:36
ultimate the ultimate goal to go there's
1:01:40
really a transition that a fundamental
1:01:43
transition that has been happening and
1:01:46
will happen and I don't want to say away
1:01:48
from product because one of the things
1:01:50
you just mentioned was more an
1:01:51
integration into into absolutely I think
1:01:55
maybe less
1:01:56
in a way uh of um maybe less in a in a
1:02:00
traditional engineering way where it is
1:02:03
all about you know kind of taming the
1:02:05
machine and making making things uh
1:02:08
making things maybe as perfect as
1:02:11
possible but in a sense thinking about
1:02:14
the human and thinking um how can we
1:02:16
make the enrich the life of the human
1:02:19
through our products through our
1:02:21
services in in the best possible way and
1:02:24
but thinking about this in a
1:02:26
non-compromising way because all of the
1:02:28
things you mentioned you know from
1:02:29
sustainability to cultural relevance
1:02:32
personalization fundamentally says we
1:02:34
have to put the human at the center and
1:02:37
we have to make something very
1:02:38
humanistic and so um I from from what I
1:02:42
observed in our conversation is
1:02:44
fundamentally we have to think about
1:02:46
luxury and the transition of luxury from
1:02:49
the maybe very product Centric um
1:02:53
approach 20 30 50 years years ago to a
1:02:57
very human Centric approach between now
1:03:01
and the next 20 10 20 30 years and that
1:03:04
also it will be Daniel it will be an
1:03:07
extremely holistic approach that is
1:03:09
needed future which is not only
1:03:12
reflecting let's say the product in
1:03:14
itself that is given the product needs
1:03:16
to be great perfect but it is not
1:03:18
sufficient you need to have a great
1:03:20
service level you need to have fantastic
1:03:22
client interaction and you read need to
1:03:25
read your Cent clients and your clients
1:03:26
are constantly on the run and they have
1:03:28
constantly new ideas and wishes I just
1:03:31
mentioned a couple of them where I think
1:03:33
they will become highly relevant in
1:03:35
future so you need to develop I call it
1:03:38
an ecosystem for your luxury brand that
1:03:40
really reflects on all different areas
1:03:43
that are important in future for the
1:03:46
client because the client is the king
1:03:47
and the client is the one who buys your
1:03:49
brand yeah and this means also that in
1:03:53
in a sense to to build that ecosystem
1:03:56
we need to also think in a completely
1:03:59
different way about skills uh in a
1:04:01
completely different way about the the
1:04:03
approaches and it also makes me so
1:04:05
enthusiastic about you know what we want
1:04:07
to do together um because this is these
1:04:11
are things that we will be able to
1:04:13
provide to organizations to look into
1:04:15
those kind of skills to prepare
1:04:17
organizations in this transition from
1:04:20
where they are today into what the
1:04:22
customers of the future with the future
1:04:25
what is what is what is really needed to
1:04:28
elevate your brand if the strategy
1:04:31
should be let's try to elevate the brand
1:04:34
into even further levels and higher
1:04:36
levels then obviously you need to
1:04:39
understand the codes for that and what
1:04:41
is needed to make that happen and I
1:04:44
think that's it Daniel yeah super
1:04:47
wonderful so toson thank you so much for
1:04:50
for your time today um that was an
1:04:53
pleasure and um yeah and I think this
1:04:57
this is one of the um I think will be
1:04:59
one of the highlights of of the podcast
1:05:01
series thank you really for you know
1:05:03
sharing um with everyone your invaluable
1:05:07
insights your story the learnings on on
1:05:10
the way um and we will share we will
1:05:13
share also your context in the in in the
1:05:15
show notes so that everyone who wants to
1:05:17
contact you knows how to to reach you so
1:05:20
thank you once again perfect lovely now
1:05:22
thank you Daniel and uh looking forward
1:05:25
seeing you soon yeah thank you