Salvatore Ferragamo is doing extensive marketing on the Chinese mainland. However, a brand's success goes far beyond good marketing. "Every brand should have its own DNA," CEO Norsa said, and it is this DNA that counts.
The out-going CEO talked about shoes and celebrities as the brand's DNA, suggesting that not only do celebrities provide an iconic blueprint for the "look" that consumers buy (into), but also that each is as unique as our DNA "fingerprint".
Part of this iconic celebrity "genome" is Italian. The company started and gained considerable repute by making shoes, which are said to be 100 percent manufactured in Italy, a policy and tradition Norsa said his company is going to uphold as long as the brand lives.
The rich and famous have played a notable role in endearing the brand to the world. Stars like Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe were numbered among the aficionadas of Ferragamo fashion. Now the brand is prepared to flirt with Chinese stars, who, Norsa said, are going to help the Chinese consumer remember the brand.
Although the track may have shifted to the East, the race, Morsa suggests, is still to the swift and the strong. To have one's own strength is important for any luxury brand, said Norsa. "We admire LV. We'd like to benchmark with other brands globally, but the most important thing for us is to stay among the top group of luxury brands," Norsa said, explaining that people are not buying just one brand, but rather a number of brands - a trait that may ensure a China niche for SF, e.g., buying clothes at ZARA, shoes at SF and handbags at LV.
Being different is not enough: addressing differences is equally important, Norsa notes. Effective marketing in an alien culture also depends on how adept a company is at taking care of the cultural differences. In Norsa's eyes, Chinese consumers are wiser than their US or Japanese peers when they are spending money on luxury items in that the Chinese are always looking for a good combination of quality, price and design.
He added that the Chinese mainland is a huge market with different needs, and that his company is well-positioned to meet those different needs because Ferragamo has both expensive and affordable items made for both men and women.
As CEO of one of the most expensive luxury brands, Norsa has made one thing clear: "Consumers have learned to buy value... If there is one thing we have learned, it is that quality comes first, ahead of everything else."
