Austin Lally, president of Procter & Gamble-owned
grooming products giant Braun and a member of P&G’s global leadership
council, flew into Cannes to meet journalists during the TFWA World Exhibition.
I quizzed him about the brand’s plans for the travel retail channel, the China market
- and watches.
Lally has an impressive international CV – something that’s
becoming increasingly important for brand company leaders in the modern age of
global expansion. He’s a 24-year veteran of P&G, having worked in the UK,
France and Germany, and – importantly - he held a senior role at P&G in
China, where he was named in Advertising Age’s Global Power 100. During his seven-year stint in China, he served as a visiting
professor at the People's University Beijing, a governor of the American
International School of Guangzhou, and was appointed a senior economic advisor
to the People’s Government in Beijing's Tongzhou District.
Here’s what Lally said about the Braun brand:
“We regard the travel retail channel for Braun not as
opportunistic but as strategic. We want to elevate the importance of travel
retail and increase our brand equity, and we have been getting customer advice
and feedback on how to help it grow faster.”
Acknowledging that the overall size of the opportunity in
travel retail was not large compared to the channel giants such as
fragrances, liquor and tobacco, Lally said there was a “big
opportunity” for the small domestic appliances and personal care category.
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| Braun's president Austin Lally |
Braun’s market research had shown that moving small domestic
appliances and personal care products away from their usual backwall location
in an airport to a more visible, branded fixture on the sales floor gave
passengers an opportunity to interact with the products through touch and feel.
This was important, Lally noted, because grooming products such as shavers are
expensive and are viewed as an investment. “Customers need to feel the
ergonomics in their hands, because a shaver is a tool.”
Braun’s research findings had also shown that the category’s
sales doubled when the products were tested on a table. And when shavers
featuring Braun’s new CoolTec anti-irritation system were placed on an ice cube-themed
glorifier, sales tripled. Lally cited high-end cameras and headphone sales as examples
of other categories where uptrading had occurred when the product was placed on
tables.
“We could create strong growth [with such innovative
displays], and although the purchase level is very small, it’s about how it’s
presented. This category can more than triple in size. Braun is trying to
unleash the opportunity for growth.”
Strong business in Asia
Braun already has a strong domestic market business in Asia
and the Middle East, Lally said, citing Japan, China and Taiwan, in addition to
the brand’s market leadership in Singapore. “The growth of Asian travel and the
emerging Asian middle class is more strategic for Braun. There’s significant
growth potential, and we also want to capitalise on the potential in travel
retail.”
Lally pointed to Braun’s recent activities in Shanghai and
Hong Kong, which had “brought the brand to life” in these cities.
Braun stands for “great design, great engineering and German
heritage”, Lally noted, adding that the brand wanted to create an “emotional
connection” with the consumer. Braun recently announced the appointment of
Sebastian Vettel as its global brand ambassador. “Sebastian is a remarkable
talent. He pursued his dream of becoming a champion and is an example of a man
holding onto his dreams,” he said.
New brand ambassador for China
Braun also recently named Chinese actor Chen Daoming – described
by Lally as “China’s George Clooney” – as brand ambassador for China. Lally
observed that local celebrity endorsement was an important element in Chinese marketing.
Some 70% of Chinese men use electric shavers, Lally
continued, so China is a “very important” market for Braun. He added that the
personal care category was an opportunity for sales in airline duty-free catalogues.
Lally said travel retail was one of the best-performing
areas of the business at Braun and represented an “exciting challenge”, with
new projects ongoing. His overall message to duty-free operators is: “Make the
category visible and get the products out of their boxes!”
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| Chen Daoming, Braun's new Chinese ambassador |
Watches and clocks drive design innovation
Turning to Braun’s watches and clock business, Lally said
that there were valuable aspects for Braun in these licensed products. “It’s a
signal of our design equity and we have been awarded Red Dot design prizes over
the years.
“In watches and clocks we’re able to bring a steady stream
of new items to the market which creates a connection with consumers – it’s a
beautiful design on your wrist, a conversation-starter. Unlike a shaver, a
watch is public, and a good symbol of the brand,” he said, adding that there was
a great opportunity for sales of watches and travel clocks in the travel retail
market.
Lally said that Braun watches were new to the Chinese market
and were being presented as a premium German design-driven brand. “I’m happy
with the department store performance of watches and clocks in China – it’s a
work in progress.”
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| Braun's award-winning BN0115 watch |
