INTERNATIONAL. Before the age of flight, the spirit of travel was awoken in many people by the stories of Rudyard Kipling. A little more than 30 years ago, Vincent Haverbeke, Xavier Kegels and Paul Van De Velde looked to the writer’s fictional work for inspiration to create a brand of lightweight travel bags and accessories. That company, Kipling, is entering a new phase today, with travel retail a vital platform.
After a series of key global organisational changes at parent VF-Corporation last year, Vera Breuer was appointed as Global President, succeeding Richard Macey, who retired after 18 years in the role.
Breuer says: “When I joined a little bit more than a year ago, the idea was to bring Kipling under one global umbrella; one global team, one voice, one brand, and one experience. This was really the mantra. We had to sit down and define our purpose, which resulted in ‘Kipling Live Light’. This creative vision is all about self-expression and having a hands-free way of discovering the joy of travelling.”
In line with this new vision, Kipling is rolling out a new store concept that reflects a shift in customer targeting.
“The brand has been around for 30 years, and we were at a stage where we were catering to a lot of female customers. Today we are moving towards a brand that is more inclusive, by targeting men and creating more unisex products. Before our stores were all pink and yellow, but now we have moved towards more masculine colours too.”
The new branding also answers to the needs of an increasingly mobile customer and their demand for more personalisation. The Kipling Booth at TFWA Singapore debuted its new store concept and featured local artist Tiffany Lovage, who painted personalised prints on small models of Kipling’s monkey (and who also designed the Kipling store at the new Jewel Changi Airport).
Breuer says: “All of this is happening in an urban environment, and so we changed our store concepts to reflect that. There’s a personalisation aspect to travel that we felt was very important; and so we worked on how to develop our packables, and how to personalise our bags and our monkey. Each one of our stores has its own unique monkey mural.
“We redesigned our product for a customer that is always on the move. One of the major priorities in our strategy is to go where our customers are, and so our strategic focus is on digital and travel retail. These are our two priorities.”
She adds: “These are the channels that are growing the fastest, and are also the most profitable. Travel retail will soon constitute 10% of the business, and digital is a little bit more than that. Our target for travel retail is double-digit growth this year and beyond.”
Asia is the clearly defined geographical region singled out for growth. With their strong buying power, Chinese customers are the major driver for revenues both in travel retail and domestic markets.
“Today, our number one consumer is Chinese. We have calculated that approximately a third of our consumers are mainland Chinese, no matter where they are in the world. We have worked hard on setting our prices and the way we segment our products to cater to this customer. We also communicate well with them through WeChat, which connects us while they travel. We have a strong presence in China, but in the last year, we have consolidated this much more. The Chinese market is changing so fast, and we’re building lot on this channel.”
Few brands have such a close connection to the spirit of travel as Kipling, and so its new contemporary approach makes sense, says Breuer. “We are a reference brand for travel, so much so that the key search words for Kipling are light travel, and monkey. We obviously want to build on that and continue developing the travel segment. In terms of communication, it’s really all about making our customers’ lives easier.
“We’re not just selling luggage, but also pushing our mission to empower curiosity. Each one of our stores has a panel above our luggage that gives customers a map of their destination and some travel recommendations too. It becomes a whole experience.”
What ties the strategy together is a strong narrative and products that continuously resonate with consumers. Breuer says: “Everything is about story-telling. It’s really storytelling first and product second. We’re expanding our travel items because our customers are travelling hands free. We are bringing out more packables, cross body bags, waist bags, and backpacks. We also have an incredible amount of functionality. When you open a Kipling bag, there’s always a pouch within a pouch, and you will always find ten to 15 little details that make the bag different and more functional. We have a lot of versatile products coming out next year, and we are revamping our luggage range as well, which will be a big focus.”
“Every brand has a responsibility to drive sustainability. We have a five-year road map set up for sustainability, and today we are exceeding targets on a yearly basis. In terms of what materials we use, we will soon be up to 50% recycled materials. We work with factories at the highest standards of sustainability and support local communities too. We’ll soon be launching a rental project where you can rent a Kipling luggage for a few days. Therefore there will be a second use for our products and it helps reduce throw-away mentality. We are launching this in the next few months.”
This rental project allows customers to go online and rent Kipling luggage to fit the specific needs of their trip. The luggage either gets delivered to their home or picked up at certain Kipling collection points. The move reflects the rise of the rental economy in the fashion industry, where millennial consumers are pushing towards a more circular economy. “People don’t have space, and it’s our contribution to less wastage too. The rental concept is a very millennial thing, and it’s also a great way for us to reach out to them.”
Over 30 years, Kipling has built a loyal customer base, but projects like its new Rental Project can also help to introduce a new generation of customers to the brand. Breuer sees plenty of opportunities to engage with new customers throughout various touch points in their lives.
“Our key customer is extremely loyal. People talk about us, engage with us and have grown up with our brand. We have also reached a level where we have to start recruiting new customers, which is why we have created this new creative vision. We have to build a strong relationship with millennials and recruit the even younger generation. We have a strong back to school business in places from Dubai to Belgium, for example.”
According to Breuer, the constant demand for newness in the fashion & accessories segment came as an unexpected challenge. “My biggest surprise was that in fashion there is such a drive for newness and change. We are already talking about 2020. There is so much anticipation of newness.”
Breuer also address the challenges of a constantly evolving travel retail landscape, and the role of fashion & accessories within that. In particular, she challenges the notion that beauty should play such a dominant role in the offer across the world.
“Having previously worked for L’Oréal and now looking at things from the other side, I feel there is too much priority given to cosmetics. Obviously it’s the biggest and most profitable channel right now, but I feel like retailers are losing out on offering something else. It has to start to change, and retailers have to offer something else outside of just perfumes & cosmetics. Retailers have to assess how they can work with fashion brands that have great stories to tell.”
In a little over the year, Vera Breuer has put several key plans in motion, signalling the beginning of a new era for Kipling. She presents a very positive outlook for this new phase with high growth targets for 2019 and 2020. Her strategy to achieve prioritises investment in moveable product, digital, and finally, the alignment of both story and communication across the organisation.
“Alignment is what keeps me awake at night, but we’re getting there. Every region is part of the global team, but everybody wears both the global hat and the local hat, and I think this is the key to success. The beauty of being just the right size is to be big enough to leverage but also be agile, and that’s the fun part.”
