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Laurent Marteau: “Before, we had fantastic regional strategies, but now we are going to [evolve] and build travel retail on a more global basis.” |
An even greater emphasis on luxury, a renewed focus on service, and a more coordinated global strategy are among the key priorities for La Prairie’s Head of Travel Retail Worldwide Laurent Marteau, who was appointed in late August.
Prior to joining La Prairie, Marteau was LVMH Fragrance Brands Travel Retail International Director. Before that he held various senior management positions with Parfums Christian Dior.
“I think La Prairie is fantastic – the ideal luxury brand,” Marteau told The Moodie Report at this year’s TFWA World Exhibition. “It was a big delight for me to come and join the team.”
Marteau explained that a key function of his new role would be to coordinate a global travel retail strategy for La Prairie. “Before, we had fantastic regional strategies, but now we are going to [evolve] and build travel retail on a more global basis,” he noted. “It’s a very important channel for us, representing 21% of our business. It’s also one of the fastest-growing channels; sales are up +10% this year, on a market which is around +4%.”
Luxury and customer service are also priorities for Marteau – along with consistency. “This is perhaps what we have been missing the most up till now,” Marteau acknowledged. “We will be reviewing how we serve our Chinese customers in the Americas, for example, and also how we serve our Russian customers in Europe, to further build up the business.”
Marteau admitted that La Prairie had seen a softening in the hitherto lucrative Russian market, although its Chinese business was still thriving.
“We’ve seen that Russians are not travelling so much to Europe, but the issue is not really the number of passengers, but rather the decline in purchases, because of the rouble devaluation,” he explained.
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“Customers have been buying much more in the domestic market, which is happily reflected in our local market performance, which is around +40% – an excellent trend.”
He added: “When it comes to the Chinese we are still very much in a development phase, and while certain brands have seen a slow-down we have not really been affected by it. La Prairie is becoming top of mind for Chinese customers and wherever they travel our results have been above all the trends.”
Marteau’s background includes great experience within the fragrance sector. How does he plan to transfer that knowledge and success to La Prairie, whose core business is high-end skincare?
“It’s all about luxury,” Marteau underlined. “Dior was all about luxury, albeit more in fragrance and make-up; La Prairie is too. At the end of the day when you sell luxury your priorities are the same: you want to service your customer in the best way possible; you want performance; and you want innovation”¦And in retailer terms the key issues are no different for fragrance or skincare.”
He continued: “What I can bring to the brand is a different eye, and plenty more perspective in terms of distribution. In the past this has been limited, and in certain locations it would make sense for La Prairie to develop that more – I’m thinking in particular of Asia, where there is a lot of potential.
“This is where we are going to focus my energy – and the team’s energy – to more fully exploit that.”
Marteau is unruffled by the retailer consolidation that has taken place this year. “I don’t know if it’s good or not, but it’s going to happen anyway,” he shrugged, “so it needs to be handled in the proper way.
“On the one hand, it’s always easier to have a relationship with a single customer, because then you can develop many more things. The worry is that when companies become more global perhaps they have less time for certain clients”¦but certainly those retail customers need to have a global point of contact, which is probably part of the reason [for my new role].”
Marteau is also keen to ramp up the innovation, albeit in a suitably upscale way. “I think in the P&C arena generally we have just been re-doing what has been done many times before,” he observed. “Other categories – such as liquor – have really improved; so we need to as well.
“Looking ahead, service is going to be even more important,” he confirmed. “We are going to maximise the number of consultation areas; we are starting to monitor how many facials we do; how many arm massages; how many eye treatments, and so on.
“What I can bring to the brand is a different eye, and plenty more perspective in terms of distribution. In the past this has been limited, and in certain locations it would make sense for La Prairie to develop that more.“ |
Laurent Marteau Head of Travel Retail Worldwide La Prairie |
“Ten years ago all this wasn’t so important. Travel retail revolved around whisky, fragrance and cigarettes, and you just took your product and left. This has really changed. Now passengers have time and they want something new and something more.”
China Duty Free Group’s landmark Haitang Bay complex exemplifies how travel retail has changed, Marteau acknowledged.
“Haitang Bay is a great example, but even at airports things are different – as demonstrated by the presence of Louis Vuitton. I can tell you that 10 years ago that would have been impossible,” he concluded.
“There is a global trend for more luxury, and more luxury retail, which is fantastic for La Prairie because this is part of the brand’s DNA.”
