IRW: Luxury retail has seen strong growth in recent years. Has Montblanc benefited from this growth? Why or why not?

LM: Absolutely. I’ll give you an example. In 2005, Hong Kong, which controlled this region, we’re talking about the whole of Asia Pacific, was doing around €30 million a year. Now, they’re doing around €350 million ($570.65 million) a year.

What are the reasons? First of all, mainland Chinese people are able to travel. Their whole economy has exploded. It’s been an
interesting thing because China was blocked off from everything for decades, and then in the 1990s going in to the 2000s, it started
to open up. You saw mainland Chinese people going around the world saying, “Wow, look at the French, they’ve been enjoying Louis
Vuitton for the last how many years…we need to play catch-up”. A different culture has developed around that, specifically within
this massive emerging market.

IRW: Are tourists an important part of Montblanc’s business in Australia?

LM: Our local business is roughly 70 per cent, and when I say local, that could be local Chinese, local Australian, just the regular
economy. Tourists make up around 30 per cent of our business, and 90 per cent of [our tourist trade] comes from mainland China. That’s the average across our store network. In Brisbane, it may be more like 90 per cent local business, 10 per cent tourist, whereas one store in Sydney could be 40 per cent local and 60 per cent tourist,
and another store in Sydney could be 40 per cent tourist and 60 per
cent local.
IRW: How do you cater to tourists?
LM: All our boutiques have to have staff that can speak Mandarin
or Cantonese, it’s more important than having somebody who
can speak French or German. We also partner up with Chinese
advertisers and publications and participate in events to target our
demographic.
IRW: Since tourists are such an important part of your
business, do you find that it impacts your retail calendar? For
instance, do you participate in
non-Australian holidays?
LM: Definitely. For instance, it was
Golden Week last week, which
is a Chinese celebration, so we
had in-store promotions where
customers got an extra gift if they
spent a certain amount. We also
have activities around Chinese
Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year
and Single’s Day.
IRW: Experts are predicting that
Chinese tourism to Australia
is really going to accelerate in
the coming years. That must be
good news for you.
LM: Yes, but I have to point out one
thing. The stats are going through the roof, and if you look at the
past five years of tourism to Australia, it’s a straight line up. But that
straight line up hasn’t necessarily translated to more sales for the
whole luxury industry. The first generation [of mainland Chinese]
that went touring around the world were often going into France,
Germany and Italy specifically to go shopping. They would land in
Melbourne, book into a hotel on Collins Street, and shop the whole
street for a week, then get on a flight and go back home.
The tourists coming from mainland China now are that
generation’s kids. They’re a little bit more Westernised, and they’re
not just coming to Australia to shop, they’re coming to see Ayer’s
Rock, they’re coming to see what a kangaroo looks like, they’re
coming to drink the wine, they’re coming for life experiences. That
has been a major change in the industry. So yes, tourist stats have
gone through the roof, but [luxury] is not the only industry going for
that market. The tourism industry is wanting people to stay in hotels
and see all the sights. That is what has changed significantly.
IRW: Montblanc recently introduced a new
retail concept. What’s it about?
LM: The brand did a lot of experiments
around the world to see what would work the
best, and this concept, called NEO, is what
our experts came up with. It’s about using
different woods and curves to give that warm
feeling and to convey our heritage, which is
handwriting.
The look of the store is what you’d expect if
you walked into a gentleman’s study or living
room, from the look of the furniture to the
way it’s laid out. The furniture was actually
designed to look like something you’d find
in a craftsman’s basement, something he
would sit on as he worked on his jewellery
or leather items.
We also have a scent that we use in all our boutiques in Australia.
We wanted to create something that would evoke that sense of
walking into a gentleman’s study, what would it smell like? So we
came up with a scent locally and got permission worldwide to do it IRW: It sounds like the retail concept was designed with men in
mind. Is the typical Montblanc customer male?
LM: It’s about a 60-40 split
between men and women. Female
customers, of course, also use writing
instruments, but they often come in to
buy a gift. We’re one of the few places
where you can find something for the
man who has everything. You’ll still
find 10 items at Montblanc, whether
it’s a belt, another pair of cufflinks, a
writing instrument, new wallet, or new
leather briefcase, we have it all.
IRW: How does digital fit into the
new store concept?
LM: We have a connected watch
which has been extremely successful.
We have augmented paper, and it has
gone viral around the world. It’s one
of the most successful tech products
in the luxury space. You write on
regular paper with a regular pen, and
there’s technology that transfers that
information digitally onto your phone
or computer. So you go into your
meeting, you make your notes, press
a button and boom, it goes off to your
assistant, or your own records, so you don’t have to write it twice,
and it doesn’t disappear because it’s written in a book.
The tech side obviously goes to millennials and the younger
generation, who change their cell phone every two minutes, so
Montblanc has definitely jumped into that arena.
IRW: How do you balance being a
heritage brand with going after younger
consumers?
LM: It’s about changing with the times.
On the one hand, you have the 50- or
60-year-old accountant who doesn’t go
on the internet that much, but still wants
the traditional writing instrument, the
traditional black briefcase, the traditional
black wallet and what have you. That’s
one customer, and on the other end of the
scale, you have the millennial customer
who has got the fancy shoes and needs
the right pen in the pocket and wants
the more modern briefcases that have
camouflage covering, so we have to cater
for both markets.
Both markets are equally important. The
older guys won’t look at the new stuff, and
the younger guys won’t look at the more
traditional stuff.
IRW: Is there a danger in trying to “be