Editor’s introduction: Roxana Daver joined Shiseido in 2015 after more than 20 years working in the beauty industry for The Estée Lauder Companies and L’Oréal. In January this year she became Brand Director of Clé de Peau Beauté, Shiseido Group’s prestige skincare and cosmetic line.
The Moodie Davitt Report Associate Editor Clare Austin met up with Roxana Daver in Shanghai recently for the launch of the Clé de Peau Beauté Autumn/Winter Holiday Collection 2016. The collection features limited edition packaging designed by American pop artist Ashley Longshore along with the latest version of the brand’s signature skincare product La Crème.
Roxana, you were recently appointed Brand Director for Clé De Peau Beauté. What are you most excited about regarding the brand and where do you think its greatest potential lies?
I am delighted to be in my role and I think that Clé de Peau has extraordinary potential as a brand. I have a long working background across Asia so I really believe in the unique power and sensibility of Asian brands not only for Asian consumers but for global consumers. I think that Clé de Peau embodies so much of all that is the very best in terms of technology, craftsmanship and consumer experience.
It could be argued that while the premium image of Clé de Peau is well-established in Asia, it is not so well known in other parts of the world. Do you intend to strengthen and develop less mature markets or concentrate on Asia?
Our vision is to be a global luxury brand so of course that means that we need to grow our leadership in Asia and at the same time also build our presence in the United States. There is a lot of opportunity there to develop the brand. Our aim is to attract a global consumer but also to deepen our engagement with our customers in Asia.
Given the “One Shiseido” and “think global, act local” approach, does the fact that Clé de Peau combines both Japanese and French attributes give the brand an advantage?
I think that definitely Clé de Peau has a unique starting point to be a global brand. Not only from the point of view of the strength of products and the creative global attitude but also because of a very special balance between being a skincare specialist and being a brand that has iconic make-up products. We have a very strong grounding in different pillars, giving us huge potential as a global brand.
How do you see the position of Clé de Peau within the Shiseido Group?
Our President and CEO Uotani-san calls Clé de Peau “the crown jewel” of our group and of course I agree with that! Certainly Clé de Peau has an important role to play in developing Shiseido as a global luxury business.
What can you tell us about your brand strategy?
I would say that our strategy is to bring to light the core of this beautiful brand in a way that will resonate with global luxury consumers.
Clé de Peau has always been considered the best of Shiseido technology but I would also say it has the best of Shiseido’s many other exceptional capabilities too: the creative side and in terms of wonderful service and the consumer experience. It has always embodied a unique and strong sense of craftsmanship, which of course is intrinsic to Japan but the Clé de Peau team has looked at that not only from a Japanese aesthetic but also by working with artists across the world.
How did the collaboration with artist Ashley Longshore come about?
Lucia Pieroni has been our Make-up Creative Director for several years now, and our make-up team works very closely with her in developing the creative concepts for each collection. Lucia Pieroni has been instrumental in reaching out to forge these collaborations with different artists.
Talk us through the new launches: the Autumn/Winter Holiday Collection 2016 and the new version of La Crème.
We have just launched with the global press in Shanghai our new Autumn/Winter Holiday Collection which is about Fearless Beauty and is inspired by Tamara de Lempicka.
She was a globally renowned artist during the art deco period. She attracted a lot of luminaries and celebrities around her and lived her life according to her own rules. The partnership between our Creative Director Lucia Pieroni and the contemporary artist Ashley Longshore has brought to life the inspiration of Tamara de Lempicka’s lifestyle and artistry in a very powerful synergy of creativity and craftsmanship. The products are exquisite! We have a stunning new collection of Radiant Liquid Rouge as well as the beautiful palettes designed by Ashley.
The annual Holiday Collection is such a special part of this brand. It really exceeds expectations in terms of marrying the Japanese aesthetic and appreciation of craftsmanship with modern global artists.
In Spring of this year (later this year in some countries) we relaunched our basic skincare collection and our iconic La Crème. La Crème was originally launched with the debut of the Clé de Peau brand in 1982 and this year we launched its seventh incarnation. La Crème is the brand’s signature product, the one that truly encapsulates the powerful results and sensorial pleasure of Clé de Peau Beauté.
This year’s launch of La Crème has been extremely well received both by the press and by consumers and we are finding that not only have we received great feedback from loyal customers but in fact we are also bringing new users in all our markets to Clé de Peau through La Crème.
What does Amanda Seyfried as the face of Clé de Peau bring to the brand?
Amanda has been our global muse and spokesperson since 2011. She is of course a very beautiful woman but we really appreciate her for her radiance and her energy and her attitude and for the fact that her radiance is not just skin-deep but about her lifestyle and her behaviour too. She has been with us for a few years now and the team knows her well.
We see her as the perfect embodiment of the Clé de Peau woman as she not only shines herself but wants the people around her to shine too.
A lot of our research is about understanding the skin at a cellular level but also about how women see themselves, how they shine as individuals and how they interact with those around them.
Why Shanghai as the location for this launch?
I think it was very much connected to the theme this year of art deco and the 1920s when Shanghai, much as it is today, was a global city in terms of the mix of people and its cultural and artistic influence. Shanghai was also chosen because of the importance of China to us as a global brand.
Why is that and what effect does the market in China have on your global business?
In China we have been present for 15 years now and the Greater China region, including Hong Kong, is one of our strongest markets outside Japan.
We also have a very strong business in Taiwan. So Chinese consumers have had some awareness of Clé de Peau over the years and certainly their engagement with the brand has grown exponentially over the past few years as travel within the region has grown. I think what Clé de Peau is bringing to Chinese consumers today, as they become more sophisticated and more discerning and more experienced with different brands, is the very strong benefits, performance and value of this brand.
Chinese consumers are extremely influential and the impact of Chinese consumers is global for most brands in our business. We are certainly seeing a very positive impact. They are travelling a lot and we see the impact across all our channels and particularly through the travel retail channel.
We believe that our Clé de Peau global luxury consumer is a cosmopolitan traveller. So for us the travel retail channel will always be strategically important as the channel in which we engage our consumer. Given our brand positioning, it doesn’t mean we need to be present absolutely everywhere but it does mean that we need to have an extremely strong presence and shine as a brand wherever we are.
What effect will the new unified Shiseido Travel Retail division, which came into effect at the beginning of May, have on Clé de Peau?
It has a huge and very positive impact on us. Our President and CEO Uotani-san and Shiseido Global Travel Retail President Philippe Lesné have talked about a truly global organisation that can lead with one voice. As a brand we need to build a global business that understands the needs and behaviours of each region and each channel, developing a global consistency and one voice that is meaningful and resonates across geographies and channels.
Our travel retail team is building marketing capabilities and consumer insight as well as consultation and service. These are all areas of huge benefit to us in understanding specific cities and opportunities that we can then build on.
As a high-end, premium brand, how do you think Clé de Peau fits into the travel retail channel?
I think you have many changes happening in the travel retail channel. Consolidation of operators and very different expectations from different groups of travellers, so there are many things that we need to keep in mind and we need to learn from our travel retail colleagues.
Does a prestige brand belong in travel retail? Absolutely. It’s our responsibility to make sure that our consumer experiences a consistency in wherever she engages with Clé de Peau. So we work very closely with our travel retail colleagues on planning each door.
To me it is essential to the way global consumers interact with brands today.
How difficult are the constraints of the airport environment, notably on space, to such an upscale brand that you want to position optimally in-store?
It’s a very competitive environment and we need to make sure we do it right for our brand so we work very closely on visual merchandising and on testing easier and simpler consultation processes. We also pay close attention to training for our Personal Beauty Specialists before we open a door. We pay very close attention to making the environment work for our consumer and making sure she has a level of service and brand engagement that creates satisfaction and loyalty.
A recent article in the Nikkei Asian Review said, “Shiseido aims to use its brand to capitalise on tourist demand outside Japan. The company expects sales in travel retail to grow faster than overall group sales”. In that context, Shiseido Marketing Director Global Travel Retail Elisabeth Jouguelet has described Clé de Peau as a rising star of travel retail. Do you see travel retail as a key growth area for Clé de Peau?
I do. In a sense that shows that, done right, travel retail is an important and very valid channel for prestige brands. Travel retail is also an opportunity to attract new customers and to have them not only engage with the brand but to become loyal users. So we use the channel very positively and very strategically to make sure that we are building in a way that can resonate with our target consumers.
Last year we opened seven doors in travel retail; to date this year we have opened ten new travel retail doors in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Cambodia. This really shows the strength of Clé de Peau in travel retail. Some of our travel retail doors are our fastest-growing doors globally so of course we pay close attention to every area of the consumer experience.
Following the new regulations regarding the opening of downtown duty free shops in Japan, and the resultant flourishing of that channel, how is Clé de Peau performing there?
The downtown duty free shops are still very new to Japan; I think that there are only two at this stage so it’s still very early to tell but Clé de Peau has had a very strong performance in both those stores.
How is Synactif faring in travel retail after its recent debut?
Synactif does very well. It’s still in an exclusive channel within travel retail in five doors. Our Synactif soap, which is an incredible product, is our number one SKU and our Synactif cream, which is an absolutely magnificent product as well in terms of value, is another top seller.
Given Shiseido Travel Retail’s announced focus on travel retail exclusives, do you have any plans for travel retail exclusives or for related events?
Travel retail exclusives are important and we pay close attention to making sure that we deliver the best ritual and consumer experience. We know from our own understanding of our consumers across all markets which are the products that really deliver a ritual and build loyalty. We focus on our iconic products and those that develop loyalty.
This autumn we will relaunch our signature eye cream. To mark this launch, we will have the following travel retail exclusive sets available from September 2016: La Crème Luxury Set containing La Crème and the new Intensive Eye Contour Cream and the Ultimate Radiance Trio comprising La Crème, Le Sérum and the new Intensive Eye Contour Cream.
