Visiting the L’Oréal Factory

By Emily Albright, MBA in International Luxury Brand Management 2013-2014, American

On Friday, January 17, the ESSEC MBA in International Luxury Brand Management class was given the opportunity to visit L’Oréal’s Beauté, Recherche & Industries (BRI) factory in Lassigny, France. Situated just outside of Paris, Lassigny is a quaint town accessible by car in 1.5 hours. When we arrived, we were immediately greeted by L’Oréal staff, some of whom we had met at L’Oréal/ESSEC events earlier in the year.

The class was then welcomed with refreshments and petit déjeuner as the L’Oréal team treated us to a presentation on the history and evolution of BRI. When the Lassigny factory was founded in the 1960’s it originally served only the Yves Saint Laurent brand, but when L’Oréal purchased the plant in 2008, they greatly expanded. Now the factory produces perfumes and anhydrous makeup (lip gloss, lipstick, eye shadow) for a variety of brands including Giorgio Armani, Lancôme, Viktor & Rolf, and Yves Saint Laurent, among others.

L’Oréal has 41 self-owned plants, primarily in Europe. An impressive 90% of L’Oréal’s products are made in-house, and one of the primary reasons behind this is so that L’Oréal can better manage responsibility and safety. Along the same lines, corporate responsibility and environmental preservation is a main focus of the group, specifically by reducing carbon, waste, and water usage by 2015 (and they are well on the way to their goal!). Three of L’Oréal’s luxury plants produce almost all luxury products for L’Oréal.

Following the information session, L’Oréal experts escorted us on private tours of the lip gloss/lipstick factory (where eye shadow is also produced) and the perfume factory. During the tours, we were able to see actual products in the creation phases, including some very exclusive perfumes! It was extremely impressive to see everything come together, from the initial coloring stage to final product and packaging. After the tours, we were kindly treated to lunch at the factory and enjoyed the time getting to know more the Lassigny and L’Oréal staff.

Thank you L’Oréal!

 

A Visit to the Breguet Museum

By Pawel Zawisza, MBA in International Luxury Brand Management student 2013-2014, Poland

Paris holds infinite amount of attractions when it comes to luxury, one of which is the Breguet Museum located on the second floor of Breguet boutique at 6, Place Vendôme in Paris. The museum is free of charge, however only available every Tuesday by appointment. On January 7th some of us interested in the luxury watch industry were able to learn more about the craftsmanship of the Breguet maison with the help of the boutique manager, Mr. Richard Vassor.

Although many people associate luxury watch industry with Switzerland, Abraham Louis Breguet – considered by many to be the greatest watchmaker that ever lived – spent majority of his working life in Paris, giving rise to the Maison that today is the crown jewel of the Swatch Group. The importance of the Breguet Maison is further reinforced by the fact its CEO is none other than Mr. Marc Hayek, a son of Nick Hayek, current CEO of Swatch Group.

Tourbillon patent

Today Breguet watches are immediately recognisable by so-called 'Breguet hands' on the case. At the time, however, the master watchmaker gave the world multiple mechanical innovations, including the first self-winding mechanism suitable for repeated assembly, as well as one of the world's most recognisable watch complications – the tourbillon. The musuem features his original letter to the French ministry asking for a patent for this landmark invention, which was granted in 1801.

The museum features more than 50 watches made by Breguet at various points in his life and afterwards, which have since been methodically bought back by the maison.

First pocketwatch made by Breguet

First we were shown 'minute repeaters', a collection of pocket watches featuring sound effects at a certain time interval, be it a quarter of an hour, an hour, or a number of minutes. This way a person was able to tell the time without having to take out the watch out of his pocket.


Another interesting collection was that of 'tact watches', featuring an innovative hand design, where one was able to tell the time by touching the hand. During Breguet’s time it was considered highly impolite to take note of the time during a social gathering. ‘Tact watches’ were therefore a way for affluent people to tell the time simply by putting hand in their pocket and feeling the hand on the watch. Another variation involved placing a small hour marker at a predetermined position e.g. 12 o'clock. This way the owner was able to tell the hour in the dark.

A separate category of watches were so-called 'Turkish watches' with beautifully finished cases, made specifically for the Tuskish market. Only 30 pieces were ever made by the maison.

Unfortunately we were not allowed to see the register where all watch sales made during Breguet's life were recorded, including three watches sold to 'General Bonaparte' just before his campaign in Egypt. The register also recorded the sale of 'Marie Antoinette' – a pocket watch which, at the time of its creation, held every known watch function in the world, including a perpetual calendar, minute repeater, chronograph, thermometer, power reserve indicator, and many others.

"Marie Antoinette"

But perhaps the most significant transaction is recorded under no. 2639, for the sale of 'montre repetition de forme obloungue pour bracelet' for the queen of Naples, sister of Napoleon. Unknown to many, this is the world's first wristwatch, designed specifically from the beginning to be worn on the wrist. For 90 years after this creation, all wristwatches were in fact redesigned pocket watches. Today Breguet's watch line for women proudly bears the name 'Reine de Naples'.

The whole visit lasted a little over 45 minutes, and by the end of it we very extremely impressed by the true genius of Breguet. Hopefully one day all of us will be able to efford one of Breguet watches!

We would like once more to thank Mr. Richard Vassor, 'Responsable Adjoint de boutique', for his time and attention. His great passion and knowledge of Breguet greatly helped us in appreciating the extraordinary collection.

Career Advice from Richemont

By Emily Albright, MBA in International Luxury Brand Management 2013-2014, United States

On Monday, December 2, our class was fortunate enough to attend a company presentation given by Mme Donna Bernard, current Director of Talents at Richemont. Richemont has a long history dating back to 1755 and a very impressive portfolio, owning several of the world's leading luxury goods companies, with particular strengths in jewellery, luxury watches and writing instruments. Specifically, Richemont owns such companies as Cartier, Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels, Montblanc, Lancel, Alfred Dunhill, Chloé, and NET-A-PORTER.COM.

During the presentation, Mme Bernard shared with us a brief background on Richemont as well as the most recent company activities. She also spoke of the sectors and geographies experiencing the most growth right now, and we were all very surprised to learn that 80% of customers in the luxury space in China are below the age of 30! Mme Bernard walked us through Richemont’s core values and what qualities/characteristics the company is looking for when hiring roles above and below the management level. She described some of the open positions they have in Asia, France, Germany and New York to give us a sense of what opportunities could be available after graduation. We were all very excited to hear that the market is recovering and there are career opportunities available at Richemont across the globe!

Following the conclusion of her presentation, Mme Bernard was kind enough to answer our many questions and provide some career advice. Many of us are looking to change industries, geographies, and/or roles, and Mme Bernard shared some tips on the best way to go about making a successful switch.

Our class was very grateful for the presentation and we will hopefully see Mme Bernard again in the spring. Merci Mme Bernard et Richemont!

Journey with Krug Champagne

By Johan Tan, MBA in International Luxury Brand Management 2013-2014, Singapore

Margareth Henriquez
CEO & President

On Tuesday, 1st October 2013, our class had the privilege of welcoming a guest speaker during our Introduction to Oenology class: Krug champagne President & CEO, Ms. Margareth Henriquez, who gave us a short introduction to the luxury wines and spirits sector, specifically in the area of champagne.

Ms Henriquez, affectionately known as Maggie, started off her passionate lecture by giving us a brief overview of how LVMH is split into the different sectors of luxury, namely wines & spirits, fashion & leather goods, perfumes & cosmetics, watches & jewelry, selective retail and other activities, and how each sector contributed to the global revenues of the group.

We then delved deeper into the wines and spirits sector, with a specific emphasis on the champagne business and a brief history of how the champagne Maison Krug came to be, beginning with its founder, Johann-Joseph Krug, who coincidentally shares a similar spelling to my own name. We learnt how champagne is made and how each champagne Maison has its own distinctive style, DNA and codes, before analysing the differences between Krug and its key competitors.

Even though we were all fascinated by the champagne business and by Ms. Henriquez as a speaker, the

Color differences between the Grande
Cuvée Brut & the 2000 Vintage Brut

highlight of the class was most definitely the moment when we were informed that we would have the privilege of tasting some of Krug’s portfolio, namely the Grande Cuvée Brut and the 2000 vintage Brut.  By comparing both champagnes side by side in terms of their maturity, freshness, fullness, colour, flavours and aromas, we were able to notice the subtle differences between the two champagnes and discover how each of us had a distinctive preference between the two.

As a champagne lover who had his first taste of Krug on his 25th birthday a couple of years back, it was an absolute pleasure and honour to be able to meet this remarkable woman who took time out of her busy schedule to share with us her passion for Krug and for introducing us some of the most exquisite champagnes available today.

 

A Typical Day in the Life of an MBA Luxe Student

By Emily Albright, MBA in International Luxury Brand Management 2013-2014, United States

6:45 am: My alarm goes off, and the first thing I hear is the rain outside. Ugh, not only is it dark and cold out, but it’s also rainy. Despite all of this, I still love Paris and use this to motivate myself out of bed. I have a full day of classes ahead and cannot be late!

7:30 am: After getting ready, packing up my lunch, and downing a quick café, I grab my umbrella and coat and run out the door. I have a 10-ish minute walk to the RER A station at Châtelet – Les Halles and I’m trying to catch a 7:45 train. I pick up my pace a little and notice how bright the moon still is!

7:50 am: I (barely) catch my train and manage to find a seat facing the right way! The day is off to a good start. I open up my Kindle to review an important article for my afternoon class and settle in for the 40-minute ride.

8:24 am: I finish reading and turn on Spotify to listen to some music and zone out for the rest of the train ride. I only have a few stops left and I turn my attention to people watching.

8: 38 am: After scurrying from the RER stop to avoid the rain, I arrive on campus. I breathe a sigh of relief as I’ve successfully completed yet another commute from Paris to Cergy. I walk directly to the café and hop in line with friends to order the first of several café crèmes for the day.

 9:00 am: The first class of the day is Financial Accounting….but ¾ of the class is late, which is highly unusual. We’re in a different classroom (sometimes we switch rooms depending on the week) that was pretty difficult to locate and everyone is lost. We start texting furiously on What’sApp to our other classmates to 1) give directions and 2) tell them to hurry up!

9:10 am: Class begins at last and we dig right into global financial statements. We’re studying common sizing statements from various international companies like Ralph Lauren, Burberry, and Hugo Boss. As the lesson progresses, we move into a discussion of shareholders and shareholder activism which draws many questions/comments from the class.

10:40 am: The professor dismisses us for a 20-minute break and we all head once again to the café. The line is out of control right now as several other classes also have their break and we wait patiently. I hold off on a second café crème and opt for a water instead.

11 am: Class begins again and the professor moves the lesson into different equations for calculating assets and liability, which, we learn, varies depending on which country you’re in.

12:05 pm: Financial Accounting is over and my mind is officially blown. I’m starving for lunch and feel ready for my next café. Although we usually have group meetings during lunch (gotta maximize our time!), today I do not and enjoy the opportunity to socialize with classmates. We enjoy a leisurely meal and talk about everything except schoolwork, which is a nice break!

1:05 pm: We head to our afternoon classroom to get seats for lecture and prepare for the 1:15 start time.

1:15 pm: Class begins right on time, and everyone is eagerly anticipating today’s discussion. The class is Contemporary Issues in Luxury Brand Management with one of our favorite professors, and we’re discussing a case study about fostering strong stakeholder relations through the Taj Hotel’s reaction to the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The class is extremely sensitive to the human aspect of the case, and we focus the discussion on how we would respond to the crisis if we were the general manager of the hotel. Everyone has a different view and a lively discussion ensues.

2:50 pm: We are dismissed for a quick 20-minute break. I fill up on water and chat with classmates in the hallway about plans for the upcoming weekend and flights/hotels for our school trip to Italy in April!

4:15 pm: Phew, class is over for the day after a very energetic session! We finished our discussion on the Taj and took a deeper look into how to connect with customers to entice them to love your brand and remain loyal.

4:35 pm: I am on the platform at the RER station and I spot a classmate. We get on the train together after only waiting a few minutes (a small miracle for the RER A) and talk about thoughts on life after graduation and possible opportunities.

5:40 pm: I hop off the train and get caught in the rain again! I walk quickly to my neighborhood boulangerie to get a fresh baguette for dinner.

6:30 pm: I finish up dinner and turn my focus to a project for my Retail Strategy class. I have a group meeting on Sunday afternoon and need to complete a few deliverables. We’re developing a new line of product for a major spirits brand and I’m responsible for completing our customer profile this week.

9:00 pm: I wrap up my schoolwork and respond to a few emails. I have a friend arriving from London for a quick visit to Paris and she’ll be here any minute!

11:00 pm: After catching up with my friend and sharing a glass of wine, I call it quits for the evening. I have another full day of classes tomorrow and need to rest up for that early train!