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On Monday 8 May, Vogue Business partnered with Emarsys to bring the Power to the Marketer festival to Dubai for the first time. The event, centred around ‘Tradition meets transformation’, took place at Parisian restaurant Josette in the DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre). Welcoming over 100 executives and leaders from digital and marketing backgrounds across retail, fashion, luxury, hospitality and leisure, it also featured a high-profile line-up of C-suite speakers.
The agenda kicked off with an opening presentation by Sara Richter, CMO of Emarsys, who highlighted the challenges that marketers face today, with customer loyalty becoming increasingly fickle. She also emphasised the value of delivering a positive shopping experience across all channels, at a time when one bad experience can dissuade customers from returning. She ended on a message that prevailed throughout the remainder of the day: “Personalised really is the currency of competition at the moment.”
The opening keynote saw Vogue Business contributing editor Sujata Assomull in conversation with Michael Chalhoub, president of joint ventures and strategy, growth, innovation and investment at Chalhoub Group. Speaking on the strategy of the group — which is the largest retail operator in the Middle East — he discussed the rapid transformation that’s currently underway across each of its brands: “The reality is that with most of the brands that we represent, which are ultra-luxury brands, there is a customer experience that you want to control… And so we’ve launched e-commerce platforms for each of those brands, but we’ve launched them in an omnichannel way. So that means when we build an e-commerce platform, we build them with offline capabilities, like click and collect and in-store [appointment] booking.”
Thanks to this multichannel experience, customers now spend almost as much time online with the brands as they do in store. He also highlighted the four innovation pillars prioritised by the business — including additional business models such as the newly acquired Threads Styling; retail technology that looks to build the store of the future; new geographies like Africa and Latin America; and investment in brands rather than exclusively being a growth partner.
In the first panel — ‘Amplifying brand reach: Strategies for success’ — Assomull was joined by a C-suite cohort featuring Maya Azzi, chief brand officer of The Luxury Closet; Fahed Ghanim, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Lifestyle; Elisa Bruno, CEO of Level Shoes; and Gaurav Mahajan, CEO of Lifestyle at Landmark Group. During this, Mahajan shared that nine years ago Landmark Group set up an internal organisation called Data Labs, which has been at the frontier of exploring data and technology opportunities for the company ever since and provides the group with deep insights into the evolving needs of the customer. This complements other initiatives such as its Shukran loyalty programme. Now boasting 14 million members in the GCC, the programme has a local penetration rate of over 80 per cent, according to Mahajan, who also explained the importance of customer retention. “It’s very clear to us that our growth is not so much from the expansion of stores and the footprint. That growth will come from expanding the engagement of our customers,” he said.
Ghanim also zoomed in on the value of data. “Today, an organisation without data is absolutely blind,” he said. The CEO spoke about the approach Majid Al Futtaim takes to innovation, evaluating what is relevant and critical for the customer, but also adopting a shared responsibility: “In digital transformation we’re prioritising culture and empowerment. Every department is responsible for harnessing and implementing ideas, so to scale and fail fast becomes the norm.” Meanwhile, both Bruno and Azzi alluded to the power of social as not only a source of inspiration for customers, but a bridge between stores and e-commerce, with Level Shoes’s Bruno addressing the impact of TikTok on the in-store sales volume of the Adidas Samba, and Azzi speaking about the traffic driven by celebrity wardrobes on The Luxury Closet.
For the final half of the event, Vogue Business head of advisory Anusha Couttigane took over as moderator, beginning the second panel discussion on Dubai’s digital frontiers — with a particular focus on artificial intelligence. She was joined by Michelle Walsh, senior director of marketing and communications for shopping malls at Majid al Futtaim; Anna Germanos, group director of CPG, retail, e-commerce and luxury for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey at Meta; and Ahmad Abu Rabi, director of decision analytics at Miral.
Germanos began by sharing the new tools Meta has been adding to its AI studio, enabling marketers to create highly personalised and highly targeted content, as well as democratising access to creative assets by helping automate production. Meta’s advanced algorithm not only delivers tailored ads, but also aids marketers in discovering new audiences and debunking the myths around who target customers really are. She also highlighted the impact of cultural nuances, and the social demand for chat services, with the Middle East having one the highest WhatsApp adoption rates in the world. For this reason, the app has become a key communication channel for brands in the region, enabling them to deliver private, tailored communication to valuable guests, and benefitting from the automated functions driven by Meta’s AI tools.
Walsh, whose role spans digital and physical, discussed the upgrades that the mall business is going through, highlighting the many legacy systems that need accounting for as an operator. Quick adjustments during Covid led to a transformation strategy that she says the company embarked on perhaps sooner than if it were not for the pandemic, leading to the identification of key features that have since become permanent. In the Mall of the Emirates, they have created an e-commerce platform that enables shoppers to carry out pre-visit discovery, or even make purchases if they’re unable to visit physically. Walsh also shared their investment in a concierge service: “You can get in touch with us via our WhatsApp channel and order anything you want and we will deliver it within four hours.” Other features include hands-free shopping and parking reservation.
At Miral, the travel company has been implementing several AI upgrades, including its data science-backed Noor initiative. This five-year transformation programme, founded on machine learning, creates automated recommendations for customers, and ensures messages and content are deployed at the right time through the right channels — a challenge that Miral has partnered with Emarsys on to combat, optimising the communication strategy and limiting friction with customers. It has also introduced AI-powered chatbots and personalisation tools, which enable service agents to answer queries faster and provide tailored recommendations that lift customer satisfaction. Abu Rabi also spoke about digitally enhanced experiences at destinations like Yas island, for example, creating loyalty apps that collect information about hotel guests — where they come from, their favourite attractions and their preferences.
Another running theme was the highly collaborative knowledge-sharing culture that has emerged in the Middle East. Given the relative newness of the luxury economy compared to more mature markets, the availability of data remains limited. So groups like Landmark, Chalhoub Group and Majid al Futtaim have all created data tools and segmentations that can be shared openly with retailers and brands to create further visibility of customer profiles and needs, leading to better conditions at industry level.
In the closing keynote, Couttigane interviewed Matthieu Le Voyer, CMO of luxury watch brand Jaeger-LeCoultre. The artisanal house has been expanding in the region and was hosting its ‘Precision Pioneer’ exhibition in the same building at the time of the event. As a traditional Swiss watch brand, it too has been embarking on a transformation journey focused on maintaining cultural relevance, which is crucial when reaching new regions. Coming from a long career at L’Oréal to hard luxury four years ago, Le Voyer highlighted the key difference in working with a high-end consumer base, saying that with mass beauty, the outreach is very large, but when it comes to hard luxury and watchmaking, it’s more a one-on-one relationship.
Thinking about the brand’s omnichannel strategy, he said it’s not only transactional, but experiential and relational. During Covid, the brand introduced features such as omnistock view, enabling shoppers to purchase store inventory online, return offline and purchase products that were not available on site in stores. Additionally, it uses digital tools to funnel shoppers from activations like exhibitions to boutiques, with investment in clienteling tools that help to bridge those touchpoints and provide a seamless view of the customer. He added that AI will most likely upgrade these features further over time. Le Voyer also alluded to the value of culture in creating multisensory experiences — the brand created a gastronomic experience in partnership with a Dubai-based chef, for example.
The event concluded with cocktails and networking in the opulent surroundings of the Josette, with delegates extending their conversations and mingling long after the panels wrapped up. Guests also had the opportunity to discover Emarsys tools via digital installations at the venue. Those who missed the event will be able to find content highlights and its AI master class via this link.
On 10 April, Vogue Business hosted the Power to the Marketer festival in Munich, in partnership with customer engagement platform leader Emarsys, an SAP Company. This is the third year Vogue Business has brought the event to Germany, kicking off a series that will travel to Dubai, London and LA over the course of the year. The event was moderated by fashion and TV personality Rabea Schif, who hosted a stellar line-up of marketing and e-commerce experts from FC Bayern, Swarovski, Adidas, Penhaligon’s, Bogner, Lampenwelt, Rosewood Hotels, Chrono24 and Breuninger. With over a hundred guests from the digital, marketing and e-commerce fields across fashion and lifestyle, the event took place at the exquisite new Rosewood hotel, a luxury venue in the heart of Munich.
The event, centred around the theme of ‘Tradition meets transformation’, opened with a keynote interview from Michael Fichtner, CIO of FC Bayern, which is currently celebrating its 125th season as one of Europe’s most successful football teams. Given the club’s success on the football pitch, Fitchner explained how fans anticipate the same level of success in the digital sphere, where the club is compared to other market leaders. This means exceeding expectations on everything from the rapid fulfilment of office merchandise orders to creating unique, exclusive content that keeps fans engaged between match seasons.
Fichtner also touched on the need to create a targeted strategy for different groups; what fans in Australia look for is very different from those in Latin America. The club has over 10 million active fans, but frequently engages new visitors who are sharing their data for the first time — which comes with the task of developing content worthy of winning those first-time visitors back. For this, FC Bayern uses artificial intelligence to optimise content offerings. As the business evolves, so too must its technology.
Fichtner spoke candidly about coming into his role when five different cash register systems were in use and the challenge of consolidating those systems. But while consolidation and standardisation have helped to improve consistency, they mustn’t become a barrier to innovation: “We also have to be open to the best of breed [tech]. We must not be a monolith. I must not allow the consolidation that I have pursued for years — with good reason — to prevent my business from being able to respond quickly to market needs.”
In the first panel, Schif was joined by Kim Teys Beavers, brand director at Chrono24; Silvia Schmucker, VP and head of digital commerce at Swarovski; Antje Lindemann, head of CRM at Lampenwelt; and Alice Buchsbaum, cluster director of communications at Rosewood Munich. The conversation kicked off with a discussion about customer experience, as Schmucker detailed how Swarovski is rolling out endless aisle concepts, which enable shoppers to order from fuller assortments even in smaller stores through significant tech upgrades. The business is also broadening its live chat and video clienteling services, helping to replicate store-based customer service in the online sphere. Going forward, keeping a mobile-first approach to e-commerce will stay priority.
Schmucker also zoomed in on the power of data to not only validate decisions, but persuade decision makers. “In my view, everything can be measured digitally. You can test everything and then you can say much more clearly what the potential impact is of new tools or new technologies that you want to use, but this also makes it much easier to explain to your stakeholders what benefits this has for them and for the customer,” she said.
Looking at Rosewood hotels, Buchsbaum highlighted that talent recruitment has been a big focus, especially when it comes to digital marketing. Much of the group’s workforce have former hospitality experience to create a diverse team that brings marketing skills and best practices from other industries. Expanding on how technology enhances experience, Teys Beavers spoke about how Chrono24 uses digital tools to enhance security and customer trust, especially when buying high-end watches. This has made security and trust “hygiene factors” for the business. “These are products or objects that are loved by people and that really have a lot of heart and soul and fascination… so purchase security becomes a hygiene factor, because otherwise you wouldn’t even go on the website,” Teys Beavers said.
He added that people will continue to play a critical role in these issues with the rise of AI: “Manually, we have a security team of 40 people who really look at everything very closely, we launched a certification programme this week where every watch can be certified for authenticity and also the level of authenticity, so that really is an industry standard… and that level is probably getting higher and higher because potentially, with AI, one of the biggest dangers is actually fraud.” In lighting, Lindemann said that the rise of smart lighting and smart homes is giving Lampenwelt new clues about the lifestyles and routines of customers through usage data, helping them to craft more relevant product assortments and services.
In the second panel, Schif was joined by Manuela Stadelmann, head of product marketing at Penhaligon’s; Britta Domeier, head of partner development and digital partner commerce for Adidas Europe; and Benjamin Messner, director of e-commerce at Bogner. The panel delved into the challenges and opportunities of AI, both as a tool for businesses and a way of enhancing shopper experiences.
To start, Domeier shared some highlights from Adidas around gaming collaborations, supply chain and product design. “We have a so-called AI archive function where our designers can design products with the help of AI. This involves historical data on 150,000 sneaker designs that it was trained with, and here we can generate new product designs within seconds, which would otherwise have taken a lot longer, and of course, that helps our designers,” she said. The business also uses AI to optimise recommendations for customers and even predict demand, something Adidas is building towards as merchandising planning has historically been a very manual process.
She shared some optimism that shoppers will become more generous with their data if they can see the benefits of AI improving things like personalised experiences. And younger shoppers — those born after 1998 — are engaging more and more with Adidas in metaverse environments like Roblox, where the brand now offers weekly product drops. “That is a huge platform where participants can create their own games, interact with each other, play with their avatars, unlock things and buy products. So it is a completely different world and we really do have a shop in a shop, our own Adidas world for these players. There are over 220 million players worldwide who are active there.”
Messner highlighted how quickly advancements have emerged from players like Emarsys and SAP, enabling businesses to adopt optimisation tools quickly. This means Bogner can focus on other priorities, such as content and creative tasks. As the brand expands, imagery and translation have become an important focus, to ensure the quality of product images and descriptions suit third-party environments and stand out in those spaces. A similar focal point exists for Penhaligon’s, where Stadelmann said the brand has never used models; instead they’ve always produced iconic illustrations and lately used these to create a virtual experience using AI-generated collages that replicate the Victorian world of founder William Penhaligon. She continued in addressing how the fragrance brand was able to use AI to generate scenes in Paris — just as in London — and localise the campaign.
Meanwhile, the brand has also used AI to create a fragrance-profiling experience for shoppers that not only focuses on their preferred fragrance notes, but recommends best-suited perfumes that may not even be on display, creating a truly connected experience. This AI-enhanced discovery journey bypasses a pain point for perfume shoppers who often go “nose blind” after sniffing just four or five samples.
In the final keynote, Breuninger CEO Holger Blecker joined Schif for the closing interview, focusing on the department store’s successful expansion at both home and abroad, at a time when the department store channel is struggling globally. Blecker began by talking about the “core beliefs” of the business: “We believe that online and offline is the perfect match. We don’t think in terms of different channels — for us, the key channel is where our customers are. Our customers are at the centre of all of our operations, and we take pride in consistently providing them with unforgettable experiences.”
Expanding on this, Blecker explained that many of Breuninger’s customers are pure-play shoppers, meaning their first — and only — way of engaging with the brand is online. So the business has to focus on maximising access and touchpoints for those customers who don’t visit Breuninger stores to make the experience interesting, exciting and generate trust. He also talked about Breuninger being an “emotional brand”, where emotion comes first and transaction follows. This in turn drives loyalty.
Finally, he spoke about experiences and the role of experiential retail in helping to drive footfall. Creating those unmissable experiences has been a key focus of partnerships for Breuninger, who recently launched the Hugo x Ljubav capsule with German rapper Rin at its Stuttgart location — attracting 4,000 shoppers in an afternoon. Having just opened a brand new store in Munich, Blecker spoke about the huge online engagement the department store was already enjoying in the city before it opened a new location. “Our main objective at Breuninger is to inspire our customers every day by offering them a comprehensive experiential destination — online and offline. We want to offer our customers a well-curated range of gastronomic, service and shopping experiences — where our customers want to spend time with their family and friends. We truly believe in emotional experiences. The transaction will follow.”
Join SAP Emarsys, 12-13 June for their Omnichannel & AI Masterclass, where we extend discussions from Munich and learn how marketers are crafting unforgettable experiences, unleashing the potential of AI and cultivating fierce customer loyalty with global brands.
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