August Berg: Promoting an Accessible Luxury Watch via Social Media

Driven by the rise of the Asian economies, accessible luxurious emerged as a market within the mid-2000s when the bargaining energy of the middle-class shopper had catapulted. With Singapore on the forefront of the posh market in Asia, Anders Peter Juel Sauerberg and his spouse established the Norbreeze Group in Singapore in 2004, to distribute, market, and construct worldwide accessible luxurious manufacturers in Asia.

The firm aimed to advertise and construct worldwide way of life manufacturers that represented the Danish design philosophy of “timeless attract and constant pursuit of functionalism and high quality”. The Sauerbergs supposed to create a novel enterprise proposition by introducing the Danish design ethos to the colourful cities of Asia. The identify Norbreeze represented the corporate’s roots. “Nor” referred to the Nordic area, whereas “Breeze” referred to motion, prosperity, transport, and communication.

In 2019, Norbreeze ventured into creating its personal model of merchandise within the accessible luxurious section by establishing a watch model, August Berg, concentrating on working mother and father and younger professionals. The model was launched as a part of the corporate’s strategic imaginative and prescient for 2025, by when it needed to have half of its income generated from owned and operated manufacturers and the remaining from the distribution of branded merchandise.

“We analysed the market and tried to put our product as being fashionable classic,” stated Sauerberg. “The message to the client was in regards to the way of life (mindfulness and time fullness), about how they might spend their time being aware, being within the current, and being conscious and residing life with ardour, function and confidence.”

Sauerberg had already tasted success in selling Danish manufacturers like Skagen and Pandora within the accessible luxurious section in Asia. He had additionally gathered vital knowledge about clients on this section – their behaviour traits, background, demographics, design tastes, and buy habits through the years, and believed {that a} home model on this section was more likely to be a secure guess.

The goal buyer segments for August Berg, named after Sauerberg’s son, Carl August Juel Sauerberg, had been a section of the Millennials – younger mother and father and younger working professionals who had been searching for glossy designs. A research confirmed that Millennials needed authenticity and craftsmanship in merchandise and most popular manufacturers that engaged in moral enterprise practices. They had been keen to pay for an expertise relatively than simply the product and had been involved not solely in regards to the high quality of the product but in addition the which means behind the model. Sauerberg subsequently needed to interact this buyer section by developing with strategic, tactical, and operational methods to create an impactful on-line presence.

Keeping its social motto in thoughts, to “change the world one wrist at a time”, August Berg had carried out a company social duty (CSR) mission to reinforce its model’s picture and construct its status as a sustainable enterprise. August Berg used eco-friendly supplies to bundle its merchandise, and had partnered with the Human Practice Foundation, a Danish not-for-profit organisation, providing high quality schooling to underprivileged youngsters in Asia and Africa.

“I wholeheartedly consider that the start line to make change occur is by making certain schooling for all,” Sauerberg shared. “I consider it’s time to make this occur all over the world, and collectively, we will do this. Our ambition is to present all people, particularly youngsters, the present of time – within the type of alternative – to have the ability to reside their lives with ardour, confidence and function.”

August Berg had arrange accounts on Facebook and Instagram. It had additionally collaborated with influencers to unfold the phrase on social media platforms. Because it was a brand new enterprise, the model didn’t have a lot to showcase by way of achievements in its CSR storytelling. Sauerberg realised that he would wish to implement an overarching social media technique that may permit August Berg to not solely propagate its model identify but in addition construct consciousness for Danish design watches within the accessible luxurious section.

The onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic had throttled the model’s possibilities of driving gross sales from its brick-and-mortar shops as a consequence of on and off retailer closures and restricted shopper visitors as a consequence of social distancing and journey restrictions. Moreover, it had created a ‘lipstick impact’ available on the market, with the goal shopper section limiting their purchases to less expensive luxurious items. Realising that August Berg must rely primarily on digital channels to drive gross sales, Sauerberg had a number of questions to contemplate. Would the storytelling strategy of name consciousness work for August Berg? Or wouldn’t it want a extra targeted strategy like low cost codes and using high-flying influencers to drive its influencer campaigns? What ought to August Berg’s digital advertising and marketing and social media advertising and marketing technique be, and the way may it design its digital advertising and marketing technique to regulate to the brand new regular?

This case analyses the accessible luxurious market, and the social media methods carried out by companies to advertise accessible luxurious merchandise. The case additionally delves into the evolving shopper behaviour patterns in luxurious items, CSR and its attractiveness for a luxurious model, and development methods of a luxurious product distribution firm relative to market constraints. The case is written by Patricia Lui, Lecturer of Marketing, Singapore Management University (SMU) and Lipika Bhattacharya of the Centre for Management Practice (CMP) at SMU.

To learn the case in full, please go to the CMP web site by clicking right here.

https://information.smu.edu.sg/information/2021/12/14/august-berg-promoting-accessible-luxury-watch-social-media