On Goals + Opportunities for 2018

WHAT IS NEW AT MARCOLIN RIGHT NOW?

We are launching the Atelier Swarovski, which is—I want to stress—not a capsule collection. It’s really a full collection that is catering to a more sophisticated customer and will take its own place in the market.

In addition, we are enlarging our Moncler Lunettes collection that was launched last year with good success worldwide.

Then, there are some trends that we are supporting in the market—metal, for instance. Of course, if you look at our Tom Ford collection, or even the GUESS collection, you can appreciate the innovation, the quality, and the design authenticity of the product that we are proposing. It is the spirit of Marcolin Group.

DO EYECARE PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE HAVE THE SAME COMPETITIVE CONCERNS AS THOSE IN THE U.S.?

I think that the concern is pretty much the same worldwide. E-commerce and the world of the Internet is something that’s not just limited to one country.

There are countries where it is more expanded, and where probably the concern is much higher. But, at the end of the day, I believe that if you are a professional player with a good vision and if you want to stay in the market forever, you don’t have to be scared by that.

But you do have to cope with that. You can look at the same thing in two different ways: as something that’s a challenge, an opportunity, or something that is jeopardizing your business. I think that the first way is optimal—with the vision that we are here to stay.

WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON HOW ECPs CAN COMPETE IN TODAY’S MARKETPLACE?

There is one key word: digitalization. I want to be clear there are two ways you can digitalize your presence in the market.

The one way is a push model. Push—meaning, for the retailer, they are sending out what they need to send out in terms of communications to customers.

But today, you have to not only employ a push model, but also focus on a push-pull method. That means you’re not only sending messages, but you’re also acquiring requests and having a conversation with customers.

The next step has to do with not managing what you’ve got in store materially, and instead managing products in a digital way. This is something that Marcolin Group plans to help ECPs with in the future, and it’s a matter of providing something interesting that is different from the others.

—Erinn Morgan