2017 is shaping up to be a complex year for luxury brands.
After two decades when annual economic growth averaging nearly six percent, Goldman Sachs predicted economic growth for 2017 to be up only slightly more than 2016's 2.5 percent. Bank of America predicted three strait years of modest declines of home value starting in 2017. Factor in European turmoil after the Brexit vote and the U.K.'s special election in June, the unsettling polarization of America in the aftermath of one of the most contested elections in U.S. history and the predictions for the 2017 economy are, if not bleak, at best mixed.
Even so, the top one percent are getting richer and spending at unprecedented rates. The still-anemic spending of the aspirational customer (household incomes up to $300,000) has caused luxury brands to aggressively focus on marketing to their very best customers ($1 million and up liquid).
The “new normal” for the luxury market is growth of 3 percent to 4 percent, and total luxury spending surpassed 1 trillion euros by the end of 2015, led by accelerating sales of luxury cars, hotels and fine art, according to Bain.
Traditional brand loyalty is waning as the best luxury buyers become more discerning and demanding. Online buying and social media continue to challenge brands to be more innovative in their marketing. As the disparity between ‘the haves’ and ‘the have nots’ continues to widen, public pressure on luxury brands to give back and keep a sharp eye on manufacturing, environmental and corporate citizenship practices will continue to increase.
Questions we will address:
In 2017 how have luxury brands reacted?
- How are they reengineering and better integrating their marketing strategies and tactics?
- How are they better serving their best customers?
Join us and a panel of C-Suite executives representing a range of segments of the luxury market on Wednesday, June 14 for a compelling discussion of these important trends.
2017 Mid-Year Temperature Taking The Year So Far, The Year to Come
We are also pleased to announce a special performance by Acute Inflections.
Acute Inflections is a chic NYC based jazz duo of a captivating vocalist and an innovative upright bassist. Their instrumentation may be deceptively simple but they deliver an intoxicating jazzy, funky and sultry sound.
Do please come prepared to weigh in with your own thoughts on 2017 - THE YEAR SO FAR, THE YEAR TO COME.
2017 Mid-Year Temperature Taking The Year So Far, The Year to Come
about the speakers
Bill D’Arienzo
Founder and CEO
WDA Brand Marketing
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Bill D’Arienzo is the founder and CEO of Wm. D’Arienzo Associates, Inc. in Princeton, NJ , helping clients to achieve their brand strategy objectives and business goals; he is also CEO of ApparelAnalytics™ an on-line consumer research service and serves as U.S. strategy advisor for Ambrosetti, the # 1 think tank in Italy & in the top 20 of global business consultancies.
Throughout his 25 years as a consultant, Bill has worked with brands such as Burberry, Brooks Brothers, Geoffrey Beene & Oscar de la Renta, developing brand management strategies for business development. This includes both the retail & wholesale apparel sectors & related industries. He has trained visiting executives from China and Japan & has lectured in India, Spain, China and in other global venues. His approach to creating business opportunities are unique, and measureable and includes projects with Kohl's, Walmart, Tommy Hilfiger & others.
Bill brings hands on business experience and powerful academic credentials to every project. He has been a divisional president, senior marketing executive & business school lecturer & has been featured & quoted in national media including WWD, the LA Times, U.S. News & World Report and The New York Times, providing analysis of retail dynamics, consumer insights & brand strategies. Bill is also a frequent speaker at corporate training forums.
His education includes a B.A. from The Ohio State University, an M.A from CUNY New York and a PhD from The New School for Social Research. He was a Ford Foundation Fellow at Vanderbilt University and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at Princeton University. Bill is also is a lecturer in and the founder of the Brand Management program @ FIT in NYC. His book Lessons in Leadership from George Washington, CEO was published in May 2010. His new book Brand Management Strategies: Luxury & Mass Markets will be published by Fairchild, in late Summer 2016.
Francois-Olivier Luiggi
General Manager
The Pierre
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Francois-Olivier Luiggi was recently appointed General Manager of The Pierre, A Taj Hotel. With over 22 years in the luxury hospitality industry, Mr. Luiggi has extensive experience launching high-end hotels internationally and managing well-known brands catering to the discerning traveler. His prior positions include: General Manager of Langham Place, Fifth Ave (formerly The Setai); Hotel Manager of The Mark Hotel, and Corporate Food & Beverage Training Specialist at Four Seasons, where he spent ten years developing the brand’s culinary teams. Mr. Luiggi also serves as President of the ESSEC USA Alumni Association, his alma mater.
Mr. Luiggi, who is responsible for everything from staffing and guest programming to operations and financial performance at The Pierre, oversees the Taj brand’s flagship international property and plays an integral role in the communication of the corporate brand message throughout North America.
Originally from Corsica, France, Luiggi graduated from ESSEC Business School in France, with a joint MBA in Hotel Management from Cornell University. After completing his studies, Luiggi entered the hospitality world through the Food & Beverage division, quickly rising through the ranks to become the Corporate F&B Training Specialist for the entire Four Seasons brand. While with Four Seasons, Mr. Luiggi opened a total of 19 of the brand’s hotels and resorts, including properties in the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia. An internationally-trained hotelier, he speaks fluent English, French and Italian.
Giuliano Iannaccone
Partner and Chair of the International Retail Practice Group
Tarter Krinsky & Drogin
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Giuliano Iannaccone is a Partner in the Corporate and Securities Practice and Chair of the International and Retail Practice Groups. He is a member of the firm's Executive Committee.
Giuliano represents U.S. and non-U.S. companies in a broad spectrum of international and domestic transactions and acts as general counsel for many of his clients. He leads the firm's practice with Italian clients, providing them with legal advice and services in both English and Italian, and also assists U.S. companies interested in doing business in Italy.
Giuliano has represented clients ranging from start-up ventures to large multinational companies in a variety of industries, including furniture, fashion, jewelry, toys, e-commerce, architecture and design, food and beverage, and kitchenware. Highlights of his experience include representing:
- An Italian manufacturer during the start-up phase of its U.S. subsidiary, while acting as outside general counsel of the subsidiary. The U.S. subsidiary of an Italian furniture manufacturer in drafting agreements with local dealers.
- The U.S. subsidiary of an Italian furniture manufacturer in drafting agreements with local dealers.
- A U.S. licensee in negotiating a license agreement with a U.S.-based media and entertainment company for the manufacturing, distribution and sale of consumer products.
- An internationally-known multi-brand retailer in negotiating an agreement with a major U.S. department store chain to open a flagship shop-in-shop.
- A global online fashion retailer in drafting and negotiating a complex logistics services agreement to regulate the high volume of business-to-consumer transactions.
- The U.S. subsidiary of a European company in drafting and negotiating an employment agreement with its chief executive officer.
- An Italian food company in negotiating a complex lease for the company's first retail food establishment in the U.S.
- A global online retailer in auditing and revising the U.S.-specific section of its international website to ensure compliance with U.S. law.
Giuliano is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and served on its Committee on Foreign and Comparative Law from 2004 to 2006. He is the co-author of L'esercizio d'impresa negli U.S.A., Profili legali e fiscali (Doing Business in the U.S.A., Legal and Tax Aspects), Data Ufficio, 2003. He is also the co-author of Stati Uniti d'America: guida al diritto e alla fiscalità d'impresa (United States of America: Business Law and Tax Guide), IPSOA/Wolters Kluwer, 2012.
Before joining Tarter Krinsky & Drogin, Giuliano was special counsel at a boutique international law firm in New York. Previously, he founded and managed the Iannaccone Law Firm, a boutique practice representing Italian companies and individuals.
Greg Liccardi
Chief Revenue Officer, North America
Elite Traveler
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Energetic and accomplished sales and management executive with broad experience selling multi-media sponsorship programs including TV, mobile, digital, programmatic and print. Talented at selling innovative cross platform and branded content advertising campaigns to high level client and agency contacts.
August 2013 – Present Greater New York City Area.
Lead multimedia sales efforts including digital, programmatic, print, CRM, branded content and events for Elite Traveler and Hotels/Resorts/Spas - Elite Traveler Media Group
Jeff Moore
President
Sub-Zero
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Jeff Moore is married 38 years to his wife Dottie, has 3 children and 2 grandchildren.
He started in the appliance business back in 1977 with Kitchen Aid and Amana. Spent 5 years selling these brands, then went to work for the Zenith Corporation for 13 years from 1982 - 1995. For the last 22 years, Jeff has been affiliated with Sub-Zero/Wolf Corporation.
Jeff likes to play golf and hike in his spare time. He has a passion for the Civil War and Wall Street.
Sarah Long
CMO
Remy Cointreau
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Rémy Cointreau Americas is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rémy Cointreau Group. The French, family-run Rémy Cointreau Group is a leading operator in the global wine and spirits market with 1800 employees worldwide. The Group, whose origins date back to 1724, is the result of the merger in 1990 of the holding companies of the Heriard Dubreuil and Cointreau families, which controlled E. Rémy Martin & Cie SA and Cointreau & Cie SA respectively. Rémy Cointreau Group has a portfolio of 12 upmarket brands of international renown: Rémy Martin®, LOUIS XIII®, Cointreau®, Mount Gay®, The Botanist®, Metaxa® Greek spirit, St-Rémy® brandy, and Bruichladdich®, Port Charlotte®, Octomore®, Westland® and Domaine des Hautes Glaces® single malt whiskies.
Sarah Long is the Chief Marketing Officer for Rémy Cointreau Americas which includes North, South and Central Americas and is a member of the Executive Management Team. In this role, she is responsible for further elevating the luxury image of the brands while increasing awareness and desirability. She will provide executive leadership and brand management across the Rémy Cointreau Americas portfolio on such brands as Rémy Martin, Cointreau Liqueur, Mount Gay Rum, Bruichladdich Whiskey & The Botanist Gin among others.
Sarah joined Rémy Cointreau in June 2014 as Vice President of Marketing for Cointreau and Spirits, where she successfully led the marketing strategies and growth for the brands.
Prior to joining Rémy Cointreau, Sarah was Vice President & Managing Director for Syncapse, a Digital and Social Media Consulting and Technology Firm. Preceding this, she spent five years at Diageo North America, in New York, as a Director in both the Marketing and Innovation Departments. Previous roles include Marketing Director for the Molson Canadian brand in Canada, and Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble on Cover Girl and Swiffer.
2017 Mid-Year Temperature Taking The Year So Far, The Year to Come
about the brands
WDA is a strategic brand marketing consultancy centered on fashion, apparel and related categories. We focus on generating consumer insights and brand uniqueness for sustainable business development.
The Pierre, the iconic U.S. flagship of Taj Hotels on New York’s Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park, is re-open following an impressive $100 million renovation debuting new guestroom and bath interiors. Even in a city where exclusive luxuries are the norm, there is one hotel that is far more rare and special than the rest. Possessing a fabled Central Park location in Midtown Manhattan and legendary history, The Pierre continues to setthe standard for elegance and unrivalled hospitality. The latest in modern conveniences include interactive flat-panel televisions in bedrooms, living rooms and bathrooms, the Bose Home Theatre system with iPod docking stations, high-speed wired and wireless Internet access, executive desks with built-in data and power outlets, and electronic safes with power outlets that accommodate laptops. All guestrooms and suites have been transformed to feature a warm, inviting residential-style décor with a feeling of quiet luxury. High ceilings and abundant natural light evoke a gracious, airy experience that enhances the new interiors. Color palettes, comprised of soft neutrals in pale ivory and taupe with tones of corals or blues, are contrasted with rich woods, tufted leather headboards and matching benches. Richly textured silk and brocade fabrics in elegant neutrals with tasteful accents of color adorn upholstery, pillows, draperies and bed throws. Hand-carved carpets ensure comfort and superb acoustical sound control.
From the start, we knew what we wanted to be — a total solution for middle market businesses — from the people we hired to the services we offered.
Since then, Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP has grown into a dynamic collection of attorneys from a broad swath of New York law firms, who chose to join our common goal of more effectively and efficiently serving middle market businesses because it's what we do best.
Purposefully designed to be an integral part of any client's business team, we are a vibrant, full-service law firm dedicated to smart thinking and strong client relationships. We have anticipated and deliberately chosen to offer the diverse service areas that middle market businesses need.
From start-up companies to established institutions, our clients are leaders and innovators in their industries. Because we look at their legal issues from a holistic business perspective and work with them at this operational level, we empower our clients to understand the real issues and collaborate on major decisions with them. Our clients value the understanding of their business that we develop and the interdisciplinary approach we bring to the relationship. This translates to practical and effective solutions built on mutual trust.
More than a legal solution, we are a fresh approach to business because we provide business solutions as much as legal solutions. To do this well, we embrace and promote progressive thinking. This means we don’t do things just because that’s the way it’s been done before. Rather, we challenge the status quo in a healthy, constructive way to benefit our clients.
Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP is a member of Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW). LAW is a global association of 100 independent law firms located in over 50 countries. They represent a collective resource of over 4000 lawyers worldwide. All member firms have substantial experience representing middle market companies and high net worth individuals with cross-border legal needs. Each member firm has local firsthand knowledge of the customs and practices in its jurisdiction.
Tarter Krinsky & Drogin has an established International Practice Group which provides full transactional services to both U.S. and non-U.S. clients. Through this network, we can further assists clients in their expansion into new domestic and foreign markets and provide a deeper understanding of their unique cross-border operations issues.
As a full-service firm, we provide a trusted resource to our colleagues in LAW. We help companies establish and expand operations in the U.S. including acquisitions and formations, commercial contracts, real estate and construction, tax, labor, IP and immigration.
For more information on Lawyers Associated Worldwide, click here.
Built with the goal in mind of being a solution for middle market businesses and growing companies, Tarter Krinsky & Drogin recognized a broad gap exists between large, legal powerhouses (Big Law) and small or boutique firms (Small Law). Both have their place and serve a need, but are not necessarily well balanced for companies that fall in the middle market sector.
Big Law has sophistication and seemingly unlimited resources to handle a variety of client needs, but comes with its concomitant high fees and competition with other firm clients for direct, hands-on attention. Small Law brings one or two niche areas of service, but companies often find themselves piecing together a collection of smaller firms, with more reasonable fees, to service their full spectrum of needs. This often results in the loss of cohesion, which is a critical component to sound legal advice.
To fill this gap, Tarter Krinsky & Drogin adopted a non-traditional philosophy for running the firm:
Organic Business Growth
We don’t believe in growth for growth sake. Rather, we put in place a process to add service areas as the need is identified. We then hire experienced lawyers who reduce the staffing and number of attorneys required on matters for a more efficient allocation of firm resources. And because of our size, clients get more direct access to our attorneys.
Efficient Billing
Because of how we staff, we are able to decrease the number of total hours typically billed, allowing us to offer our clients a highly competitive fee structure. Essentially, with more reasonable rates and fewer billers, clients can afford more direct access to senior attorneys when the situation requires. And, we are able to invest more time into the relationship and the business in order to be a more effective advisor to our client.
Full-Service Solution
In addition to standard law firm practice areas, we have a depth of experience in the specialty areas that middle market companies typically require. Though often found in larger firms or smaller boutiques, we have 15 diverse and well-developed areas of law to address our clients' immediate legal needs and help them plan for their long-term business goals from a holistic perspective.
Elite Traveler Media Group is a leading luxury lifestyle media group targeting Ultra High Net Worth Consumers, the much talked about 1%. It is the only audited publication with worldwide circulation aboard private jets and in private jet terminals, giving advertisers unique access to the wealthiest consumers as they travel with friends, family and business associates.
Our global multiplatform approach includes print titles Elite Traveler and our Annual Hotels/Resorts/Spas Issue. Elitetraveler.com is the companion website to the print publications, providing a seamless multiplatform media experience.
Our Top 100 Restaurants Around The World, is a much anticipated annual print and web feature that will be turned into a global event in 2016.
With an average household income of $5.3 Million, Elite Traveler readers represent the top tier of affluence in the world and are poised to spend accordingly. In 2013. Elite Traveler readers spend annually $117,000 on fashion and accessories, $248,000 on fine jewelry, $147,000 on watches, $149,000 on hotels and resorts for leisure and $224,000 for parties and events.
The publication was founded in 2001 and is a fast-growing, privately held U.S. division of U.K. based Progressive Media Group, with offices around the globe. Leading Progressive titles include The World of Fine Wine, Spear's Wealth Management and The New Statesman, the authoritative weekly political, cultural and current affairs magazine in the U.K.
When Westye Bakke began experimenting with refrigeration in the 1930s, it was in part to find a better way to store the insulin his young son Bud needed for his juvenile diabetes. Existing freezers didn’t do a reliable job of preserving food, medicine and other necessities.
Westye set out to find a better way. In 1943, he built his first freestanding freezer out of scrap metal in his basement, bending the coils bare-handed. And in 1945, launched Sub-Zero Freezer Company, introducing the first system for preserving food at ultra-low temperatures - literally sub-zero. The company would quickly establish a reputation for quality and innovation.
Most homeowners might be satisfied getting several years of service out of an appliance. Inspired by Westye’s desire to build the best, Sub-Zero has always set its sights higher. Our products are built in our own American facilities, where we can control every step of the manufacturing process. The materials are premium grade, the technologies state of the art, and the craftsmanship of the highest caliber.
Products are subjected to lab testing under extreme environmental conditions. Every component of every product is tested before assembly, then each finished product is tested for reliability before shipping.
Over the years, the legendary reliability of Sub-Zero appliances has given our customers the confidence to invest not merely in a kitchen that meets their needs, but one that fulfills their highest aspirations in both function and design, and brings them a lifetime of satisfaction.
Ever since Westye’s earliest pioneering efforts, we’ve never stopped searching for ways to keep your food (and even wine) as fresh and delicious as it can be. We pioneered the dual refrigeration system, which relies on two separate, self-contained cooling systems to keep fresh food fresher and preserve frozen food longer. We also developed an air filtration system inspired by NASA technology that scrubs the air of ethylene gas, which hastens food spoilage, and also reduces odors by removing bacteria, mold and viruses.
The very doors on a Sub-Zero refrigerator are special, with seals so secure that even after power outages of multiple days, owners report no thawing of their frozen foods.
Inspired by Sub-Zero, many families are eating fresher foods – shopping the farmer’s market rather than the supermarket – because they know the food will last far longer, with less waste.
At Sub-Zero, the function has always come first. But in the case of dual refrigeration, that function led to a form that became one of the most imitated home product designs ever: the classic Sub-Zero look with its bold, louvered grille over the dual compressors.
Through the years Sub-Zero has expanded its design leadership with integrated refrigeration that blends in seamlessly with the décor. No longer does any kitchen have to suffer the dubious aesthetic of a freestanding refrigerator – considered “the elephant in the room” of kitchen design. Your kitchen can have the same inviting custom look as the rest of your home. It can be literally anything you want it to be, with the countless choices of Sub-Zero.
Our design approach impressed even legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who commissioned Sub-Zero equipment for the visionary homes he designed.
In the year 2000, Sub-Zero formed Wolf Appliance to create the ultimate cooking appliances for passionate home cooks. Sub-Zero’s launch of the new Wolf product lines was the most ambitious ever in the cooking industry, with more than 50 items at once.
Wolf cooking equipment is highly specialized, putting precise control in the hands of consumers via easy-to-use technology. Refined through more than eight decades in commercial kitchens, Wolf products are the ideal kitchen companions to Sub-Zero, created in the same spirit of quality and innovation. And now there is Wolf Gourmet to complete the countertop too.
What would Westye Bakke think, if he browsed through the stunning kitchens in our Kitchen Gallery? They reflect the continuing innovation of the company he started, as well as the unlimited imagination of the designers, architects, builders and homeowners we’re privileged to work with.
Like any company, we’re gratified with the success we’ve had, and the genuine pleasure we’ve brought to so many Sub-Zero and Wolf owners as they enjoy life in their new kitchens. But we know Westye would never forgive us if we rested on our laurels. Besides, we can hardly wait to see what the next generation of Sub-Zero and Wolf kitchens is going to look like.
“I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is that we always have to have innovation in our blood,” says Jim Bakke. “We always need to keep our products moving forward, ahead of the competition. Whether it’s with design, whether it’s with technology, with performance, reliability, customer service – you’ve always got to keep innovating and moving forward. That’s what makes our future so bright.”
The Rémy Cointreau Group, whose charentaise origins date back to 1724, is the result of the merger in 1990 of the holding companies of the Hériard Dubreuil and Cointreau families, which controlled E. Rémy Martin & Cie SA and Cointreau & Cie SA respectively.
It is also the result of successive alliances between companies operating in the same wines and spirits business segment.
Rémy Cointreau’s portfolio of global brands is sold primarily through its own distribution network, which comprises subsidiaries in the United States, Asia, and Western and Central Europe.