Can Sleeping Beauty Ferragamo Waken Up?

In order to attract millennial consumers to reverse declining sales and profits, Salvatore Ferragamo launched a revival plan last year.

But in return it was a profit warning, and Eraldo Poletto, the chief executive of less than two years, resigned in March.

Speculation that may be sold.

Ferragamo chairman Ferruccio Ferragamo is the eldest son of Salvatore Ferragamo, the founder of the brand name.

Temporary responsible person.

He said that although the company would be patient to find a qualified successor to Poletto, he hoped that he could give away the brand owner's seat as soon as possible.

Ferruccio Ferragamo also said that "selling the company is absolutely impossible", a statement that dispelled the speculation that the Ferragamo might sell.

The Florence based family business has yet to finalize its chief executive, but a special executive committee is being set up to take charge of the revitalization of Ferragamo.

The above news comes from the market report, and another source said that Ferragamo may take 18 months to find a suitable CEO.

According to the world clothing and shoe net, Ferruccio Ferragamo said at its annual shareholders' meeting on Friday that the company is steadily pushing ahead with the revitalization plan announced in February last year and "will not make any changes to the plan".

But not everyone is as optimistic as he is.

Ferragamo was once the most popular in the world.

Brands, many of the Hollywood stars in the old days are strong supporters of the brand, including Audrey Hepburn.

Its founder is a real innovator, creating many fashionable shoe styles, such as wedge heels and thick sole shoes.

But after the founder's death in 1960, Ferragamo began to be old and conservative.

Despite a revival in 1980s, it once again lost the hearts of consumers. Even though it has been working hard, it has never been able to get out of the long-term downturn.

Sales of Ferragamo doubled in 2009-2015 years and net profit increased two times.

But recent achievements are worrying.

In February 2017, the company promised to upgrade its product services to improve store performance. The revenue growth in 2017-2020 years will be two times the market average.

However, in fiscal year 2017, the company's revenue was only 1 billion 390 million euros, an increase of 1.4% over the same period last year, and net profit shrank sharply, down 42.4% compared to the same period last year.

Exane BNP Paribas, Paris, published a report in March 2018. Luca Solca, director of the luxury goods department, said in its report: "Ferragamo was originally attractive, and was closely related to Hollywood stars. But when Poletto took over, Ferragamo was short of product innovation, and propaganda strategy was gradually derailed with the mainstream."

Solca believes that Poletto's resignation is regrettable because the Ferragamo began to innovate in the past.

During the fashion week of Milan last year, the conference on men's and women's wear was launched by the creative director of women's clothing Paul Andrew and the creative director Guillaume Meilland of men's clothing. The audience's reaction was far better than that of the previous fashion show of Ferragamo.

Ferragamo has won a lot of applause because of its coherent style, its concern for products and its superb use of color.

But the evaluation standard of Ferragamo is not high.

Angelo Flaccavento, a Fashion Critic in Italy, shared with his correspondent his view: "the crisis has not happened. This is why the Ferragamo merger conference is convincing.

This show not only continues the style of Ferragamo, but also shows the concern for products.

After several twists and turns, Ferragamo hopes to find its position in the low-key luxury sector.

Solca said: "the Poletto task is arduous.

In the fairy tale world, waking the sleeping beauty needs only one kiss, but in the real world, it takes a lot of time to wake up the old Ferragamo and make it reborn.

The problem with Poletto is that he made too many commitments at too early a time. "

Before regaining its former glory, Ferragamo clearly has a long way to go.

In most people's eyes, Ferragamo looks serious and boring.

Although the merger show has received a lot of positive feedback, there are still questions about whether Ferragamo has the magic weapon of creativity. Although Paul Andrew has brought a hint of novelty to Ferragamo and has won deserved praise, he is after all a shoe designer, with little experience in the design of women's clothing series.

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In addition, Gucci and Valentino have been very successful in releasing the sales potential of the fashion show. Ferragamo has never been able to compete with the two competitors from Italy.

Of course, in order to achieve better publicity effect, Ferragamo still has many options to choose from.

For example, to establish links with the contemporary Hollywood, to regain the tradition of Hollywood movie stars.

But if you can't design products that people really want to buy, these measures will not produce very good results. What's more, Ferragamo's social media strength is very weak compared with its competitors.

Solca's prescription is: adopting innovation strategy, promoting product innovation, overcoming brand inertia and improving the attractiveness of young generation luxury consumers, because they are becoming the main consuming force in the luxury market, and are increasingly fond of trying new things.

He said that Ferragamo can invite movie stars from all over the world to endorse their product series, including China, Korea, Europe and the United States.

It has also been pointed out that Ferragamo has many shortcomings at the enterprise level. First, there is a lack of modern management system. Two, it is a corporate culture with a strong conservative tendency and a lack of flexibility. We must know that only the enterprise culture that is bold in innovation and praising speed and flexibility can adapt to the changing market today.

Ferruccio Ferragamo voicing its voice on Friday, hoping that the next CEO will emerge from within the company.

Although he said he would not pick successors from the Ferragamo family members, he could not completely dispel doubts.

In fact, the conservative tendency of Ferragamo is the by-product of its control of the family.

Solca explained this: "if you put all your eggs in one basket, if anything happens, the situation will get very bad, which is easy to understand."

Whether or not it is understood, the Ferragamo family may obstruct the company's urgent changes.

Solca said: "in today's world, young Chinese consumers who want to create demand are created.

Therefore, the conservative strategy of Ferragamo is no longer suitable. "

More interesting reports, please pay attention to the world clothing shoes and hats net.