In the lead up to September’s Festival of Luxury Marketing, Walpole is sharing insights from those tasked with marketing some of the UK’s best-known luxury businesses, beginning with David Kendall, the innovative MarComs Director at David Collins Studio.

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With a client list that reads like a roll call of Britain’s finest luxury brands – Harrods, Cunard, Alexander McQueen, Cortinthia London, Jimmy Choo, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Gleneagles, and more – David Collins Studio has been instrumental in creating interiors and enhancing the customer experience for a multitude of Walpole members. But how has the Covid-19 crisis affected the studio’s approach to marketing? We spoke with David Kendall to find out.

How has your approach to marketing evolved following the Covid-19 outbreak? Or has it remained the same, and if so why? 

The David Collins Studio marketing strategy is mapped out 12 months in advance and is closely linked to our project openings and project launches. We are very fortunate that we have had a strong pipeline of activity, that our projects have long programmes, and that we have openings staggered across sectors and territories. All of this mitigates risk in a world both pre- and post-Covid.

Stacking projects in this way is ultimately down to Studio capacity and resourcing, and as a result our planning is well-considered and our launch strategies are developed with multiple agencies and stakeholders, which ensures that there is a forum to discuss any changes and disruption.

As a result our strategy has remained almost the same, albeit timings have of course shifted. There has been a flurry of enquiries using Instagram Live or TV, or podcasts or YouTube channels, which have been interesting as these are not necessarily channels we focused on in the past.

I would say that the Covid-19 situation has given us a little time to look into new channels or revenue streams, and to reconnect with friends of The Studio. Adapting to online client meetings and business development meetings has been interesting and our clients and contacts have been very open to these new ways of working.

What, in your opinion, are the ‘new luxury marketing rules’ for the ‘new normal’? 

I think the same rules apply, it is important to have the confidence to stick to your guns and behave in a manner that is authentic for your brand.

Brands have to adapt to the challenges posed by Covid-19, but at the same time, I see the changes being brought about by BLM and the sustainability agenda to be incredibly important and exciting dialogues that businesses need to process and adapt to, and quickly.”

I think that the new normal is the same normal: behaving professionally, with integrity, and trying your best!

www.davidcollins.studio

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If you are responsible for the marketing and communications function of a Walpole member brand and would like to share your thoughts, please contact Jenni.Rayner@thewalpole.co.uk.