16 | Marketing Week | 16 December 2010 | marketingweek.co.uk

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profile david lauren

avid Lauren says he’s hardly sleptin the past two weeks. He’s beenpreparing for an ambitiousexperiential event to promote thelaunch of Ralph Lauren’stransactional website in the UK,

which saw a 3D film of catwalk models, poniesand the brand’s $17,000 (£10,100) Ricky handbagprojected onto Ralph Lauren’s flagship Londonstore in New Bond Street, complete withsoundtrack and perfume sprayed into the air andculminating in an image of his father Ralphwaving to the crowd from a top-floor window.

And the PR exercise brought with it some bigspenders. David says that two $50,000 (£32,000)watches were sold on the night.

The same film was projected on to theMadison Avenue store in New York to celebrate“ten years of digital innovation” so David stayedup until the small hours to make sure everythingwent smoothly over there.

But in spite of the lack of sleep, the jetlagfrom his trip to London from the States and thepressure of the night before, he’s the picture ofcalm, speaking in a softly accented voice.

He sits in the plush surroundings of the NewBond Street store, a corner building oppositejeweller Cartier, from where the film wasprojected. This is a world of red carpets,chandeliers, a roaring fire and subtle Christmasdecorations. He is surrounded by the PurpleLabel collection for men, the most expensive ofRalph Lauren’s 20 sub-brands. An evening suitjacket here might cost £3,500 and a cashmerejumper with a snowflake design sells for justover £1,000 on the UK website.

Fashion model fianceeThe 39-year-old middle child of superstardesigner Ralph has grown up in the highestechelons of American society. Last weekend hegot engaged to long-term girlfriend 26-year-oldfashion model and designer Lauren Bush, theniece of former president George W Bush.

But while his brother and sister have chosenother creative paths outside of fashion –Andrew is an actor and producer and Dylan runsher own candy store – David has establishedhimself in the family business.

He has been working for his father’s empire –Polo Ralph Lauren, to give the company its fullname – for ten years and is currently seniorvice-president of advertising, marketing andcorporate communications, looking after thebrand globally. The role is not at board level, buthe reports to his father, who is chairman andchief executive, and Roger Farah, the company’spresident and chief operating officer.

David has been credited with driving thebusiness’s online growth, having pushed thebrand to sell via mobile in 2008 and use QR

DGut instinct fires realpassion for fashionRalph Lauren’s son David is in charge of the iconicAmerican fashion house’s global marketing. He talksto Lucy Handley about using his intuition andtechnological innovation to expand the $5bn brand

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codes in its advertising a year later. But hedoes not come from a traditional marketingbackground, having run his own magazine forbudding entrepreneurs – Swing – for severalyears after university.

David says that he partly relies on gut instinctand an entrepreneurial spirit to drive marketingstrategy for the fashion business. “I grew up inthe fashion industry. I got my training just bybeing around my father and I don’t think there isa better person to learn from.”

Ralph himself used his instinct when hestarted the business in 1967 by launching arange of ties under the name Polo.

Ralph has said: “I have always had a clearvision. I wanted to develop quality products andcreate a whole world around that. It meanstaking risks, going with what you feel, but neverlosing sight of your vision and conviction.”

Family traitThis instinctive nature is a family trait, says David.“Ralph Lauren did not become a designer bygoing to design school. He used his gut and hehas created a culture where people are like him;technical skills are important but are not the rule.”

David is an embodiment of this, having aninstinct for what people will respond to online. Buthe admits: “I don’t know how to work the internetvery well. I’m very bad on a computer, yet I’vethought about what I would like as a customerand what I think our customers would like. If youthink like a customer you can work with technicalexperts to come up with solutions.”

To this end, he doesn’t run focus groups togain consumer insight. “This is a company whereyour natural instinct and gut are very important.We don’t use traditional ad agencies and focusgroups to do anything. We have a very strongsense of what our brand is,” he says.

That brand embodies American elegance butalso has a classic British feel, rather like theRugby brand, which will open in London’sCovent Garden in autumn next year. It is similarin its upper-middle-class university look toBritish label Jack Wills and was launched byPolo Ralph Lauren six years ago. The Londonshop will be the first in Europe.

“We started to recognise that maybe ourproducts seem too expensive or tooinaccessible, we need to target a youngercustomer with a brand like Rugby,” David says.

As part of this initiative, the Rugby brand hasbeen used to test mobile technology. Customerscan download an app that allows them to

customise their own polo shirts by choosing acolour, logo and adding their name or initials.

David has often expressed his desire to usetechnology to make things happen. Having beeninspired by the futuristic film Minority Reportwhere Tom Cruise’s character walks through ashopping mall and is presented with a variety ofscreens offering products they sense he willlike, David introduced interactive shop windowsin 2006, where customers could tap a credit cardonto the glass, buy products and have themdelivered, even if the store was shut.

He also opened a virtual store at the US Opentennis championships, where there was noproduct on show, just shopping kiosks withcomputers in them, and references film when hetalks about the “4D” projection (the fourthdimension being fragrance) onto the Londonand New York flagship stores.

“Every year brings some new excitement,some new energy. Six months ago I could neverhave told you that we would make the first ever4D experience. I would imagine that wouldcome from Steven Spielberg or Walt Disney. Iwould never assume that would come fromRalph Lauren.”

But more than just an experimental nature hasbeen required to grow the business. The latestannual figures were released in June, for the yearto the end of March, with turnover at $4,979m(£3,199m) and profits of $689m (£436m).

This is up on the previous year – particularlyprofit, which rose 17% – and there are ambitiousgrowth plans, especially in emerging markets,David says. “Our effort is to grow our businessvery significantly. We have to look at otherbrands that have been in the market, and beimpressed by what they have done.”

profile david lauren

CV David Lauren

November 2010-presentSenior vice-president of advertising, marketing and corporate communications for Polo RalphLauren. Remit includes global campaigns, strategicmarketing partnerships and web development. Also president of the charitable Polo Ralph Laurenfoundation.

2000-2010Chief creative and marketing officer for RalphLauren Media, a joint venture between Polo RalphLauren and NBC, which is now wholly owned byPolo Ralph Lauren.

1994-1999Editor-in-chief and president of Swing, a magazinefor Generation X, since sold to Hachette Filipacchi.

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This is a companywhere your naturalinstinct and gut arevery important...We have a very strong sense of what our brand is

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The aim is to sell evenly in the US, Europe andAsia. But 70% of turnover currently comes fromthe States, with 21% in Europe and 9% in Asia,and David admits there is a “while to go” on thisobjective. LVMH, which owns the Louis Vuitton,Marc Jacobs and Thomas Pink brands amongothers, has nearly 500 shops in Asia-Pacific;Ralph Lauren has just 23 (see chart, page 20).

Part of this growth drive has included paying$37m (£24m) last year to bring Polo Ralph Laurenfranchised stores in Asia-Pacific back under itscontrol. Burberry did a similar thing this year,paying £70m for 50 stores in the region. PoloRalph Lauren currently has more than 600 of itsown shops, factory outlets and concessions, whileits products are sold by an additional 9,000 outletsthroughout the world.

Selling more product direct to consumer is along-term goal and the company made its UK

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profile david lauren

Marketing Week (MW): Do you want to runthe business, taking over from your father?David Lauren (DL): Right now I’m just in thelearning phase. I’m trying to learn every part ofthe business and to learn my area, so that I canbe a valuable part of it.

MW: You founded the magazine Swing inyour 20s, for ambitious people to read aboutpeople they might aspire to be. Who do youlook up to?DL: My father is a great role model as he is theleader of our industry. He has built a companywhere people are enthusiastic about theconcepts. He’s created a family experience.People who can build cultures like that are veryinspiring. Walt Disney has done that, BarackObama has created a culture that’s a movementand it’s very rare to see that kind of energy.

MW: Your father has said that he worriedabout disappointing his father when hestarted his business in 1967. What is it likeworking with your father?DL: I worry about what I do and every day I tryto do something that is smart and interesting.There is always pressure knowing that yourboss is your father, so it is double the stress. ButI think I have been successful in inspiring ateam of people and bringing in a new sensibilityfor the company, and helping maintain a brandidentity that is so well established.

MW: Your father has also said there is asense that in America the fashion houses aremarketers, and in Europe they are artists.What do you think?DL: He was making a point that there is amisperception. Our goal is to make sure peoplelook at America as a design centre. In the pasteven Americans have looked to Europe. But thatis changing because we are so much larger thanmany of our European counterparts.

MW: How do you work out what yourcustomers want?DL: We know our customers so well, there issuch brand loyalty and interest in this brand. Theproducts are interesting, and tell stories. Our jobas marketers is to tell stories. While other peopleare looking at spreadsheets and worrying aboutfocus groups, we have built a company.

This is an industry where you have to makeyour own trends and not follow them. Theinnovation that comes [from us] comes from akeen understanding of what a brand is andwhat our customers respond to.

MW: Polo Ralph Lauren has a five-yearcontract until 2015 to provide the uniformsfor the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Whydo that?DL: We started by outfitting the US Open andwere able to reinvent the way fashion wasintegrated into sports. Wimbledon wanted toexpress its sensibility in a way that was verymuch old world 1940s English. It never haduniforms that were suits before that. We madeWimbledon the way you thought it used toexist. Paul McCartney walked by our shop thereand said he was looking at the clothes andthought they looked so English that they mustbe Ralph Lauren, and it was very flattering.

MW: The American TV series Friendsfeatured central character Rachel (JenniferAniston) working for Ralph Lauren. What’syour view on product placement? DL: We really don’t do it. They wrote that intothe script and asked us if we were OK with it andwe were. Most of the products that are put intofilms are chosen by the directors. It’s wonderfulto get a call from Tom Cruise’s office saying thathe wants to wear RRL jeans or from PenelopeCruz to say she wants to wear a dress she saw inthe window in a movie. Those are wonderfulmoments but they happen organically.

Q&Amarketer2marketer

Mike SoutarChief executive at Shortlist Mediaasks: How do you forecast thebalance of Ralph Lauren’s marketingspend will change both off- and

online in the next few years? David Lauren (DL): I look at what I think is rightfor our brand, what magazines I think areinteresting and how often I want to see our adsin those magazines. I do the same withnewspapers and television, and I surroundmyself with people who have a good instinct forhelping us select the right media. If we love anad we might run it in more places. We have to benimble to keep up with the times and not lockourselves into anything, so if we had planned torun more print ads one year, but then we thinkof an idea like an online children’s story book, forexample, we’d change things around.

I think that we were very cost conscious thisyear and if spend came down in one area thenit might have gone up online.

Paul DickinsonSales and marketing director atVirgin Atlantic asks: With so manyluxury brands in the fashion world,how do you engender loyalty?

DL: We create loyalty by creating greatproducts. No level of marketing and buzz canfool a good customer. A good customerunderstands a good product and a goodenvironment and service. That said, we try tocreate excitement by initiatives that allowthem to get closer to the brand.

James TarbuckGlobal brand director at Toni & Guyasks: How do you ensure brandcontinuity and management whenusing licensees?

DL: The idea of licensing is to license yourproduct when it is appropriate, when you havea partner that is able to do something you’renot able to in house. [In Asia-Pacific] we feltthat we could do a better job ourselves andthat has paid off amazingly. But it issometimes best to work with a partner whoknows the market for that product better thanwe do.

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TIME LINE Polo Ralph Lauren

1939 Ralph Lifshitz born in the Bronx, New York. Since changed his surname to Lauren.1967 Ralph Lauren starts a tie line under the Polo label.1968 Polo menswear launches.1971 Tailored women’s shirts launches, including Polo player logo.1978 Fragrance launches. Westernwear launches, starring Ralph in its ad campaign.1981 New Bond Street store opens – the first outside the US. First multipage magazine advertising.1993 Polo Sport and RRL casual menswear launch. 1997 Polo Ralph Lauren becomes publicly traded company on the NYSE.2000 Ralph Lauren launches the Pink Pony campaign, becoming the symbol of the company’s cancer

initiative. 2003 Ralph Lauren launches first store in Italy.2004 The Rugby brand launches.2006 Ralph Lauren becomes official outfitter of Wimbledon tennis championships.2008 The brand becomes the official outfitter of US Olympic team. Mobile commerce launches and QR

codes appear on ads.2010 UK website becomes transactional. Share price $111.38 (£70.62) at time of going to press. The

Lauren family continues to control the business and has 84% of voting power of common stock.

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website transactional last month, selling via adistribution centre in Glasgow. David insiststhis is not to the detriment of its wholesalers.“When we opened our online site [in the US]many of the people in our own retail storesthought that if people shopped online theywouldn’t get commission in the stores.

“But our best customer is our cross-channelcustomer. The internet has helped ussignificantly grow our business, online andoffline,” he says.

MerchantainmentDavid has had a central role in the developmentof the websites, which he says are about“merchantainment”, selling a lifestyle viaeditorial pieces and video next to clothes.Features have included a live tennis clinic withBoris Becker and Venus Williams and onlinechildren’s books telling stories from whichgarments can be bought. It previously ran theeditorial elements – including Ralph Lauren TV– with US network NBC, but in 2008 it bought itout completely, allowing for more control.

Tracking behaviour online and combining thiswith knowing the areas in which people live has helped the business cross-sell its brands,adds David. “We can see that if a person buysBlue Label, they might have a propensity forBlack Label. We constantly monitor thedatabase and use it to help not just our businessbut also our customers.”

He says that as the business has a variety ofbrands at various price points, a wide spectrumof people are attracted to the website. “Theprice of our products do range, but they do tendto be more luxury products. Because of that, weare finding that other companies are interestedin finding out who our customer is and how theycan reach them,” David says. Those othercompanies include Mercedes-Benz, whichadvertises on the website.

Having a total of 20 brands, includingsportswear label RLX and the preppy Blue Labelfor women, means the business can encouragepeople to shop for different needs.

But David brushes off the suggestion thatthere are too many brands. “The brand is clear,the mission is focused, the advertising is secondto none. We find the best media positions andcreate images that are romantic, stylish andtimeless. Every brand has different identities andwe reinvent ourselves all the time in new ways.It all falls under the Ralph Lauren sensibility andumbrella, but it is limitless,” he claims.

David, like the aspirational lifestyle his brandprojects, is also a dreamer. “The company hasgrown quickly and into markets we could barelyimagine ten years ago. Every year we take onthese new projects and countries and challengesand that’s bigger than we can imagine.” �

profile david lauren

THE FIGURES Luxury brands and groups

Turnover (m) Pre-tax profit (m)

Burberry £1,280 £166

Christian Dior (owns 42% of LVMH’s shares) €17,745 (£15,027) €1,902 (£1,595)

Estée Lauder (brands include Clinique, Bobbi Brown and Aveda) $7,796 (£4,937) $688 (£436)

Giorgio Armani €2,228 (£1,878) €145 (£122)

Hermès €1,914 (£1,614) €450 (£379)

L’Oréal luxury division (brands include Lancôme, Shu Uemura and Cacharel) €4,080 (£3,440) €617 (£517)*

LVMH (brands include Louis Vuitton, Moët Hennessy, Marc Jacobs, Thomas Pink) €17,053 (£14,377) €1,973 (£1,655)

Richemont (brands include Cartier, Montblanc and Net-A-Porter) €5,179 (£4,366) €697 (£588)

Phillips-Van Heusen (brands include Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein) $2,399 (£1,520) €212 (£178)

Polo Ralph Lauren $4,979 (£3,154) $689 (£436)

Prada €1,561 (£1,316) Not reported

PPR (brands include Gucci, YSL and Alexander McQueen) €16,525 (£13,932) €455 (£384)

Valentino €2,075 (£1,749) Not reported

* Operating profit. Pre-tax profit not available.Sources: Annual reports and Mintel luxury goods retailing report detailing the most recent reported annual results

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While other brandsare looking atspreadsheets andworrying about focusgroups, we havebuilt a company

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