The King Of Kering On Matching The Competition

Cartier, LVMH and now Kering – Albert Bensoussan has been a stalwart since the Eighties and, as he told Suzy Menkes in the first of this afternoon's Condé Nast conference sessions, what the industry currently needs is to adapt.

"The watch and jewellery sector has confronted many challenges," Bensoussan explained. "We are facing rival newcomers, and luxury consumers have become more savvy and sophisticated – using multiple ways of communication to access brand information. As much as we are improving our online presence, we are always behind the best-in-class in these cases."

But it's not just the competition and consumer trends that pose an obstacle, Bensoussan also referred to external factors that are at force.

"Currency fluctuations play a huge role in the success of brands in this sector," he explained. "We cannot manage hard fluctuations overnight."

As to new areas of growth, Bensoussan outlined some of the obstacles to reaching them.

"The import taxes to bring watches and jewellery to some sectors is horrendous – sometimes over the 60 per cent mark," he said. "To be able to support a local market you need infrastructure – department stores, high streets and so on – and that doesn't exist in a lot of emerging markets."

So how does he think Kering, and the fine-jewellery industry in general, will fare against the much-lauded Apple Watch?

"I am very much interested in the fact that the Apple device is worn on the wrist," he said. "It looks like a watch, it almost smells like a watch because of the rubber, and I hope it tastes like a watch!"

"Two creative people that are so involved in shaping the future coming back to the same values is an excellent thing," he continued, referring to Jony Ive and Marc Newson's collaboration on Apple's latest device. "I question its longevity, but I'm happy to have the focus back on the wrist."

Bensoussan then shared his vision for the industry's future growth.

"In order to adapt we need to be more coherent," he said. "We need to push our brands towards a 360-degree approach for engaging the customer.

"We need to try to explain to consumers why we have these pricing differences and what we can do to offset them," he continued. "We must enforce the heritage values and uniqueness of our brands, and create a bespoke approach to enhance user experience."