If luxury were a piano, what would it sound like?

LUXURY REQUIRES A SPECIAL TOUCH Well...What do we have here?"If luxury were a piano, what would it sound like?" I need to elaborate a bit on that.

During my whole time at L'Oréal I was mainly responsible for the luxury department — brands such as...

Lancôme, Yves Saint Laurent,Giorgio Armani, Kiehl's and so on.

And L'Oréal has different divisions:luxury on one side,then mass market, the pharmaceutical sector,and the haircare area.

And I was often asked:"What's the difference between one sector and another?" And so I created this image. I told them that in the luxury area, it's all about brand building.

The most important thing for a luxury brand is its image.

It takes years to build a brand's image.But I can also destroy it in a few months.

Tomorrow I could decide to launch a big advertising campaign where, for the price of one, you get two items.

Sales would skyrocket,but the damage to the image would be awful.

So it's always about finding that balance between achieving results and, at the same time, continuing to build the brand's image.

That is, through certain activities, careful presentation,and details that must be simply perfect.

Whether in the product's presentation or in the service offered.

Otherwise, a premium price wouldn't be justifiable.

Hence the image of the piano.I say that in the world of luxury,one plays a piano with many keys,because many keys mean many aspects I can move and influence to build and improve that brand's image.

How do you think business style, leadership,and also team culture are reflected in the product — or vice versa?

That is, in the luxury sector,do you see a different kind of team cohesion,of how decisions are taken and how people interact,compared to the mass market?

I think perhaps there's a bit more creativity.And also the team composition, I think, is often even more diverse.

Because there are more facets involved in building a brand with such a strong image component.

That's why it's even more important that the team's composition reflects that diversity of perspectives.

I think the grey area is much larger.Very few decisions are simply black or white.

And people must be able to navigate,work,and make decisions within that grey area.

Some people struggle with that.As I've said, no judgement.

But this is an important component and you also have to enjoy it.

Always with that lingering doubt:"Is this right? How does it look?" Because even with the best market studies in the world,you can't predict the success of a perfume.

It's many small details that have to come together for it to succeed.

What parallels do you see between the long-term building of a brand and the development of a team?

I think, especially in the luxury sector,it makes sense...

...to build a team that can work together over a long period of time,because luxury is a slow process that requires time.

And that's why it's equally important that this is reflected within the team.

I've always placed great importance on this and said that employees' careers must be built for the long term and step by step.

I've also seen many people develop extremely quickly.

But the fall was even more painful.And in the end,there are also those people, especially brand managers who've looked after a brand for years,and that creates a symbiosis and a quality of work which later shows in the results.

And I also think that sometimes the greater challenge is to stay longer in the same role and constantly reinvent oneself,to learn from mistakes or wrong decisions,correct them and grow,rather than changing jobs too quickly again and again.