What Konia Khanna teaches about B2B marketing

Everyone has some experience even if they are not a Swarovski consumer they have some experience of what we call love at first light. So India and its consumers are very unique in terms of their tastes. So how is Swarovski making the most of this opportunity? I think for Swarovski that's a wonderful opportunity because Swarovski is pretty much like a paint. So when I talk about the B2B part of Swarovski we provide crystals which can be used across jewellery, textiles, garments, shoes, chandeliers.

So your own imagination is actually the only thing that can limit you. So whether it's buying a product from one of our stores or if you are a brand owner or a manufacturer using the Swarovski crystals as per your own inspiration. It's very very versatile and you can think of it really as a paint where you can actually make the painting as beautiful as you like. So for us variety, diversity is actually quite a strong thing and we really vibe with that.

So the product category you are in mainly targets women. So do you think it's a stereotype that men don't use such products? I think of course the brand is very much centred around women and there's a lot more women consumers because of the sheer product we build. But when we talk about interiors or we talk about categories like you know growing categories like men's accessories, there is also usage of Swarovski crystals. So when we talk about a chandelier installation or if it's like a piece of furniture with Swarovski crystal,

the men are definitely quite involved. And then there's the growing category of men's accessories where men today are looking at accessorization, whether it's some amount of sparkle on their clothes or it's like wearing a wristband or it's like wearing a brooch for a wedding. So those categories are small but growing. So you know the festive season is right around the corner. So what's your marketing plan for the same?

So when I talk about again the B2B business, we work with a lot of leading brands and designer brands who have made very interesting collections using Swarovski crystals. And you know they have shown the versatility of the product through their creations and we'll be launching those across the bridal season. So this is very important especially for our couture customers. And when we talk about Swarovski's own collections, then they are products in our stores which you know kind of appeal to the Diwali kind of vibe with the tea lights and stuff like that.

But there's also the designer jewelry collective called Confluence where the traditional season or the festive season is very important for us. And we have a host of 18 designers who are making different jewelry designs that you know all our consuming family would love to enjoy. So yes, it's exciting and we have lots of things for lots of people. Right. So you know your brand is synonymous with luxury. So what has your overall marketing strategy been?

Always been about inclusive luxury. So we don't, so our message is we are definitely premium brand, a modern luxe brand. But we are a very inclusive luxury brand. So whilst we work with you know we work with players who believe in good quality, a high end product. So we could be on a t-shirt or a pair of denims that has like a few stones or you know a small slogan or a small logo made out of crystals. Or we could be on a couture garment which is maybe for one of the Met Galas or you know a creation by Tarun Talyani for one of the Indian brides.

So the usage is diverse. Where does digital fit into all of this and what role does content play? So I think for any brand digital today is of course very important and all the statistics shows that you know spends are increasing more and more in digital because they can reach so many. So by such variety of ways you can reach your target audience. You can communicate your brand story. Personally I see this more as a tool. It's like I mean it's a canvas that you play with and it's how you use it.

So you still need to be very authentic to your core. Staying true to the core and then using the digital medium as more your canvas to convey is I think what's important. Rather than saying that okay I need to change because something like digital is there right. I mean you're still it's still the core. You're still telling your brand story. You just have a new way to say it. I mean there was a way when you said it only with pictures and then came video.

And you spoke and you could emote and you could do a variety of things and now that digital gives us such quick access to take our stories and share stories. I think that's wonderful because Swarovski as a brand is all about sharing stories and out of personal stories and everyone has some experience even if they're not a Swarovski consumer they have some experience of what we call as a love at first light when they saw a Swarovski crystal right.

And that could be a creative person or it could be someone who's in a statistics field or it could be an accounts person. But there's always this spark that comes when you know you just show a crystal to a person and you know just that pure emotion that comes out. So I think being true to that core whatever be the medium whether you're taking a picture of it in communicating or you're communicating through digital. I think it's only a way to tell the story.