The challenge of Dunhill is interesting. The audience is relatively conservative. Some disliked Mark Weston’s version of the brand, which was inherently more playful and twisting with the brand codes. (I liked it). Mark and the team were starting to play around a bit more with some different ideas in content, too. Since Simon came on board, there’s undoubtedly been a clear product reset, and I think they’re slowly but surely building out to something more dynamic. Alfred Dunhill himself was very much a cad and someone with a boundless personality that acts as a great jumping-off point for more story-led content. I would expect to see some more of that. A final point: Becuase it's relatively small relative to the rest of the Richemont portfolio, it never had to scale in the same way a Burberry (or Mulberry) has had to. I think that gives it both breathing room and a lack of urgency.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, James. We enjoy reading your thoughts on LinkedIn and your writing on here. If there's more story-led content to come from Dunhill, we'd be excited to see it. And we agree the brand doesn't need to set global domination in its sights – it's for a niche luxury consumer, for sure. The brand does feel flat, at present, though. And there's a 'foppishness' to Dunhill's product styling that feels a little too 'Brideshead Revisited' for its own good – particularly with a conservative consumer in mind. We think the brand needs to sharpen its edges and tell some stories – Dunhill (the man) as a maverick figure in fashion history, could certainly be an interesting jumping off point.
The challenge of Dunhill is interesting. The audience is relatively conservative. Some disliked Mark Weston’s version of the brand, which was inherently more playful and twisting with the brand codes. (I liked it). Mark and the team were starting to play around a bit more with some different ideas in content, too. Since Simon came on board, there’s undoubtedly been a clear product reset, and I think they’re slowly but surely building out to something more dynamic. Alfred Dunhill himself was very much a cad and someone with a boundless personality that acts as a great jumping-off point for more story-led content. I would expect to see some more of that. A final point: Becuase it's relatively small relative to the rest of the Richemont portfolio, it never had to scale in the same way a Burberry (or Mulberry) has had to. I think that gives it both breathing room and a lack of urgency.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, James. We enjoy reading your thoughts on LinkedIn and your writing on here. If there's more story-led content to come from Dunhill, we'd be excited to see it. And we agree the brand doesn't need to set global domination in its sights – it's for a niche luxury consumer, for sure. The brand does feel flat, at present, though. And there's a 'foppishness' to Dunhill's product styling that feels a little too 'Brideshead Revisited' for its own good – particularly with a conservative consumer in mind. We think the brand needs to sharpen its edges and tell some stories – Dunhill (the man) as a maverick figure in fashion history, could certainly be an interesting jumping off point.
Great read. Would love to see Dunhill make a comeback! Possibly counterintuitive but feels like they need that older gent ambassador..