Continuing our LinkedIn Q&A series for 2024, we sit down with Mondottica’s Global Sunglass Director, Ettore Pisano to review Mondottica Group’s annual global showcase in Barcelona.
Could you tell us more about Mondottica Group’s annual showcase in Barcelona?
The main goal for us in Barcelona is to spend quality and productive time with our global partners. It is predominantly a sunglass launch, a preview of the year to come, but, because optical is such a huge business for us, we make sure we also cater to the optical customers we see there.
Why Barcelona?
Barcelona is like Mondottica’s second home. This was our 12th event there. It is a great city, very cosmopolitan and has an international airport, making it easy to reach. We have an office in Barcelona which we use for our Iberia operations. This city has so much to offer and each year we enjoy treating our customers to exciting activities, tasty dinners and of course, parties!
Who were the visitors and which territories did they come from?
We had visitors from every continent and were blessed with a few firsts. It was nice to see our loyal and repeat customers as well as introducing new customers to our event. We had visitors from North America, South America, Asia, Middle East, Europe and North Africa. There were record breaking numbers from the UK, not just from the optical industry, but travel retail and fashion.
It is a great event and people want to be part of it. We judge the event not based on physical orders, but on the potential growth of relationships, marketing tools and B2B collaborations that we can discuss and fully understand. It is a focus on building relationships with our partners and customers, understanding how we can assist each other and discovering what is happening in their businesses.
What did you reveal product wise?
We were delighted to launched Reebok and it was the first time product was available for customers to order. Another new brand partner, Florence by Mills, was launching with key partners globally. These were our newcomers to the event.
AllSaints and Vivienne Westwood are still very much new brands for us when you consider the longstanding relationships, we have with brands such as Ted Baker at 21 years and Pepe Jeans London at 19 years, who are still a huge focus for us.
What was the customer feedback/reaction to the latest collections?
Everybody is very excited about Florence by Mills and working with Millie Bobby Brown. It is the first time we have explored working with talent and this is a new area for us, not just in terms of the demographic we are trying to reach, but with an influential figure who puts in the mix with some of our other competitors who are also working with people at this level.
Mondottica has a unique USP in the marketplace and offering in the optical and SUN world. The talent must fit into the DNA of Mondottica and align with the global brands we are investing them to be part of.
How successful was the event overall?
It was highly successful. We had over 100 individuals from over 60 companies. For the first time, we sent out a customer survey and the response was exceptional. We had very good feedback in terms of how they felt about the show, how welcoming it was and how productive it was for attendees.
From a business point of view, we have exciting opportunities to be developed further over the next few months, launching brands with new partners in new territories.
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