Tod?s to launch its latest campaign in Beijing this year, underscoring China?s market clout
FOR THE first time since Tod?s debuted its initial line of signature driving shoes in the late ?70s, the Milan-based Italian luxury leather goods brand will launch its latest marketing campaign in an Asian capital?Beijing?in October this year.

This development will follow in the heels of the global launch in Milan, said Mauro Malta, general manager of Tod?s Group in Asia-Pacific (except Japan and the Middle East). It?s a departure from previous launches outside Italy, which were mostly held either in Tokyo or in New York.

?We will also do a launch in Japan, but this time, China will come first,? he said.

Inspired by La Scala, the iconic opera theater in Milan, the multimedia campaign centers around a video, which underscores and tries to weave the craftsmanship and attention to detail involved in the making of every Tod?s product with that of the painstaking and creative work that goes behind every La Scala production.

?Tod?s decision to do the initial launch in Beijing after Milan is our way of acknowledging how big and important the Asian market, particularly China, has become,? said Malta. ?Asia-Pacific is unique because everything spins around the region. The pace of its economy has become so fast that everything can change within a short period of time.?

But, at the same time, Malta echoed Tod?s philosophy of not relying heavily on any single market to propel its growth. In today?s global order, with competition more fierce than ever, luxury brands that depend on a handful of markets are doing so at their own peril.

?We have to be consistent and properly represented all over Asia,? he said. ?Apart from quality products, nice, strategically located stores and strong local partners who can support and implement our strategies are key to Tod?s success.?

RP market

Hong Kong-based Malta recently came to Manila to check on the Philippine market and strengthen ties with Stores Specialist, Inc. (SSI), exclusive distributor of Tod?s shoes, bags and accessories in the Philippines.

Tod?s has close to 80 stores in Asia, including its Manila flagship store in Greenbelt 4. A number of styles from its current fall-winter collection are also sold at Rustan?s Tower, Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

Featured pieces include new colors and materials of Tod?s classic D and G bags as well as new versions of comfortable and stylish ballerina flats for women and winter Gomminos for men.

?We?ll always be true to our origins, but we would always try to listen to and factor in influences from our various markets, including Asia,? said Malta.

?I believe we?ve already satisfied one of the market?s most important needs, which is the need to be flexible. People these days travel a lot and are involved in a great deal of activities. We try to make sure that our products are really comfortable, beautiful and cross-functional.?

Malta also shared one telling tidbit that bolsters Asia?s lingering addiction to designer bags. While the demand ratio for Tod?s shoes and bags is 70:30 (in favor of shoes) for established markets like Europe and North America, in Asia it?s 50:50.

?I think it can be attributed to the fact that we?ve had a longer history in Europe selling shoes,? he said. ?In Asia, we started making our presence felt much later when we?re already offering both shoes and bags.?

Ironically, a great deal of Tod?s expansion in Asia happened during the height of Great Recession in 2008. The number of stores, said Malta, could have been bigger if not for the fact that Tod?s is very cautious when it comes to expansion.

Like almost all high-end brands, anything less than a ?premium? location won?t do for Tod?s. In China, it has even taken a more hands-on approach by managing DOSs or, as Malta defined them, directly-owned stores.

?Since we?re a publicly listed company (apart from Tod?s, the group includes such brands as Hogan, Fay and Roger Vivier), I?m afraid I can?t share with you exact figures,? he added. ?But I?m confident about our future in the Philippines. It?s not yet a very big market, but I believe there?s plenty of room for improvement through stronger marketing activities.?

Chic goods

Instead of trends, he preferred to discuss business and underscore the company?s philosophy of producing chic, ?cross-functional? and handcrafted leather goods prized by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Sarah Jessica Parker, Uma Thurman, Drew Barrymore, Cate Blanchet, Brad Pitt and the late Princess Diana.

Tod?s products, including those stylish and comfortable moccasins with the iconic Gommino soles (a.k.a. those trademark 133 rubber ?pebbles? on each sole), are mostly designed and produced by hand in Italy by seasoned Italian artisans and craftsmen using the finest materials--from the most supple leather to the sturdiest hardware?sourced the world over.

The brand, through Tod?s Group president and CEO Diego Della Valle, a US-educated lawyer belonging to a family of Italian shoemakers, first introduced a line of high-end shoes steeped in the finest Italian tradition, but imbued with American marketing savvy (including its very waspy name) sometime in the ?70s.

?Tod?s creative director is designer Derek Lam,? said Malta. ?He?s based in New York, but works closely with Tod?s creative team in Italy. He?s an American, but traces his roots in Asia. Even now, we really love to mix things up at Tod?s.?

Tod?s later expanded its product line by adding women?s bags sometime in the late ?90s. (It introduced men?s bags fairly recently.) One of its earliest fans was Princess Diana, who was photographed by the paparazzi not long before her death toting around a relatively unknown bag, which the entire world would later come to know as Tod?s D bag.

?The D bag has been updated to look like what it is today,? said Malta. ?But it has remained stylish and functional.?

In many ways, the D bag echoes what Tod?s is all about: clean, classic, modern, stylish but never too trendy or fashionable. It?s never about branding and bling, said Malta. Those in search of the so-called ?it? bag are better off looking elsewhere.