Working with Re_Set enabled the European arm of Michael Kors to co-create a customer-centric purpose and appeal to future generations of shoppers
For luxury brands to succeed in the future, they need to connect their actions to their purpose more clearly. That’s according to a recent poll by Re_Set, in which 80 per cent of people said purpose was the most important focus area for brands – beating heritage, product line and ambassadors.
With this in mind, Re_Set was delighted to work with Michael Kors EMEA on creating a customer-centric purpose, bringing the company’s executive team on the journey as it was rolled out across the 3,000-person European operation.
“Re_Set is the next generation in consulting and advisory. Its work is outstanding, and the teams embody the Re_Set mantra: ‘excellence at pace’. Every CEO should meet them!”
Cedric Willmotte, President, Michael Kors Europe
The challenge
Michael Kors is one of the dominant players in the ‘affordable luxury’ market, with 400 stores in 89 countries. However, like many retailers in the last few years, it recently found itself facing a difficult sales climate in Europe – as well as asking itself how best to appeal to its growing number of Millennial and Gen-Z customers.
The President of Michael Kors Europe recognised the opportunity to embed a purpose-led and innovative customer proposition, and in turn to enable the brand’s relevance well into the future.
This is where Re_Set came in. We were asked to design the brand’s purpose and roll it out to the organisation’s top 50 leaders.
What we did
We worked in collaboration with leaders at Michael Kors Europe over eight months.
The first phase of work saw us delve into understanding Michael Kors’ unique culture and context, as well as deep diving into the megatrends affecting the industry, and conducting competitor analysis. Our research combined Re_Set’s expertise in retail and fashion with data from our innovation intelligence hub, Springwise.
Next we moved to the co-creation phase of the project – bringing the executive team together for a Re_Set ‘Intervention’ session, followed by monthly co-creation days to design the new purpose.
The initial engagement event featured James Bidwell delivering a burning platform keynote speech for the top 50 Michael Kors EMEA leaders. This was designed to inspire and enable the team to build the purpose blueprint together. The workshop series that followed provided further inspiration for the pillars that would ultimately support the brand’s customer-centric purpose.
During the third phase of work, we iterated the four pillars in the context of the purpose. It was crucial to ensure that this was practical and actionable for the entire organisation. We worked with The Alexander Partnership’s coaching team to help leaders connect their own roles and performance to the purpose.
Finally, we launched the purpose to the organisation’s top 50 leaders. We did this through a range of touchpoints including interactive digital roadshows, inspiration from Springwise innovations, podcasts, employee stories and workshops, to bring the purpose to life.
“The Michael Kors EMEA purpose project was a delight to work on – a focussed client, a fantastic brand and the opportunity to make a real difference for customers and team members”
James Bidwell, Chairman, Re_Set
The impact
Re_Set was proud to deliver a relevant customer-centric purpose for Michael Kors EMEA. Especially as this was rolled-out during an already challenging time as the pandemic hit, when purpose was more critical than ever. All the executives were aligned on the vision and owned the new purpose – as they had all worked on defining it. Re_Set received a 9.2/10 Net Promoter Score from the executive team.
“The Michael Kors EMEA purpose project was a delight to work on – a focussed client, a fantastic brand and the opportunity to make a real difference for customers and team members,” says James Bidwell, Chairman, Re_Set. “Together, we came up with, launched and embedded a compelling new purpose for the brand in Europe which has delivered against all objectives.”
As a result of this work, Michael Kors EMEA is now fit for the future – understanding and communicating its purpose to appeal to a new generation of customers.
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