We had the honour of listening to the General Manager of Montblanc, Monsieur Gerondeau.
“Montblanc, synonymous with exquisite writing culture for the past 100 years, follows lasting values such as quality and traditional craftsmanship. Its uncompromising demands on shape, style, materials and workmanship are reflected in all its products.”
Montblanc is part of the Richmont group alongside Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chloé, and Baume et Mercier.
The Brand:
Montblanc is the 3rd well-known brand in the world and the words achievements, graduation, tradition come instantly up in our mind.
Montblanc products have an emotional attachment to the buyer and the one who is going to receive it as a present. Moreover, the price ranges are high but affordable, which increases its strong reputation around the world.
Montblanc vision is the being the leaser for luxury accessories for men.
- Classy
- Elegant
- Quality
But up to date!
Montblanc started being a writing instrument specialist, transformed into a Maison of Luxury Business Lifestyle and now is a Maison of an Inspiring Lifestyle.
The Makeover
Moreover, Montblanc boutique underwent a makeover regarding its new concept “Neo”, described as a striking a balance between contemporary design and classic elegance. The new boutique offers customers a multi-sensory experience, inviting them on a journey of discovery into the heart of the Montblanc universe.
This makeover was the evolution for the brand in the minds of the clients.
The Digital Strategy
The brand has undergone development to focus on reaching out to the Millennials market by changing the view of the brand through advertising and social media appearance. Montblanc started using influencers, which turned out to work extremely well.
The Watches:
Montblanc wants to leave the classic watch image and transform into a contemporary lifestyle watch. The price is the most significant for Montblanc and their strategy is to have the quality of a Swiss made watch but gain the competitive gap in terms of price positioning. Price for watches cannot be too high: around 5000€. However, Montblanc watches also got a name for their limited-edition collections where a piece can cost 28k but only 100 pieces being produced.
Moreover, Montblanc created a huge community of collectors for limited editions and is also significant for their writing industry. They already had the right segment and clientele and therefore it is working out certainly well.
The Historic milestones:
Their first model was the Rouge et Noir in 1909 followed in 1910 by the pen that was later to give the company its new name, Montblanc. In 1924 the legendary Meisterstück (iconic piece) was created, which has its uniqueness due to its unlimited life expectancy in your personal assortment. Even if you received one 30 years ago, it will stay with you forever. Today, the Montblanc brand is on other goods besides pens, including watches, jewellery, fragrances, leather goods and eyewear.
Difficulties for Montblanc came along when they extended the brand into the jewellery industries, as in the consumer’s mind the price range of the products had to be in the 500€ range.
Montblanc focuses on setting the manufacturer in the origin of every product:
- Pens- Germans
- Leather- Italy
- Watches- Swiss
The Numbers:
Montblanc owns 280 own boutiques, 520 boutiques, in 120 countries.
The turnover rate is more than 1 billion and they have 4000 points of sales.
Theresa Seitz
