Rimowa Gets Connected... But Leaves All Upside on the Table
I've taken the liberty of imagining everything Rimowa could be doing with newly-Connected products.
Rimowa, the iconic luggage brand responsible for the aluminum cases you see every chic girl toting in the airport is, get this — Connected. If you still don’t know what that word means, welcome to my Substack (and you can find out here).
The tl;dr is that it was recently announced all Rimowa products purchased from January 1st, 2023 onwards boast NFC chips tied to on-chain Digital Product Passports created in partnership with the Aura Blockchain Consortium. Yes, you read that correctly. If you purchased a Rimowa in the last year and didn’t know it was Connected, well… Join the club. Rimowa says owners can “easily scan this chip to access their on-chain ‘Certificate of Ownership’.”
This is a boon for the space, to be sure. Rimowa is leading by example — setting what is sure to become a precedent in the fashion and beauty industries. They have taken the leap, overcome the Innovator’s Dilemma, absorbed upfront implementation costs — all for which I applaud them! — and yet… Are leaving so much potential upside on the table.
Charlie Munger said it best — show me the incentives, and I’ll show you the outcomes. It’s little wonder that consumers (myself included) are not taking advantage of this tech when what awaits is, yawn, an ownership certificate and lifetime guarantee.
We can imagine a world in which Rimowa incentivizes their customers to get out and explore the world with their travel accessories in tow. Yet, none of this potential is currently being explored — so I have taken the liberty of doing so for them.
This is what a Connected Rimowa world could look like:
Hosting Higher-Leverage IRL Activations: Rimowa Invites You to Caffè Rimowa in Milan
Rimowa recently partnered with La Marzocco to launch a supremely elegant aluminum espresso machine that I might trade my yet-unborn first child for, and opened the equally chic ephemeral Caffè Rimowa in Milan to celebrate.
In an unconnected world, Rimowa resorted to inviting anyone and everyone on Instagram — with no way to track attendees, their products, or whether they purchased an espresso machine.
In a Connected world, Rimowa would drop a Caffè Rimowa invite exclusively to product holders, incentivizing attendance with a Rimowa product with the promise of a complimentary espresso for those that ‘tap in’.
This Connected strategy is superior in that it:
Explicitly rewards loyal Rimowa customers (retention is more valuable than acquisition)
Boosts brand awareness by encouraging attendees to wear Rimowa products
Accurately tracks which customers attend (those that ‘tap in’!), thereby enabling targeted rewards and future marketing
In that vein, after the event Rimowa could drop all product-holders in attendance a special 10% discount on the La Marzocco machine they just experienced in-person, thereby driving further sales! Win-win.
Creating an Identity for Physical Goods: Rimowa Celebrates Their 125th Anniversary
In celebration of their 125th anniversary, Rimowa hosted the SEIT 1898 Exhibition in Tokyo, Shanghai, New York and Cologne, showcasing historical cases from notable clients like Takashi Murakami and Patti Smith.
Imagine if these iconic Rimowa pieces had been Connected all along. Murakami and Smith could have catalogued their travels, ‘tapping in’ to various hotels, restaurants and the like — thereby recording their itineraries over time. They could have linked travel photos to their products, collected physical and digital stickers, and ultimately created full identities for each piece.
For Smith readers, imagine if her adventures revisited in M Train could have been catalogued by the Rimowa that accompanied her from French Guiana to Iceland. Generally, just think of the stories, context and secrets these products would hold, accessible to every visitor at the exhibition — if they were Connected.
Expanding the Brand Universe: From City Guides to Vila Volman
Much like Toby Shorin explains in Life After Lifestyle (no, I will not stop quoting this piece), Rimowa understands that a successful brand must create and embody a culture — a brand universe. It is for this reason that Rimowa, embodying a culture of stylish globe-trotting and exploration, publishes city guides with recommendations for museums, restaurants, and more that align with their ethos of design and craftsmanship.
Rimowa might suggest visiting Portikus in Frankfurt, or Vila Volman in the Czech Republic, however they cannot track which customers actually made use of the guides, which recommendations resonated most, or which products those customers own. They thus miss out on re-targeting and rewarding these highly-engaged and valuable customers.
With Connected products, Rimowa could incentivize holders to wear their products on these adventures, ‘tapping in’ at the recommended locations (such as Vila Volman)— thereby confirming not only their attendance, but which products were brought along for the ride.
Rimowa could create highly-tailored rewards for these customers, such as a discount on a Vila Volman-inspired collection, or a digital Frankfurt sticker set. These rewards can incentivize further purchases, while also adding to the product identity layer we introduced above.
Higher-Fidelity Brand Collaborations: Travel the World With Rimowa
Rimowa, like all premium brands, benefits from strategic collaborations with complementary brands, enhancing their marketing reach. Imagine Rimowa partnering with The Leading Hotels of the World.
Rimowa could notify all product holders via the Tata App: whenever a Rimowa Holder checks into a Leading Hotel and ‘taps’ their Rimowa product at the front desk, they receive a complimentary massage (for example).
This reward would bolster loyalty to both Rimowa and LHW, incentivize travelers to bring their Rimowa products on their journeys, and foster an exciting partnership between the two brands.
Peer-to-Peer Commerce: Share and Discover the Rimowa World
A seasoned Rimowa traveler is well-acquainted with inquiries about their luggage from many an airport peer. Typically, this experience culminates in a quick mention of Rimowa (before rushing off to their gate), leaving the potential new customer in their midst — at best to search for the bag online later, and at worst with a foggy memory of (or not knowing how to spell) Rimowa.
In the best scenario, the consumer eventually purchases the bag online, but Rimowa lacks data on their journey—what incentivized the purchase or which marketing tactic worked. Consequently, they can't refine their strategies or reward the traveler who influenced the sale.
In a Connected world, this ambiguity is replaced with certainty. The potential customer would simply 'tap' the Rimowa, pulling up its digital twin on Tata Bazaar. They could then purchase the bag immediately or “save” it for a later purchase. Either way, the Rimowa traveler would receive a 5% revenue share for having influenced the buy in the first place. Rimowa would gain precise data on how new customers find them, allowing for optimized marketing tactics.
Connected Girl, Connected (Rimowa) World
With Connected products (and a little creativity), Rimowa can unlock an entirely new world of brand engagement and social commerce — incentivizing, tracking and rewarding consumers in fundamentally new and groundbreaking ways. They have already overcome the highest hurdle in having implemented the tech — now, they just need to know how to use it. That’s where Tata Bazaar comes in. Time to get Connected. :)
I get so excited when I see announcements like the one from Rimowa because I know you're going to think through the actual best application of the infrastructure. Brilliant!