I am always passionate about a founder's story and their brand story. It's usually naturally intermingled and I find it uniquely fascinating, discovering the growth path of going 0 to 100, in less than 10 years, with no initial funding, no industry experience and doing that, in an environment known for being "fashionably difficult" . This is to me the story of Sézane, the Parisian DTC brand taking the world by storm.
I won't be covering chronologically their story as one can find that all over the web. What I find pretty much unique in their growth journey is their "recipe" - a clever mix of basic ingredients (product, price, promotion) used in an original, twisted, market-oriented yet counterintuitive way. Here are my 10 learnings from Sézane (for DTC as well as established brands).
1. Customers know better
When Sézane's founder, Morgan Sézalery, back in the mid 2000s, was working on her initial idea of a vintage pieces' range on Ebay (that later evolved into Sézane), no one really understood and believed in what she was doing. Not even her family, that according to her was "very worried". Needless to say, press & media coverage was not easy to get. Yet her most important channel became the word-of-mouth. Her enthusiastic and engaged early-days Parisian customers were naturally becoming the brand's ambassadors and building the initial brand community (this is how we rationalize it today, yet that happened naturally).
In the DTC world, customers do know better, and one needs to listen, actively listen to the market and what is your customer telling you, and adapt. This is perhaps the very core of what DTC is about - customer relationship and insights. And as a founder, or innovator in an existing business, it's not about the environment's recognition in the beginning (although it does help, of course!), It's rather about the customers' recognition. And when you get that right, everyone else will follow.
2. Price is King
Being a DTC brand allows for the integration of the distribution margins, which means that a brand can come out with a much more attractive price point, with respect to it peers that rely on wholesale partners. Sézane's Luisa to Mae dresses range from €120 to €170 with a core price averaging somewhere around €150, which is higher than hight-street yet lower than where "premium" contemporary brands operate. By going DTC and focusing on a rather unserved price category, Sézane has managed to attract the consumers, rather then engaging in a fight for them. DTC is often about a Blue Ocean shift.
3. Product is Everything
In the "attention economy" we are living in, we are all used to be sold on new products pretty much 24/7. What Sézane understood pretty early was that novelty was crucial, so straight from the start - they adopted a once a month drops collection strategy, that got their products sold out in a matter of minutes.
Scarcity creates desire. Still as of today, Sézane keeps on alimenting desire by "dropping" monthly selections, sending a subtle message of "now or never". That's another advantage of being or becoming DTC: you own your own rhythm and you move at your own pace.
4. Aesthetics matter
What Sézane did differently is also presenting its products taking beautiful, styled pictures. Already back the Ebay days, the page felt like a curated story rather then a product grid. Today, every single piece is presented worn by a model, in a beautifully-styled setting, as part of a story. It might be a beautiful south of France vacation spot, the Italian Riviera, a cosy Parisian flat or just a street corner with a classic French bistrot in the background. No matter the setting, it creates immediate associations between the product and the experience. I would argue on an emotional level, it's that promise of the experience that the customer buys for herself.
Studies show that feelings, not analytic thinking, drive an estimated 85% of buying decisions. As Pauline Brown puts it down in Aesthetics Intelligence:" Sight is the dominant sense in the post-industrial era.. As long as the product or service works, there is long-term value for companies that figure out how to stimulate the sense and arouse associative or emotional connections". Aesthetics do matter.
5. Follow your instincts & challenge the rules
DTC allows one to be in charge of the distribution, the marketing efforts as well as the product strategy, as stated above. Now, when you have all this freedom in building it on your own terms, how do you know what is the right path to be taken? The answer is you don't know.
Of course, one needs to be prepared, gather all the available information and knowledge, surround oneself with experts, when available. Call us from FLAME Strategy :) and have a second opinion. But then, you need to go with your own gut. Follow your instinct. I firmly believe the founder & owner (or CEO for that matter) is the only person in the world who can and should take responsibility for any final decision. And many times, as business owners we undervalue the power of our own intuition.
What the founder of Sézane did very well, is she followed her creative intuition as well as her business intuition. She had no former training in the business of fashion, yet she was clever, curious, determined and .. intuitive. And she was not afraid to go the alternative way and challenge the rules. It's so trendy to talk about innovation these days. Everyone want to innovate and be "innovative". But if you always play by the book, how is innovation suppose to happen ? :)
Sometimes not knowing the rules, leads to writing new ones. For those who do know them though, making an effort to think "out of the box" becomes necessary to survive, innovate and thrill as a business.
6. Digital is transformational
How do you build a global DTC brand without going digital ? The answer is you don't. Someone could argue you could, but it would take decades, huge amounts of investments and the risk is by the time your would reach certain markets or customers, your product would be "out-of-date".
Moreover, why would you? The case of Sézane teaches that everything is possible and digital makes a lot of thing possible. From creating a page on Ebay to creating the first European DTC brand going from 0 to 100 in less than 10 years, with a fully integrated supply chain, end-to-end, all of that, thanks to the fact that one had a direct contact with the customer provided by the online, now how transformational is that ?
Of course, from those early days, digital has evolved into much more than just online & e-commerce and it's worth taking the effort in learning and understanding it more. However, I believe one size does not fit all. For a DTC brand born as such, it might be easier to navigate the never-stopping digital advancements. But how does a big, established brand adapt ? What can big brands learn from DTC ? And how can one become a bit more DTC, while balancing across all the distribution and communication channels ? There is no one simple answer, but there is a lot a big brand can do, by leveraging its systems, economic muscle and teams.
7. Create a “Raving fans” culture
During my last trip to Paris, I took the chance to visit a Sézane store. Or better, an Appartement. That's how they call it and that's how it actually feels. There is nothing that feels like a regular store apart from the products on display. One would usually expect such a curated environment more from a luxury store. Yet what Sézane understood very well is the value of a real, engaging, and immersive customer experience.
I arrived at 10:55am (they open at 11:00 am) and there was already a queue outside. It was a workday, a Thursday. Now how would you call these women other than "raving fans" ? :) I mean, I became one myself, and I'm an industry chick :) always analyzing... more into my head than into my heart :) but they got me. Their appartement experience was just irresistible )))
Now what if big established brands would pay attention ? Back into my corporate days, I got to travel around the globe to open new retail concepts and they were always very.. conceptual, filled with technology and art, which is amazing! But few of them felt like a home space, where you would not just explore, but want to stay and spend some time in. I firmly believe there are a lot of learnings in the way DTC brands build their offline experiences (armed with deep customer knowledge). Applying that knowledge to existing flagships could really enhance the modern retail experience and uplift an offline's store raison d'être.
8. Find the “right partner/s”
When you start something on your own, or get to run something on your own, you are the ultimate decision-maker, for better or for worse. It can be an incredibly fulfilling as well as a lonely journey. Having a partner or a team that challenges you to grow, as well as holds your back in difficult times is truly priceless. I would argue that at a certain point, as genius as one might be in business, to take the business to that next level, a partner, let it be your spouse, your business partner, your support system, your team, let alone your mentor or coach is necessary to unleash that next step.
Legends says, Morgan Sézalory's early business partner and now husband has challenged and pushed her to go from vintage reseller to creating her own collections by threatening he ain't gonna come back from a vacation unless she goes for it, all in.
In being the ultimate-decision-maker, and caring a huge amount of responsibility, there is a threat in starting to play small, and opt for certainty rather then calculated risk-taking and growth. I would dare to say, that as business owners (no matter the business) we all need sometimes someone who believes in us truly, and is there to support us in taking chances on ourselves.
In going from reseller to creator- Sézalory went from business operator to business owner - a shift in the mindset as well as a shift in how one runs the business. That's when Sézane actually entered the exponential growth phase.
9. Step into your power and Play Big
Now, how do you manage growth ? And how do you become and stay profitable while growing? This is one of the biggest challenges in the tech world and it is so in the consumer DTC as well.
For Sézane, as in the case of many DTC brands, as Reformation, Cuyana, Allbirds - the scale up implies offline retail development. And here is where VC or PE come into play. General Atlantic is said to own a minority stake in Sézane and I’m sure they are courted by many.
Scaling up, reaching a global audience, growing the retail network, telling a compelling story, all that requires investments and know-how. Teaming up with the right equity partner can save you decades, yet it comes with a cost: growing as an entrepreneur and a leader, being open to share responsibilities and some decision-making for your company to join the higher league and play big.
10. Grow and Give
Finally, one very personal note. Business and social impact is such a major topic that I ain’t gonna cover it here. It’s also a slippery topic. What I would like to invite you to reflect on though, is a question I often discuss with my clients: why do you want to grow?
I also want to leave you with this quote, where I found the most important word to be committed.
“2019 will see this company become more engagée (committed) than ever before. Committed to becoming the responsible and sustainable brand it set out to be – a brand that places action over words, substance over form. With our impact on the planet and people guiding our choices, without misinformation, exaggeration or pretence.” Morgane Sézalory (Founder of Sézane).
Their endowment fund DEMAIN has raised €1mil. in 2019 to support initiatives in “education, culture, and equal opportunities for children all around the world”.
At FLAME Strategy we always say and strongly believe companies are the new communities and customers become advocates for brands that stand for something bigger.
As an entrepreneur myself, I invite you to settle for more. Dream big, grow, achieve, and stand for something bigger.