Dexelance Managing Director- China to Lead High-End Design Market丨Multinationals on China
08:01
SFCCorrespondentLiYinonginShanghai
ItalianluxuryfurnituregroupDexelancecontinuestoenhanceitsinternationalinfluencewithastrategicinvestmentintheAsianmarket.Recently,thecompanycelebratedthegrandopeningofitsnewheadquarterandshowroominShanghai.AsoneofItaly’sleadingcompaniesinthefieldsofdesign,lighting,andhigh-endfurniture,Dexelance’snewspacereflectsaharmoniousblendofmodernChineselifestylesandthetimelesseleganceofItaliandesign.
InaninterviewwithSFCreporter,GiorgioGobbi,ManagingDirectorofDexelanceGroup,highlightedthatthecompany'sgoalinChinaisnotjustaboutintroducingItaliandesign;it’salsoaboutunderstandingandadaptingtolocalpreferencesandhabits.
AlthoughChinacurrentlyrepresentsasmallpercentageofDexelance’sglobalrevenue,Gobbiremainsconfidentaboutthemarket'spotential.HepointsoutChinaaccountsforjustunder4%oftheirsalescurrently,buttheyexpectthattogrowsignificantlyinthecomingyears.“TheChinesemarketwillbecomeoneofthemostimportantforhigh-enddesignandlightingproducts,”headded.
SFCMarketsandFinance:WhydidyoupickShanghaifornewheadquarterinChina?
GiorgioGobbi:Actually,it'saneasyquestionwithaneasyanswer.IfyouwanttobeinChinaandplayasaleaderandasarealplayer,youhavetobeinShanghai.Sowhenwestartedwithourproject10yearsago,wedidalreadyknowthatChinawouldbecomeoneofthemostimportantmarketsintermsofdevelopmentforourproductsandourbrandsultimately.
ThefirstestablishmentofourofficeswasinSuzhou,butthenwedecidedassoonasallthebrandsandalltheorganizationwasmatureenough,justtomovetowherewehadtobe,whereallthearchitectanddesignercommunitieswere,whichwasbasicallyinShanghai.
Tothesameextent,wehaveanotherbranch,anothersubsidiaryintheU.S.,andit'sbasedinNewYorkandthethirdoneinLondon.SoShanghaiwasachoice.
SFCMarketsandFinance:HowdoyoubalanceItaliandesignandChinesetaste?
GiorgioGobbi:That'sanexcellentquestion,andisalsothereasonwhywehaveestablishedapermanentpresenceinChinawiththesubsidiary,withthepermanentorganization.Actually,thewaywebuiltupourDexelancegroupwasselectinghigh-endvaluedItaliancompaniesintheworldofdesign,furniture,andlightingwiththeideatoexporttheso-calledItalianlifestyleworldwide.
Soononeend,whateachofourbrandsisproposing,isjusthowwearesupposedtoliveinItaly,intermsofstyle,fashion,andhabits.Butofcourse,youneedtohaveasortofculturaltranslation.Sothat'swhywehaveapermanentteamhereofvaluedpeople,becauseit'stheirjobtotranslateintotheChinesehabitsthewaysofworking,thewayofdistributingourproducts,forallofourcompaniesandourbrands,whicharebasicallyItalian.That'sexactlywhatwedo.
SFCMarketsandFinance:WhatkeywordsyouwillusetodescribeItalianlifestyle?
GiorgioGobbi:Youmadememanyeasyquestions.Thisisnotaneasyone.ItalianlifestyleissomethingintangiblethatweasItalianscannotexplain,andwedon'thaveanexplanationforthat.Butweclearlyknowthatworldwide,almostineverycountryintheworld,everybodythinksthatweliveinamagnificent,niceandfunnyway,whichisnotactuallythetruthinreallifeinItaly,becausewehavethesamesufferingpainsas(peoplein)anyothercountryintheworld.Butit'struethattheaveragequalityoflifethatyoucanenjoyinmostpartsofItalyisprettymuchhigh.Soit'squiteunderstandablewhywebecameasacountryandasapopulation,asortofinspirationformanypopulationsaroundtheworld.
SFCMarketsandFinance:Areyouplanningtoworkwithlocaldesigners?
GiorgioGobbi:Sure,whynot?We'renotonlyworkingwithItaliandesigners,notatall.Ourcompaniesdon'tdothat.Ofcourse,eachofourbrandshasaspecificDNAandaspecificsetofvalues.Thekindofdesignersnormallyselectedarethosethatdorespecttheconsistencyoftheirproposal,oftheirbrandimageandbrandvalue,andwehavenoproblemtoworkwithdesignersfromanynationality,includingtheChineseones.
Inourindustry,whenyouplayinthehigh-endmarket,designers,architects,andinteriordesignersarebasicallyasimportantasthefinalconsumers.Soanyhow,wehavetoaddresstheA&DcommunityinChinaaswellasinanyotherplaceintheworld.Andthebuildingwherewearenow,thisthree-storyvillaisjustconceivedforthepurposeofhostingdesigners,toallowdesignersandarchitectstocomeherewiththeirclients.Soit'skindofameetingpointwheretheA&Dcommunitycangetanykindofinspirationtheylike.
SFCMarketsandFinance:DoesChinaplayalargerpartofyourglobalrevenue?
GiorgioGobbi:Unfortunately,notyet,butitwill.Currently,Chinarepresentsnearly4%ofoursales.Sonotyetsomuch.ButweallknowthattheChinesemarketwillbecomeinsomeyears,nobodyknowshowmanyyears,themostimportantmarketforhigh-enddesignandlightingproducts.
Weallknowthatthemarketwillbedeveloped.Thespeeddependsonmanyfactorsthatarenotunderourcontrol.Weknowthatthisisthetrend.Wewanttobethere.AndI'msurethatinsomeyearsfromnow,Chinawillbeamuchlargerpartofoursales.
SFCMarketsandFinance:HowcanItalianaestheticsbetterconnectwithChineseconsumers?AnddoyouhaveanyplanstoworkwithatraditionalcraftorChinesecontemporaryartist？
GiorgioGobbi:Well,actuallynotyet,butI'msureitwillhappeninthefuture.Tobemoreprecise,wearesellingthroughourbrandandproposingtothemarket,asIsaidbefore,sofarasortofItalianlifestyleconcept.
ButeveninChina,localhabitsandtraditionsthathavebeenneglectedformanydecades,itseemsthattheyarecomingback.SoassoonastheChinesedesignworldwillfindawaytotransformtheiroriginintoamodernwayofproposingthetradition—thelong,long,verylong-termheritage—thenwewillprobablyfindthekindofcollaborationandcooperationthattodaywecanonlyfindthroughourlocalstructureofpeoplehere,localorganizations.Andthankstoourlocalprofessionaldealers,wegetalotoffeedbackfromourdealersaroundChinajustintermsofwhatworks,whatdoesn’twork,whatshouldbechanged,tomakesomeadaptationstoourproposaltothecurrentChineselifestyle.
SFCMarketsandFinance:Howdoyouseenextbigopportunitiesorrisksfor“MadeinItaly”inChina?
GiorgioGobbi:Idon'tseemanyrisks,tobehonest.AsIsaidbefore,Iseemanyopportunitiesinthefuturetoinspireeachother:ThetraditionofdesigninItalyisveryold-rooted,butChinahasamucholdertradition,IfoundhereandtheresomeattemptstorevampinamodernwaythemillennialhistoryofChina.Assoonasthiswillhappen,Idon'tseearisk.ButIseeahugeopportunitytocombineandmergeeachotherandtofindoutnewwaysofproposinglifestyle,notonlythepureidealisticItalianlifestyle,butsomethingprobablymorecomplexandmorefascinating.
ChiefProducer:ZhaoHaijian
SupervisingProducer:ShiShi
Editor:HeJia
Reporter:LiYinong
Videographer:HuKaiwen
VideoEditor:LiQun
NewMediaCoordination:DingQingyun,ZengTingfang,LaiXi,HuangDaxun
OverseasOperationsSupervisingProducer:HuangYanshu
OverseasContentCoordinator:HuangZihao
OverseasOperationsEditors:ZhuangHuan,WuWanjie,LongLihua
Producedby:SouthernFinanceOmnimediaGroup