learn about

The History of MCM

Carmen Kass

Secret:Women make

the World go round

RESULTS

Expedition Collection

are in from our traveling

survey

how does she maintain a busy schedule, enter

into politics, and find time

to chess?

learn the details of

how it was created

“discover mcm’s spirit of adventure”

2

MCM was established in Munich, Germany in 1976 by, then ac-tor and entrepreneur, Michael

Cromer and his wife, Mara Cromer. Mi-chael was infatuated with the idea of pack-aging, which led him to create a company where “fascinating bags, purses, suitcases through innovative materials and forms of presentation” would be created. His idea was very successful, since it was during a time when there was nothing similar in Germany. MCM was known as the ‘standard luggage of the jetset class’, and gained much popularity when famous celebrities, such as Sammy Davis Jr., Lady Diana, Cindy Crawford, the Rolling Stones, and Romy Schneider, demanded and carried the products around. The bags were designed by Michael Cromer, and they were sold in over 250 branches worldwide. During that time, the an-nual turnover was 500 million dollars. Since 2005, MCM has been acquired by Korean entrepreneur, Sung Joo Kim, and re-introduced into the market of luxury goods. Although the ownership of the company has changed, one thing still re-mains the same: “MCM aims to provide beautiful solutions to every travel need”.

MODE CREATION MUNICH

MCMHISTORY

3

MODE CREATION MUNICH

“Get me the guy with the yellow bags!”

-Sammy Davis Jr.

4

“Through innovative and timeless designs, MCM combines iconic German-engineered functionality with traditional craftmanship, offering a legendary heritage of elegance. The most skilled artisans create MCM’s products, with the best quality of materials available.” -Mr. Ingo Treu, CEO of the production company in Germany.

Mara Cromer posing for the German magazine, HYPE.

Below, skilled artisans working.

MCMHISTORY

5

We currently offer a wide range of day-to-day bags and accessories; however, we have lost our focus on

creating products that are truly aimed to-wards the traveling market. If we look at our available collections, we can clearly see we meet our high quality standards, yet we have lost sight of what MCM is truly about. We need to refocus ourselves, and strengthen our company to remember our original mantra:

“provide beautiful solutions to every travel need”. Right now, our biggest customer base are women in their mid 30’s to mid 40’s, who are in the middle-to-

high income class and not involved in busi-ness nor traveling. Many view MCM as hav-ing flashy items, rather than having sophis-ticated products. As our current CEO, Sung Joo Kim reminds us: we want to appeal to smart businesswomen, not be known as

“bling bling” material. We need to go back to our roots, and capture the essence of the traveling, entrepreneurial, and profession-al business women. How can we refocus? Where do we begin? Keep turning the pages to find out.

MCMHISTORY

Say hello to the stunning inter-national model, Carmen Kass. Carmen has been involved in the modeling industry since she was 14 years old, but don’t be fooled by her pretty looks. She’s smart sophisti-cated, and also involved in many different activities. Carmen has high expectations, and needs her standards of functionality and style to be met during her travels. She’s always on the go, so she needs prod-ucts that can ease, simplify, and re-duce the time she spends traveling. Her lifestyle is our future customer’s profile- beautiful, elegant, and am-bitious business women who are constantly traveling.

CARMENKASS

Beautiful. Elegant. Sophisticated.

MCMDESTINATION

7

MCMDESTINATION

8

9

Not only do her looks captivate the audience, but her intelligence and humor are the most intrigu-ing parts of her personality. Here’s an exerpt of Carmen Kass being interviewed on the Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.

As a model, you travel all of the world. You were recently in Australia? What did you do?>> Yes. I was hanging out, I was working, I was exploring the country. You started modeling at age 14. Is that cor-rect?>> Yes. I started out in Milan.We heard you’re running for the European Parliament. How is it going? >> I’m working on it, yes. Well, it’s the very beginning stage of everything, but i’ve been proposed by the leading party of Estonia to join the party...and therefore be part of the European Parliament. I’m so excited!So, does this mean you may be leaving the modeling world? Or would you do both?>> Well, it depends. I’m sure once I’m in the European Parliament, it will take (a lot of ) time to deal with those things, but if I’m still welcomed (to model), then why not? There’s a stereotype that models are not the brightest because they don’t always develop that part of themselves- they are beauiful and pampered, but you’re a bright one and you love playing chess? How often do you play?>> I do. (Smiles). At the moment I have a lot of reading and a lot to do, but I try to play it every day.A lot of models want to be actresses, or sing-ers. You have no desire to do any of that stuff?>> Well, I have been a part of acting as well- I’ve started in little ways. It’s interesting...I’m interested in the world.

10

MCMRESEARCH

TRAVELRESEARChOur goal is to create a stronger relationship with the ladies from Generation Y and X, and be part of their lives as they become empow-ered and taken on the business world. We want to inspire a new generation to be sophisticated and wise in their traveling, and we want to be able to provide for your every travel need.

Did you know?

“60% of the luxury market is now based on demand from

aspirational customers, rather than from the wealthy elite”

-Luca Solca of Bernstein Research

80%

$12 Trillion out of $18.4 Trillion

65%Control of global consumer spending:

$

67Mpotential participants*

Women, combined, will spend an estimate of

$125 Billionon travel per year.

of women make travel decisions; regardless of who travels, who pays, or the destination.

*women who travel

11

In order to better understand the needs of our target customer, a sur-vey was made and compiled, and 16 participants from different back-grounds answered our questions. Their ages ranged from 20-50, but all of them were frequent flyers.

What does the word ‘travel’ mean to you?

35% 25%

25%15%

Uh-Oh Statistics

MCMSURVEY

TOP 5DISLIKES:

1. Time spent

2. Security Lines

3. Organizing

4. Weight of bags

5. Size of bags

What do you carry when you travel?

wallet cosmetics cellphone laptop / tablet pen

Hassle

ADVENTURE

BUSINESS

DESTINATION

12

MCMRESEARCH

whAT ExiSTS?There are many available prod-ucts from different brands at different price points. Varia-tions do exist, in color, size, and brand- yet the basic struc-ture is essentially the same. Many of these products, thus, look alike and are alike. This is where MCM can enter the market and add a dash of ex-citement in the traveling world. We can not only offer an eye catching design, but also an ef-ficient product that will change the lives of our users.

1 2

3

4 5

6

7

1. Tumi, 2. Alviero Martini Geoclassic Series, 3. Prada, 4.

Brics, 5. Lipault, 6. Vera Wang, 7. Rowallan of Scotland

13

3500

2500

1500

500

Prad

a

Lipau

lt

Long

Cha

mp

Coac

h

Brics

Bodh

i

Andre

w M

arc

Alvie

ro M

artin

i

Rim

owa

Row

alla

n

Tum

iVe

ra W

ang

Anna K

lein

Calv

in K

lein

Sam

soni

te

Tom

my B

aham

a

Rica

rdo

Elite

Loui

s Vui

tton

Lond

on Fo

g

Brand Name

Pric

e Po

int

The number of traveling women has been increasing steadily, as well as the amount money is spent during trips. Most luggage companies exist in the middle to low price point, offering customers a range of products, which gives MCM an opportunity to offer high quality leather products that elate the experience of traveling.

ThE gOLdEN OppORTUNiTy

MCMRESEARCH

14

To relaunch MCM into the direction of traveling, we not only looked into hard facts and statistics- we also sought to find images representing the essence of our brand. Some inspirations come from our modern world, others are the legacy left behind from differ-ent time periods. We went on the hunt for nostalgia, for the deep longing of something clas-sic. Watching documentaries, searching through old archives, going through different blogs, we compiled a collage of im-ages that would guide us in our design direction.

FiNdiNg iNSpiRATiON

MCMINSPIRATION

15

MCMINSPIRATION

16

After much research, we began brainstorming what products could enter seamlessly into the lives of our target group. We started off with sketches, mock ups, and asked a controlled group about what they thought. We played with the idea of merging different necessities into less products, so simplic-ity and efficiency were two of our main goals. Our objective is to provide with elegant trav-eling solutions, and we want to embark on a journey with our customers where traveling is not a hassle. As we sketched, we sough to know what other products our customer would encounter, whether she car-ried it with her all the time or not. We wanted to be in her mindset- what does she like? What are her discomforts? What does she seek? What does she need?

MOdE: CREATiON

MCMIDEATION

17

MCMIDEATION

Sketches, paper models, fabric prototypes, and renderings have been done in order to figure out the details of the Expedition Collection.

18

Eliza

MCMCOLLECTION

19

MCMCOLLECTION

Eliza is one of this fall’s most anticipated bag. Not does it have the classic Cognac Vi-setos look, but also a modern twist that would heighten any user’s level of comfort. The design of this bag is mainly driven by the idea to save time. As our surveys showed, much time was spent in security checkpoints and organizing, so we thought to ourselves ‘what if we can create a bag that displays everything you carry without the hassle?’. Ev-ery compartment has a spe-cific task, and all can be seen in one view.

20

Monica

MCMCOLLECTION

21

Monica has got the power. Tall and beautiful, it can keep our user’s belongings in tact and in control. This is no ordinary garment bag- Monica doesn’t only hold clothes, shoes, and accessories in place, it dis-plays everything conveniently for our user to see. Strong and lightweight, Monica can easily accompany you wherever you decide your destination to be.

MCMCOLLECTION

22

Duffel Bag

MCMCOLLECTION

Ever wanted a bag that could neatly hold a pair or two heels? Well, here’s the per-fect bag. This bag is designed with a struc-tural bottom compartment that can keep your shoes safe from any disaster. There’s no need to cushion your shoes, just tuck them underneath your bag, and voila! Everything is kept beautifully in control- just like you.

23

Cellphone Case

MCMCOLLECTION

This case will protect your phone, make it look fabulous, and hold your belongings. Everything is kept together, compact, so you don’t have to search for your phone and wallet separately.

24

MCMCOLLECTION

Laptop CaseThis laptop case comes in three different sizes, 13’’, 15’’, and 17’’. It protects the surface of your laptop, and stays attached to it, so you don’t have to deal with the hassle of it falling off.

25

MCMCOLLECTION

Passport Case & Cosmetic Bag

The Passport Case and Cos-metic Bag are additions to our Expedition Collection, to complete a woman’s traveling experience. The passport case has many compartments, so that the traveler may be able to contain anything she likes, and the cosmetic bag is small enough to fit into any bag, but big enough to hold everything you need.

26

MCMMARKETING

MCM is known to be in the lime-light and be highlighted by famous celebrities. To launch

the Expedition Collection, we would be working closely with celebrities from around the world, depending on the re-gion we are marketing in. MCM is notable amongst many different stars, and has a history of being endorsed by famous stars. In order to make the audience swoon, our Expedition Collection will be featured in magazines and advertised in high-density areas, such as airports, to gain more at-tention. Our goal is to captivate a larger audience, starting from our existing to our target customer base. We want to aspire beautiful, strong, ambitious women to involve MCM in their lives, while they ac-complish short or long distance missions. The following images are samples of how MCM would be advertised. The Eliza will be the main focus of our Expedition Collection. Simple elegance- this is how we will capture the future generation.

CApTiVATiNg ThE AUdiENCE

1

2

1. Eliza on the cover of Vogue, 2. Eliza

in Vogue Travel & Shops guide in

Spanish, 3. Looking beautiful and ready to travel the world

with the Eliza.

273

MCMMARKETING

28

29

References

Cover PageCarmen Kass photographed by Paola Kudacki for Vogue Spain 2009.

Pg. 2,3Sammy Davis Jr. with Michael Cromer.http://www.bild.de/regional/muenchen/millionaer/mcm-mil-lionaerin-lebt-von-500-euro-23893130.bild.html

Pg. 4, 5Mara Cromer, Artisans, Sung Joo Kim found on MCM blog.

Pg. 6-9Images of Carmen Kass taken by Mario Siera for the October 2010 Elle Spain magazine.Interview excerpt from the Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn in 2006.

Pg. 10References found on http://gutsytraveler.com/women-travel-statistics-the-latest/ http://www.economist.com/node/14447276 http://www.catalyst.org/publication/256/buying-power

Pg. 11Survey created online, specifically for this project.

Pg. 13Infographic created from various sources.