About Studio Moderna:

Studio Moderna is a leading omnichannel, multi-brand and direct-to-consumer retailer, in Central and Eastern Europe driving an ecosystem of 21 offices, 360 mln potential customers, 400+ own retail stores, 280k+ websites visitors per day, and boasting more than 10 leading brands in this region of the world including: Dormeo, Delimano, Topshop, Rovus, Walkmaxx and more.

Studio Moderna challenge :

Studio Moderna has been built on a strong DrTV presence and business model. With the acceleration of the e-commerce space in the past years and the digitization of all industries which has been accelerated even faster by the global COVID epidemic, Studio Moderna sees a strong opportunity to follow the trend and become a digital-first company.

Teh group has already developed many aspects of its digital ecosystem, especially related to the e-commerce side and lower funnel acquisition strategy. However, the group remains a follower in this space and doesn’t position itself as a leader, trend-setter or innovation bringer.

Entrusted Services:

Studio Moderna entrusted Vanguard Hub, in helping them in their digital growth to:

• Do a complete digital audit of the group digital maturity and challenges
• Explore growth opportunities and new areas of development
• Leverage digital to find models to attract a younger audience to the group’s brands
• Move from a performance-based to a marketing and awareness driven organization
• Migrate from a DRTV-led to a digital-1st company
• Simplify its current organization and processes
• Assess local teams digital capabilities and develop new expertises

Deliverables and Results:

Our initial work for Studio Moderna has been to realize a deep audit on the group’s digital maturity situation, explore streams of digital acceleration and provide the 1st quick-wins to ignite them. This 1-month work led us to build a stronger partnership with Studio Moderna which entrusted us with a extended scope of services:

• Chief Digital Officer as-a-service support to support Studio Moderna in their complete digital transformation acceleration
• Business model and brand architecture definition
• Marketing-driven organisation creation & awareness marketing model development, media mix and moving to a digital-1st communication framework
• Website user experience impacts and agility/innovation unlocking
• Team digital capabilities assessment
• CRM project deployment

About Barbara Bui:

Barbara Bui is a Paris-based Fashion Luxury brand created by its founder, Ms Barbara Bui. The brand was initially founded with the opening of a small shop/workshop in Les Halles in Paris. The designer put herself more and more into the clothes she was designing, so she naturally has to embody the brand and decided to put her name on it.

The brand is distributed today in France, UK, the US and various European countries through its own boutique, selected wholesale partners and online on www.barbarabui.com

Barbara Bui’s challenge :

Barbara Bui has started its e-commerce presence some years ago but was initially subcontracting all its management to Yoox platform. A few years ago they valued the strategic importance of controlling their e-commerce presence internally and moved out of Yoox and started developing internal digital capabilities.

Due to the acceleration of digital and e-commerce and especially within the Covid-19 epidemic situation, Barbara Bui recently increased their ambition in the digital and e-commerce space.

Entrusted Services:

Barbara Bui entrusted Vanguard Hub in helping them in their digital growth through:

• An initial digital ecosystem audit and 360° digital strategy preparation for the brand across the various digital touchpoints
• Our 2 months audit led to the creation of a detailed opportunities roadmap
• Vanguard Hub is now helping the brand on the 1st phase of this strategy roadmap through:
  • Digital media mix model redesign and media performance acceleration
  • Social media and digital content strategy definition and implementation support
  • Analytics chain setup and structuring
  • CRM campaign management enablement and implementation

Deliverables and Results:

Within a 2-month timeframe, we delivered for Barbara Bui:

• A C-level focused 360° digital audit on their digital ecosystem
• A detailed digital strategy and clear implementation roadmap
• A complete digital ecosystem data analytics DAHSBOARD tailor-made to Barbara Bui’s context
• A complete assessment and review of their analytics structure as well as the 1st operational resolution of the weaknesses of this analytics structure
• An assessment and improvements paths of the brand social media presence 

About Clarins group:

“Do more, do better and enjoy doing so.”

Trailblazers in the field of plant-based beauty, Clarins is a beauty pioneer and leader globally, offering a range of high quality luxury skincare and makeup products. Clarins’ pioneering formulas are continually being reinvented as plant science and technology advance—a process known as Permanent Innovation. The brand has been founded in 1954 by Jacques Courtin and is still led by the Courtin family since then. It operated globally both offline and online.

Clarins challenge in Italy:

The Clarins group started its digital and e-commerce presence some years ago but the growth of the business challenged the internal digital organisation model of the group and its subsidiaries. Clarins Italia decided to initiate a process of localisation of its digital activities in order to adapt the e-commerce business to the local market as well as increasing the team’s digital expertise and ultimately accelerate the performance of clarins.it online sales.

Entrusted Services:

Clarins Italy entrusted Vanguard Hub in helping them across their digital ecosystem localisation through:

• Local digital ecosystem strategic audit
• Challenges and growth opportunities identification
• Local team capabilities’ assessment, organization needs and needed profiles identification
• Explore growth opportunities and new areas of development
• Conversion Rate Optimisation study and improvements action plan
• Digital ecosystem dynamic Data Dashboard implementation
• E-commerce CMS operational management (Salesforce-commerce): promotion setup, catalogue management, content inventories updates, etc…

Deliverables and Results:

Within a 6-months timeframe, we delivered for Clarins:

• C-level focused 360° digital audit on Clarins Italy digital ecosystem
• Team digital capabilities assessment
• Digital and ecommerce organizational structure proposal focused on supporting local expertise development and digital business localisation
• e-commerce conversion rate optimization study and action plan recommendations
• Complete digital ecosystem data analytics DASHBOARD tailor-made to Clarins’ context
• Operational daily CMS and e-merchandising management
• Contributing to Clarins online business growth : +60% YoY

About Sabon NYC:

From Tel Aviv to Around the World : in 1997, two childhood friends opened a small soap shop with a 70-year old native Australian recipe they had discovered from their travels. From the semitic word“soap”, Sabon was born. The brand expanded from handmade soaps to body and homecare, offering a wide range of products with soothing textures and refreshing fragrances. 20 years later of passion and devotion, Sabon can now be found worldwide in 180 locations.

Sabon challenge in the USA:

Sabon brand, part of the Group Rocher, has started its e-commerce presence in the USA a few years ago but its traction is slowing down and its digital ecosystem is not up-to-date to be able to compete in the fierce local beauty category.

Sabon is looking at a new approach to drive its digital strategy in the US to link back with growth and evaluate the digital business opportunities and innovations that will put the brand at the forefront of the US beauty market.

Entrusted Services:

Sabon NYC trusted Vanguard Hub, in full partnership with Paris-based Wellness Hub, the 1^st network of experts for wellness and innovation, in helping them in their digital growth to:

• Do a complete digital audit of the brand in the US market
• Explore growth opportunities and new areas of development
• New media mix recommendations and modelling
• Assess local teams digital capabilities
• Conversion Rate Optimisation study and improvements action plan
• Amazon go-to-market study and strategy

Deliverables and Results:

Within a 3-months timeframe, we delivered for Sabon:

• C-level focused 360° digital audit on the complete Sabon USA digital ecosystem
• Growth opportunities recommendations and roadmap
• Full e-commerce conversion rate optimization study and action plan recommendations
• Business development innovations recommendations, including Amazon go-to-market seller-model approach
• Team digital capabilities assessment
• Complete digital ecosystem data analytics DAHSBOARD tailor-made to Sabon’s context
• Contributing to Sabon online business growth : +20% YoY on both sales and traffic

About Essentia beauty:

Pioneer in full service for over 20 years, Essentia beauty specializes in the creation, development and manufacture of Fragrances & Cosmetics. Their team combines expertise, innovation and reactivity to serve start-up to scale-up brands in the beauty space.

Essentia Beauty’s mission: set brands apart by thinking creatively and providing unique beauty concepts to keep pace with an evolving conscious consumer.

Essentia Beauty’s challenge:

Essentia beauty is embracing the beauty-tech trend and the increasing importance of digitization in the beauty space to innovate, not only from a B2B but also from a B2C (or D2C) standpoint.

In a market in strong digital disruption, it is hard to break through the clutter of new beauty brands popping-up every day, and to create disruption. Essentia beauty is willing to do just that!

Entrusted Services:

Coming from a strong beauty background and expertise, Essentia beauty’s team needed support to study the potential scenarios for the construction of complete digital and e-commerce strategies and ecosystems for some of their innovative beauty technology products. They entrusted Vanguard Hub in helping them in their analysis with a focus on:

• Accompanying them as a full partner in building digital business scenarios.
• Business model and business plan structuring.
• Structuring communication, tone of voice and reach.
• Convincing partners and investors in project adhesion and follow-up financing to support the company’s ambitions.

Deliverables and Results:

Through a startup-minded approach, Vanguard Hub is accompanying Essentia Beauty on a day to day digital growth path to create the right opportunities for the brand, valuing and modelling diverse growth scenarios in an agile methodology approach.

We act as partners, advisors and operational support across the business innovation process for the group.

About Dreamin101:

Down craftmanship since 1916

Created to celebrate 101 years of growth and success, Dreamin’101 is Minardi Piume’s own brand of luxury bedding.
Made in Italy with he finest materials, their products are designed to offer us the rest we deserve at factory prices.

From the factory to our home

Their centenary experience together with the singularity of refined materials gave them the possibility to design and produce a duvet that suits everyone’s needs. Their production chain has no intermediate steps: it starts in their factory and finishes once reached our home. For this reason, they can offer a dreamy sleep experience at an extremely competitive price.

Dreamin101 challenge :

Dreamin101 has started its e-commerce presence a couple of years ago. The successful growth of their online business in Italy is leading them to seek for new growth opportunities and to work on a sustainable digital growth model for the future.

Entrusted Services:

Dreamin101 entrusted Vanguard Hub in helping them in their digital growth through:

• A study of digital and e-commerce growth opportunities across the entire digital ecosystem of the brand
• An analysis of the competitors digital presence, maturity and innovations
• A detailed recommendations and action plan of the right growth axis for Dreamin101 tailored to their context and situation
• A complete data dashboard monitoring of their whole digital ecosystem platforms

Deliverables and Results:

Within a 1-month timeframe, we delivered for Dreamin101:

• A C-level focused 360° digital audit on their digital ecosystem
• 30 clear growth opportunities recommendations
• A complete digital ecosystem data analytics DAHSBOARD tailor-made to Dreamin101’s context

About The Equity Club:

The Equity Club («TEC») is a new club deal initiative sponsored by its management team and Mediobanca, representing a flexible private capital investment platform, participated by some of the most high profile Italian entrepreneurs.

TEC has a soft commitment of over €500 mln provided by 80 of the leading Italian entrepreneurs families, Mediobanca and the management team.  Investments are made on targets having a good market positioning, a clear growth potential and a strong vocation to export.

The Equity Club need:

TEC brings to its investment targets  a unique, tailor made support leveraging

• A management team with an international corporate finance and managerial background
• A network of investors-entrepreneurs and managers able to back and fully understand the strategy and operations of investee companies
• A network of high profile consultants and advisors both in Italy and overseas

In order to frame the maturity and the future growth opportunities offered by the digital disruption and the technology shifts, TEC aimed at partnering with some digital transformation and innovation expert.

Scope of entrusted services:

TEC trusted Vanguard Hub to accompany them in:

• Investment targets digital market analysis and benchmarking
• Digital maturity due diligence
• Digital opportunities and tech innovation framing and scoping
• Digital growth supervision of the invested companies on a 360° front (e-commerce, CRM, tech innovation, etc…)

Testimonial:

Gianmarco Gandolfi, TEC Senior Partner

“The contribution of Vanguard Hub for The Equity Club is key as part of our due diligence process and then follow-up of our investments. The impact of the digital disruption is an important element we are looking into when assessing investment targets. The expertise and knowledge of a boutique-style digital consulting support like the one Vanguard Hub is offering is an ideal fit for us as they help us remain up-to-speed with the digital world’s evolution.”

About Erborian:

Beautiful skin today, better skin tomorrow

Erborian aims at changing the approach to beauty by creating easy to use, benefit-oriented products that promise to always put the user and its skin first. Skincare-centric with a beauty bonus, they know the key to complexion confidence comes from both instant results AND long-term care. Their  hybrid products – between makeup and traditional skincare- draw their effectiveness from the power of our super ingredients from Korea. They inspire themselves from plants, herbs and fruits that have been used for centuries in the Korean Pharmacopoeia by women to take care of their skin.

Erborian challenge at global level:

Erborian brand, part of L’Occitane group, has started an e-commerce replatforming project few months ago as an adaptation of the parent company L’Occitane’s site replatforming.

However this replatforming, led by L’Occitane didn’t fit the brand’s specific requirememts to deliver a tailor-made user experience truly leveraging Erborian’s ambitions.

In addition, this project revealed organization gaps in the Erborian’s structure to be able to support a strong digital growth.

Erborian thus needed an assessment and recommendations of their technological solutions stack, compatible with the group’s replatforming project whilst providing a dedicated digital user experience to the brand and equipping them with the right organization to support their digital growth ambitions.

Enstrusted Services:

Erborian HQ entrusted Vanguard Hub, in full partnership with Paris-based Wellness Hub, the 1^st network of experts for wellness and innovation, in helping them in their digital growth to:

• Assess and recommend a complete web-product innovation solutions stack
• Estimate budget and costs impacts of the recommended proposal
• Define the new organizational model enabling the implementation and on-boarding of the recommended proposal

Deliverables and Results:

• 50 solutions scouted and investigated
• 15+ digital expertise verticals assessed including: online merchandising management, CRO, social media, tracking and tagging, loyalty management, customer care, fulfillment services, content creation automation, site search management
• User experience services coverage extended for the brand new platform from 3 to 15+

About Zago:

ZAGO Milano, the #1 Undermakeup brand. Smart-Glam Skincare 100% Made in Italy

Zago Milano wants to revolutionize the Millenials and GenZ beauty routine. It is driven by 3 pillars that are defining the brand ethos:

• LIFESTYLE: Created for women’s beauty addicts in love with skincare and make-up altogether
• GREEN: Believing in the same contemporary values than their audience and that their beauty companion should stand by these values
• SHORT SUPPLY: A supply chain process entirely comprised within a 15kms radius around Milan, allowing the brand to be extremely flexible, sustainable and price competitive

Zago Milano challenge:

In a market in strong digital disruption, it is hard to break through the clutter of new beauty brands popping-up evrery day, especially when you are a start-up.

Coming from a strong beauty supply chain background and expertise, Zago Milano’s founder needed support to build a complete digital and e-commerce strategy for the brand, tailor-made for the means of an emerging start-up thus balancing vision and pragmatism to be able to deliver short-term acceleration whilst building the brand equity on the long-run.

Entrusted Services:

Zago Milano trusted Vanguard Hub in helping them in their growth to:

• Accompany them as a full partner in building a complete business strategy anchored in the digital world whilst supported by physical retail as well.
• Expand and accelerate business channels, from .com to market places.
• Structure and expand the brand communication, tone of voice and reach.
• Convince investors in follow-up financing to support the company’s ambitions.

Deliverables and Results:

Through a startup-minded, test and learn approach, Vanguard Hub is accompanying Zago Milano on a day to day digital growth path to create the right opportunities for the brand.

Since the start of the partnership:

• +330% Increase in overall revenues (off+online)
• +437% in online revenues
• +158% in traffic generation
• +270% database growth
• 4 online sales channels opened
• 6 new markets opened
• Offline presence extended from 70 to 150 retail locations
• Brand positioning, attributes and identity defined
• Internal digital capabilities and processes accelerated
• Fundraising secured