Company Info
From catwalk to runway
As luck would have it
It was fortuitous chance leading Cor Schoonhoven to talk to just the right person to market his own lingerie brand, an idea that had been smoldering in his mind for some time. Hugely experienced in the Dutch lingerie business, he knew he was on to a good thing. Running into Marleen de Wilde, she pointed him to Rob Heilbron, of O'Neill fame, as the right man for the job. Being allowed to unabashedly intertwine his interest in women and his marketing savvy, Heilbron would surely be interested in the challenge of making Schoonhoven's dream result in success. Heilbron doesn't like to work with agencies, simply being convinced his own ideas are better. Sounds arrogant? Maybe, but Heilbron's results prove his point. He's clearly in charge of the small team behind the cutting-edge campaigns that have propelled Sapph onto the streets and very much into the public eye. With Schoonhoven instantly recognizing Heilbron's unique capabilities, and Heilbron admiring Schoonhoven's well thought-out plans for the Dutch lingerie business, the both of them very quickly got ready to rock.
Right on target
In his trademark style, Heilbron jumped right in. His photography and advertising are unlikely to be classified as tasteful or 'artsy', they are designed to catch the eye, in fact be burned on the retina. And boy, did they. If there's one thing Heilbron knows, it's how to get his stuff noticed. Sexy ads and huge billboards, shot in perfectly controlled studios, directed by Heilbron himself, of pin-up style models photoshopped over the top to near airbrush perfection, have worked their way into the hearts and minds of the public. In fact, so sexy the first billboards were the subject of some media hype ringing all the way up to parliament. Elsevier magazine ran a headline saying "Sex is killing this country". It didn't, and according to Heilbron, it won't, no need to worry, thank you.Politically incorrect? Definitely. But it did get Sapph where it wanted to be: the naughty, rebellious and sexy image is just what the doctor ordered for countless women who have gotten the message the media missed. Credits then to Heilbron, for getting the exuberant energy of Sapph across so successfully to his target audience.
Too hot to handle
It would be a mistake to think Heilbron just simply did his trick. His marketing style happens to fit Sapph as beautifully as Sapph fits women themselves. The powerful combination of Sapph's designs and Sapph's marketing has proved too hot for some. On accusations of stealing her designs, Marlies Dekkers has declared war on Sapph. Little did she realise she was playing right into Sapph's hand with Sapph coming out looking as naughty, rebellious and sexy as ever. A mere two years into existence, Sapph's a runaway success proving Schoonhoven and Heilbron ever so right. A big splash in The Netherlands is quickly spilling all over Europe with no end in sight. With 45 shops on the way as part of Dutch department store Vroom en Dreesman's upgrade, clearly Sapph has matured very quickly, a tribute to both Schoonhoven's vision and Heilbron's powerful marketing. To be continued, Sapph's success, that is.
|
|
 |
|
