Shifting the center of gravity for a 125-year-old icon

As Swarovski celebrated its 125th birthday, there was little cause for celebration: revenue was down, and jobs needed to be cut. And while these issues were made worse by a pandemic, they were symptomatic of broader market forces Swarovski had ignored for too long. It was time for a reality check.

We partnered with Swarovski’s board, new creative director and partner agencies (notably General Idea, Chic, and Villa Eugenie) to reinvigorate its storied brand and unlock a new future with a transformative business strategy, brand platform and experience principles. Our goal was simple: to make crystal cool again.

Our research unearthed the problem at the heart of Swarovski’s troubles: despite being widely perceived as a near-luxury brand, data showed it had also habituated customers to expect entry level price points and discounting. Not only was Swarovski failing to live up to its brand’s potential, it was unintentionally eroding it.

We developed a strategy and implementation plan to “shift Swarovski’s center of gravity” and radically transform the business towards a bold, chic, and expressive future built on the back of a new product range and more premium average price point. We also helped develop a new retail strategy, customer experience, refreshed logo, visual identity, and internal engagement campaign, whilst at the same time supporting work on new concept stores and packaging.

In February 2021, only twelve months after first putting pen to paper, Swarovski re-launched the brand, unveiling the new identity, campaign, game-changing product range and a new “Instant Wonder” concept store in Milan, with plans to open a further 28 stores over the following months. It’s still early days to evaluate the impact of the full turn-around, but the fashion press has been very encouraging, and the new limited edition product range was sold out within days.