This week, the spotlight is on a high-level Learning & Development programme from The Luxury Network Nigeria, curated in partnership with The Luxury Network Academy.
The Luxury Network Nigeria hosted the first session of our long-awaited L&D training programme on Thursday, 24th June 2021, via live webinar.
Themed: ‘What is Luxury?’, the engaging session delved into the basics of luxury, in a digestible and practical way. The session covered the intricacies of the luxury concept from various perspectives, and looked at the challenges of developing countries scaling to international standards, especially post-covid; offering tips, ideas and practical solutions.
Hosting the webinar, Cas Ojo, Managing Director of The Luxury Network Nigeria, alongside co-host, Head of Events, Bvlgari, Eleanor Turner, welcomed attendees with a brief introduction and agenda of what to expect.
The webinar featured a panel of speakers that cut across various market sectors from hospitality to lifestyle, marketing and communication, art, style, and more, to provide multi-dimensional perspectives to the Nigerian luxury market.
The speakers – Viscount Yves De Contades, Veronica Ebie, Juan Perez, Heidi Mallace, Ayo Adeyinka – each gave an engaging address on the meaning of luxury, how to manage and maintain a unique brand story, the art of fine customer satisfaction, the journey of brand longevity, and various success stories, respectively. Sharing their combined, vast wealth of experience, they collectively spoke on how brands grow and thrive, and especially on helping Nigerian luxury brands develop.
Closing the webinar, Cas Ojo unveiled the series of activities planned out by the Network in the near future and encouraged brands to always be on the lookout for ways to continually elevate.
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The Luxury Network Nigeria is interested to hear from companies who wish to explore bold and innovative partnership strategies in the Nigeria and UK market. Please get in touch.
SPEAKER PROFILES
Cas Ojo
Cas is a seasoned professional in the luxury industry, with vast knowledge of the consumer goods, hospitality, and financial sectors. She has extensive experience facilitating collaborations with global brands such as Porsche, Harrods, Visa, the Financial Times, Roja Parfums, Moet Hennessy, Bvlgari Hotel London, Bicester Village, and more. Her in-depth knowledge, passion, and varied experience of the industry, combined with an innate high level of creativity and strong entrepreneurial skills, have honed her expertise in the field of luxury affinity marketing.
With over ten years of entrepreneurial experience, Cas is also the founder of an international luxury shopping concierge company, MyStyleWindow, based in London, England, where she has grown an impressive clientele of high-net-worth individuals in Nigeria, and organizations including UBA and Fidelity Bank, Visa Infinite, Business Day, The Wheatbaker Hotel, Montaigne Place, The Wells Carlton Hotel, Capital Club, Seattle Residences and Spa. Prior to this, she worked in Accounting and Finance with a number of high-profile companies across Central London, including Hotel Cafe Royal, Harvey Nichols, and Natwest plc.
Eleanor Turner
Ellie is a speaker, events specialist and luxury brand consultant having built her career within luxury hospitality and events.
As Head of Events at Bvlgari Hotel London, she’s responsible for developing the hotel’s event sales strategy and managing the day-to-day organization of the team including overseeing all events at the hotel. From intimate social events to product launches for over 1000 guests, she has over a decade of experience in events having also spent time as a freelance wedding planner.
Prior to this, Ellie worked in marketing and business development after studying French with Business Management at King’s College London, where she also had the opportunity to study at both La Sorbonne, Paris, and Martinique.
Yves De Contades
Yves de Contades is the CEO of The eXcellence Group, a luxury marketing & media company aimed at high net worth, with a unique network consisting of luxury brands and an international high net worth audience.
A renowned expert in the luxury industry for over 25 years, Yves was a celebrated fashion photographer in Paris, New York, and London, then a luxury brand expert and entrepreneur in the luxury sector. Yves featured for five years in Channel 4’s “Ten Years Younger” TV Series alongside Paula Reed, fashion editor of the Sunday Times. Also working with Caryn Franklin in the Debenhams videos.
The eXcellence Group has a long-standing relationship with the UK and world media and specializes in luxury brands, travel, luxury villas, watches, jewelry, cars, and yachts.
In his rare spare time, Yves is an avid reader of technology, history, psychology, thought, and culture and loves swimming in the Indian Ocean, cross country cycling, diving, surfing, and touring in luxury cars.
Veronica Ebie
Veronica is a luxury Retail Consultant and international stylist born and raised in Houston Texas, the USA with a ten-year background in high fashion runway modeling, print, and commercial and Spokes-modelling. After relocating to Nigeria in 2010, she worked as a style correspondent and cover stylist for ThisDay Style and established the brand Vanestyle – a fashion and style agency that offers commercial and personal styling, alongside shopping services.
From red carpets to music videos and more, Veronica boasts a strong client list of high-profile Nigerian celebrities including Genevieve Nnaji, Mo Abudu, Omotola Stephanie Coker, Funke Adepoju, Fashpa Odion Mimonet. She has also worked on a plethora of projects such as Elite Model Look Nigeria, GTBank NdaniTV, MTN Lagos Fashion and Design Week, Ebonylife TV‘s Moments with Mo, Jara, Studio 53 Extra, Vanity Fair Italia, Mania Magazine, ThisDay Style, and more.
Ayo Adeyinka
Ayo Adeyinka is a London-based art dealer and gallerist. Originally an accountant, with a 10-yr background in financial services, Ayo Adeyinka has since gained recognition as a specialist in modern and contemporary African arts. He is a seasoned cultural entrepreneur and has acted as a consultant for key contemporary art projects. He helped to launch Africa Now, Bonham’s contemporary African art sale in 2009, he has worked on other noteworthy gallery and curatorial projects and continues to advise on several collections focused in this area globally.
Since founding TAFETA, the gallery has remained a leading purveyor of important 20th-century artists of African descent, whilst constantly showcasing new contemporary talent. The central London gallery continues to place works from established and emerging artists with important private collections, as well as established institutions such as the Smithsonian National Museum of African Arts in Washington, D.C. The gallery has also gone on to be recognized as a leading force in the contemporary African art space, showcasing in the prestigious European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in March 2020.
Juan Perez
Juan Perez is a global affinity marketing expert with over 8years of experience creating hundreds of business development activities for many of the world’s most luxury brands. He is renowned for creating top-end strategic alliances and orchestrating successful collaborations with brands such as Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Bentley, McLaren, Prada, Panerai, The Macallan, ExecuJet Aviation, Serenia, Saxo Bank, Palma Holding, Royal Jet Group, Huriya Private, Rif Trust, Tiffany & Co, Mangusta Yachts, XXII Carat, Luxhabitat, Palacio Versace, Emaar Hospitality Group, Hakkasan, Platinum Auction and many more.
Heidi Mallace
Heidi Mallace is a reputation, brand, and communication coach and adviser with over 20 years in the industry. She has worked with prestigious brands such as Floris London, Chanel Jewellery, Holland and Holland and Asprey, and many luxury hotels including Ritz Carlton, W, Bvlgari, and boutique cruise ships. She has advised high profile and high net worth individuals and multinational organizations on branding and communication, to engage audiences and build brands.
Heidi began her career at Brunswick before joining a strategic communications consultancy called Project Associates. She then headed up Special Projects and the London office for reputation.com, a Silicon Valley-founded company that pioneered the online reputation management industry.
