Mobile World Congress - Swarovski shows up tech players with fashion led wearables
- Summary:
- Swarovski's VP of product Marketing, Joan Ng, highlights the importance of integrating technology with fashion. Rather than trying to make technology fashionable.
Wearables, for whatever reason, has been one of the hot topics at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC). And whilst I personally have little interest in what the devices offer in this ever evolving 'mobile' world, one of this week's most telling moments at the Barcelona-based event was during a wearables keynote on one of the main stages.
Speaking to a packed room, a number of technology companies, ranging from the likes of Fitbit, to Pebble, to Muse, took to the stage to outline how their products can make a substantial difference to our personal daily routines. Many of the speakers were interesting and obviously had a passion for their wearable devices - but it was the final speaker that really captivated the room.
Swarovski, a high-end crystal jewellery maker, despite being last up to speak in a session that lasted nearly two hours, was the only company that managed to prompt a heavy round of applause from the audience on more than one occasion.
The reaction, to me, highlighted that despite all of the capabilities that can be found in technology driven wearables on the market today, the fashion-led approach is the one that catches people's attention.
Swarovski's VP of product marketing, Joan Ng, affirmed for those in attendance that it is entirely feasible that it is actually those focused on fashion and design that may end up having the best results in this lacklustre wearables space. Whilst Swarovski has partnered with Misfit on the device, to ensure that the technology supports the design of the product – it was the thought process behind creating Swarovski's Shine product that was really pertinent.
Ng started the session by explaining why Swarovski thought it was important to embark on creating an activity tracker that would appeal to the female consumer. She said:
I feel a bit strange in this world, in the technology world. Normally it is a luxury fashion show or something that I appear at. But at the same time we also see a lot of potential when the experts and the leaders from two industries come together to create business potential for a new segment.
Looks are actually sometimes more important than functionality. And at the same time versatility, offering options, choices, is the key.
She went on to explain, in developing Shine, Swarovski wanted to create a technology-based activity tracker that was diverse enough to suit any occasion for a woman, throughout her day. Ng said:
Until recently all of the activity trackers were one design that you had to wear all the time, you had to wear them day and night in order to track activities. But sometimes I just can't wear them when I have to wear a beautiful dress, so I would have to leave them at home.So we asked ourselves – how can we make a woman wear the activity tracker all day round? First of all we said that the activity tracker must be fashionable, it must still be feminine and beautiful, if we want to target our female consumer.
Secondly, remember that offering options is the key. So we needed to know what '24 hours' in the day of a woman looks like – she has to go to sport and gym, she has to go to work, be in serious meetings, go out to dinner in the evenings and sometimes even party. So we needed to make sure that we developed not just one product, but a collection, a concept, such that the female consumer can mix and match with different carriers, different jewellery pieces.
Essentially Shine operates around the collection of data via a detachable crystal. The crystal is used to collect information on your activities, which can be transferred to your smartphone, but it can also be integrated into a number of fashion items e.g. a watch, a necklace, a bracelet. When the item is on, it simply looks like a fashion accessory, you would never know it was a wearable device tracking your activities.
Also, interestingly, Swarovski's original design worked on a battery life that lasted up to four months – a significant improvement on some smart watches, which require charging on a daily basis. However, this wasn't enough for the brand and it has now developed a crystal that recharges itself in sunlight using solar powered technology (see image). Ng said:
We asked female consumers again, are you happy with the prototypes that you just need to change your battery once every four months? They said good, but not good enough. They said: do you know how many watches I have in a drawer when the battery runs out? Can't you give me an activity tracking piece of jewellery where I don't need to change the battery?
So our R&D team put their heads together and came up with an energy crystal concept.
Ng's closing comments seemed to resonate with the audience, where she said that while technology companies will likely always be the partners of choice for creating fashionable wearables, it is the fashion
companies that play an important role in user adoption. She said:I think that in the future we will see a lot of big fashion brands coming up here and talking about how they have made wearables beautiful. To be a truly successful wearable product, the two functions need to integrate.
The reason we are so happy with this collection is that we really developed from concept to a finished product - the fashion world and the technology world came together. I think that's the key. I don't think we need to be the experts in the technology world, when there are so many experts out there already, so I think we will see these partnerships continue.
My take
Swarovski has hit the nail on the head for me. Whilst I think that some of the technology companies out there are coming up with some interesting ideas on the wearables front, I don't think I would ever buy one, simply because I don't want to be seen to be wearing a technology product on my wrist (vain, I know).
However, if there were fashionable products out there that appealed to my design tastes, and it just so happened that they had some smart digital features, then that's something I could buy into. The audience at MWC this week seemed to agree.