• Moleskine Bucks Digital Trend, Readies to Go Public

    Posted by Mark J. Miller on March 21, 2013 05:28 PM
    指導者 / 總編輯 張蕙娟
    摘譯者 / 陳乙瑄

    Moleskine 電子載具

    在電子載具日新月異的時代,除了智慧型手機,各種尺寸功能的平板電腦不斷推陳出新,各樣的雲端平台與整合公司蓬勃發展,在科技越來越進步的同時,傳統產業例如紙本行事曆,又該如何生存下去?

    筆記本義大利知名品牌Moleskine估計價值達5億6000萬,並預計2013年4月3日在義大利首次公開募股,對投資人來說風險極高,傳統紙業與現代科技之爭已是趨勢;但Moleskine強調,2012年的營運利潤率達41.7%,比精品品牌Prada(27.2%)或行李箱廠商Tumi(19.7%)都還要高,2012年消費者數量粗估為330萬人,僅佔潛在消費族群的1.5%。Moleskine過去的市場策略是將通路設在機場或車站,是消費者會長期停留的地點,而Moleskine正是眾多商店中可以負擔的奢侈品。目前,Moleskine有93%的收入來自於紙類產品,例如筆記本和行事曆,其他7%則來自於背包、筆及眼鏡;也就是說,Moleskine對電子類產品其實完全沒有涉略。

    Moleskine近期新推出了一款app程式提供給iPhone和iPad,強調雲端同步和同樣敏銳的書寫感受。打入新市場的同時也引起舊客戶的質疑,以手感為重點形象的筆記本加入電子顯示行列,是否喪失了原有的觸摸感受?不過,世界上仍有一大群人使用紙本筆記本,歷代藝術家畢卡索、梵谷,和海明威,也都是筆記本的愛好者。

    Everywhere a consumer looks, digital is ready to attack. Whether it is on mobile screens or in-store iPad kiosks, interactivity and engagement are the words of the day.

    But there was a time when those terms weren’t subconsciously attached to digital efforts. Once, people actually used paper and writing implements to engage and interact. Moleskine, the Italian notebook manufacturer, has been counterintuitively turning out its paper products since 1995 and it has paid off so handsomely that the company is now planning an IPO on the Italian Stock Exchange, according to The Atlantic. In this digital age, is that subversive? Rebellious? Dumb?

    The offering, the Atlantic notes “could value Moleskine at up to €560 million ($722 million).” The stock will begin trading on April 3 and it won’t just be Luddites buying it, but folks that have taken a close look at the sales numbers. The company claims to have sold products to 3.3 million people in the last 12 months, just 1.5 percent of its potential customers. Its operating margin last year was 41.7 percent, which is better than such companies as Prada (27.2 pecent) or luggage maker Tumi (19.7 percent).

    Reuters reports that investors have been very interested and the full sale of shares was covered by Wednesday, only three days after they went up for sale. Part of its sales efforts are focused on opening retail stores in airports and train stations, places where people may have a good chunk of time to sit and write or be on their way somewhere where that luxury can be afforded.

    While 93 percent of the company’s revenue comes from paper products such as notebooks, diaries and planners, the other 7 percent comes from such products as backpacks, pens and glasses. What is making Moleskine pretty much no dough at this time is what the rest of the world is focused on: digital.

    The company has an app for the iPhone and iPad but the company is leery of going too digital for fear of scaring off its print-romantic cult. There are apparently a lot of people left in the world who want to write on notebooks that evoke such big names as Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway, all of whom wrote on similar notebooks in their days.


    參考資料來源

    1. http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2013/03/21/Moleskine-Going-Public-032113.aspx
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