The last issue of the magazine Forbes España had on the cover the four geniuses behind the sunglasses brand, Hawkers, the corporation where I am the chairman of the board and feel very proud of. Hawkers created a guide for businesses based on the strategy of creating an innovating market and closer to the consumer, thanks to the opportunities of the digital transformation, which has revolutionized the fashion and accessories industry.
In the article in Forbes (http://forbes.es/actualizacion/8014/hawkers-ya-es-historia-del-comercio-electronico-espanol) it is explained how this entrepreneurship grew in an exponential way, pointing out figures which exceed any expectation in the traditional e-commerce, becoming the current model of reference for the startups:
- More than 4,5 million of sunglasses sold.
- Presence in 50 countries.
- 90% of the sales are done through internet, being profitable and removing the pillars of the area.
- From 300 to more than 100.000.000 millions of euros billed in only three years.
These figures have been reached leaving behind traditional strategies and staking for a global action plan which has changed the sector. The industry, dominated by giants with a lot of seniority and experience, did not show any innovation for a long time. These big people from the market did not believe in the feasibility of the pattern of business of Hawkers.
Hawkers has taken advantage from current interconnectivity and technology to contribute with a new strategy to a market which was left behind in the past. Normally, when somebody wants to buy sunglasses, goes to a store, checks the well-known brands, compares prices and makes a decision. We broke off these paradigms, creating an easy new channel of sales through internet, something which had never been done before in the area. By means of our online shop, we offer a brand of sunglasses with design, class, quality and with an affordable price.
Marketing has been one of the keys of success of Hawkers, focused on the consumer, through social networks. These social networks have helped as: an advertising tool to position the brand, an instrument for data collecting to make essential decisions, the means to campaign with influencers who dominate these platforms. Facebook acknowledges us as the company with the best advertising performance in Europe, The East and Africa and in Twitter we have accomplished to break records of organic trending topics.
“Hawkers does not sell glasses, it sells Hawkers”
Our brand is fresh, young, funny, rebellious and groundbreaking. We offer to live an experience and be part of a generation: the Hawkers generation. Two important references in the history of the modern marketing are: Inditex, Zara’s parent company and Swatch. The first one created a market of clothing design affordable and closer to the consumer. Swatch is the revolution in the market of watches. It is about a Swiss product, with good quality, an attractive design and much cheaper than any Swiss watch. From a more contemporary view, this is what we have done in Hawkers. We are still even nearer the consumer, just a “click” apart, we make easy the decision to get a brand with quality, great design and with a price which breaks with the tradition of buying sunglasses which currently cost at least 100 dollars or euros.
In Hawkers, this new corporation, we have broken records, we call the attention in the lists, we win awards and we have achieved to be the cover of Forbes in Spain.
Everybody is talking about us, analysts and experts in the area, just because we are succeeding doing something nobody had done before. We will continue breaking paradigms to become market leaders.