They are in a unique partnership, perhaps the first-of-its-kind in the Middle East. Samra International, founded by Salim Abou Samra is the worldwide exclusive licensee of Versace Fine Jewellery. The Samras have been in the business of jewelry in the Middle East for generations and the partnership with Versace has made its Jumeirah Lakes Tower office in Dubai, the first headquarter of a global luxury brand in the Middle East.
Given the luxury market demand in the Middle East and the various formats in which global and local brands have created their presence and growth strategies here, the Samra-Versace relationship is interesting in its structure.
While Samra International owns the store, working on development, design, fabrication and distribution work, the Versace team looks at other aspects to ensure that the Versace culture and its brand DNA remains intact. The collaboration led to the opening of the first flagship boutique of Versace Fine Jewellery in The Dubai Mall followed by another one in Jeddah and a second boutique in UAE.
“Having headquartered in Dubai ensures that there is noise in the market about the brand and at the same time our customer understanding in the region is better,” said Nicolas Abboud, CEO, Versace Fine Jewellery. He was speaking to The Arabian Marketer during the unveiling of the new concept of its flagship boutique in Dubal Mall. “This new store concept has been designed by artistic director Donatella Versace who aimed to capture the spirit of Versace Fine Jewellery,” he added.
The boutique in Dubai Mall offers the latest collections of Versace Fine Jewellery, along with Versace’s classic lines such as Medusa, Barocco and Greca. For Samra, the philosophy is to stay ‘creative’ and the brand’s key focus is the designs.
In context to marketing, PR, word of mouth and on-ground activities are the main elements of Samra International’s game plan, Mr Abboud said, “We have advertising campaigns with lot of PR. The word of mouth, PR and viral marketing is really working. We also do many events. Before this we did one in Jeddah for people to understand who we are.”
Also present for the inauguration of all-new flagship boutique were Laila Mohammed Suhail, CEO, Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment; Gabriella Saracino, Licensing Director at Versace along with Salim Abou Samra and Samer Samra of Samra International.
