Prada scion Lorenzo Bertelli steps out with first public deal
Race car driver unveils agreement with Adobe to integrate group’s online and offline presence
Lorenzo Bertelli, scion of the Prada dynasty, has made his first public move in the family business, announcing a deal with Adobe to better integrate the Milan-based luxury goods group’s real and virtual stores.
Mr Bertelli joined the Hong Kong listed business which is 80 per cent owned by the Prada family at the end of 2017 as head of marketing and communication with a remit to follow technology more closely.
The 31-year old, who is also a competitive racing car driver, has kept a low profile but his father, Patrizio Bertelli who is co-chief executive with designer Miuccia Prada, last year said their son had the task of improving the group’s digital strategy.
The brief is a key area where Mr Bertelli’s parents have lagged the competition. Mr Bertelli and Ms Prada were long holdouts about selling Prada’s €2,400 handbags and €690 platform shoes online. This left the family business slow to adapt to the way social media is changing shoppers buying habits and rewriting luxury business strategy.
In a statement, Mr Bertelli said Prada had agreed to adopt the new Adobe solutions across its communications strategy and global retail network to help integrate offline and online channels and deliver a more personalised experience to customers. The value of the agreement was undisclosed.
“It’s undeniable that the volume of data collected each year is growing exponentially which generates a very high level of complexity. It’s now crucial to dominate Big Data,” Mr Bertelli said.
The agreement to roll out Adobe’s Experience Cloud technology would allow Prada Group, which includes Prada, Miu Miu, Church’s and Car Shoe, to analyse the interactions between brands and consumers across all of its online properties and including social networks and the group’s global retail network of 634 stores worldwide, Prada said.
Prada shares were up 2 per cent in early Thursday trading. The stock plunged to its lowest level since 2016 in March after its full year profit unexpectedly dropped due to slower Chinese spending.
The entry of Mr Bertelli into the family business has doused speculation the family could sell to private equity or a bigger rival group such as Richemont.
Co-chief executive Patrizio Bertelli, 73, said last year of his son: “Lorenzo is getting ready to become one day — if he wants to — the head of Prada.”