EXCLUSIVE: Pandora New ‘Me’ Line Taps Addison Rae, Charli XCX, More
PARIS — Pandora is unveiling its revamped Me line, a key step in the ambitious growth strategy the Danish brand outlined in mid-September.
But don’t expect it to be anything like its previous incarnation launched in October 2019, said Pandora chief marketing officer Carla Liuni, who joined the company in the weeks running up to Europe’s March 2020 lockdowns.
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“It was a great intuition but not entirely leveraged and executed,” she told WWD on a call, explaining that the collection has now been reinvented to better match its Gen Z target.
To support the launch, the brand is rolling out a 360-degree communication campaign featuring talents American musician and actor Addison Rae; English singer-songwriter Charli XCX; Canadian dancer Donté Colley; Filipino-British singer-songwriter Beatrice Laus, known professionally as Beabadoobee; and Italian musician Cecilia Cantarano.
The Pandora executive praised their individual achievements as well as the range of their creative tracks. “Clearly they are striving to do the best and develop themselves, on a path of self-discovery and self-expression across different fields,” she said.
Styled as a collective that represents the “Pandora Me tribe on a global level,” the group is characterized by “a common language around music and creation” and will be supplemented in each local market by “two additional ambassadors who are relevant at local level” to be revealed at later dates, according to Liuni.
“When we were looking at [our audience], we found that 81 percent of them named music as the number-one passion point, and an embodiment of self-expression and the [Gen Z] culture, we wanted to celebrate a collective of individuals and creatives because we believe that using a community of many will allow [consumers] to feel part of a bigger world,” she said.
The campaign, which also includes videos on how to style and swap out elements, is inspired by the aesthetics of digital culture and was filmed by American music film director Hannah Lux Davis, who has previously collaborated with the likes of Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj. Charli XCX contributed an exclusive track titled “Sweat,” which talks about individuality.
“Put simply, it’s a new generation of jewelry — more of a platform — which has been designed very much for personalization,” she said, adding that Pandora had identified an appetite for “jewelry with a voice that helps them express their identity and reflect who they are” from customers.
The Me collection distinguishes itself from Pandora’s core Moments, which focuses on what Liuni called “jewelry as a biography, strong with meaning and personal milestones” by being a “complementary but more playful, more fun customizable proposition that allows the wearer to express their identity and personality.”
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She described the “for every story, for every me” tagline as being a reflection of the Gen Z desire to “be who they are, in a diverse, inclusive way while being part of a bigger community with similar codes and language,” and to have these two facets represented in their style.
Sitting at the more affordable end of the Pandora universe, the Me line will be a full cross-category assortment. Earrings and rings as well as chain-based bracelets and necklaces will be available in silver and 14-karat rose gold plated metal, ready to be loaded up with colorful motifs, medallions and additional links that feature words such as “believe” or “freedom.”
The 82-piece range will be priced between 19 euros for smaller motifs, and up to 249 euros for a silver-and-cultivated-pearl necklace. Collectible limited editions are also in the works, in keeping with the overall Pandora modus operandi.
“We have a pricing that hits the right value for our consumer because we know that Gen Z is value-conscious,” Liuni said.
The collection will be rolled out globally at the end of September, with a China-specific launch slated for 2022.
“China is one of the key opportunities for growth we have in the future, and we want first and foremost, to build and strengthen the core ‘Moments’ proposition over the next 12 months before adding this complementary universe,” Liuni said.
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