After twelve years of experience in Marketing and Communication in major companies, Isabelle Hossenlopp is now a freelance journalist, sector expert for market research, speaker in various MBA Luxury and Editorial Content Creator.
Passionate about jewelry, she is a freelance journalist for luxury and watchmaking -Joaillerie Magazine. Hossenlopp is a writer and storyteller creating content for well-known houses and young brands. Focusing on marks in the luxury sector for jewelry, watchmaking, works of art, perfumes , fashion, wines & spirts creators.
Her good knowledge of the field and an extensive network in luxury allows her to be a partner in marketing and image studies, trend analysis as a jewelry industry expert.
Also, Hossenlopp is a speaker in Luxury MBA on Storytelling and Jewelry, she allows us to discover her world and passion for jewelry.
Q. Among your activities, You present yourself as an editorial content creator and storyteller. Please define editorial content and story content according to you in few words
A. Editorial content is a collection of words and expressions, which can also be videos, music and images. It translates the values of the brand and must build the message that it wants to send. At the very beginning, it is necessary to establish a wording in agreement with the customer, which I see a little like a "reserve" of words, images and ideas in which we will draw the inspiration each time the brand expresses itself, whether in communication or to start a new collection. This reserve is continuously filled, of course, but it must keep an axis, a solid base to give long-term benchmarks to the customer and to people who are interested in the brand. The repetition of the message is essential for its memorization. This content must be disseminated to any entity of the company, including in overseas subsidiaries and it must be shared with partners such as writers and translators for example so that all messages are consistent and focused on the values of the company.
Storytelling is the act of building the history of the brand. The storyteller will exploit all the information he has at his disposal, sometimes conduct research, watch the competitors, conduct interviews ... There are certain aspects he will highlight and others less, simply because it is necessary to prioritize information, focus on the ones that make sense. We can't talk about everything. We must select, create landmarks, clear magnetic fields, understandable and most likely to arouse the imagination of the reader. If the editorial content already exists, it will use it, of course. Otherwise, his role will be to create it.
Q. Web Editor, Advisor, Journalist, etc ... it is a portfolio of experience! You wanted to do this from the beginning?
A. I have been doing this for 5 or 6 years. As Marketing Director of Chanel Jewelry, I had worked a lot on the storytelling of the House. For us, it was important to make our high jewelery credible and legitimate with customers accustomed to fancy jewelry. It was necessary to research the history of Coco Chanel and Maison Chanel. Coco Chanel launched a collection of diamonds in 1932 and her rich and varied inspiration in couture, her sense of detail, her determination to perfection allowed us to say many things. We had to be able on every piece, even the smallest, to tell a story related to the brand. It was an exciting job!
One day, I thought of my two passions, jewelry and storytelling. How to combine the two? I started writing articles for the press about trends and brands of jewelry, then texts for brands (press kits, sites, ...), then I started to teach my passion to students. I have very varied activities, I never do the same thing for two days in a row, but everything revolves around identity, storytelling and writing.
Q. Why is it so important to tell a story as a brand?
A. Storytelling arouses the imagination and creates the attachment to the brand. The customer does not only buy a jewel or an object but a universe, a promise. Storytelling also helps to emerge from the competition, stronger and stronger, and position the brand with its own unique spirit and identity. It creates emotion. I always insist with my students, telling them that storytelling is not only a story that is told but must elicit that emotion and imagination that create attachment. Finally, when speaking to foreign luxury customers such as Asians, who do not have the culture of Western luxury, it gives them the keys to understanding and decrypting the brand.
Q. What inspires you and / or influences you the most?
A. The history of brands. There is a lot to say when they are over a century old. In their long history, there is an artistic inspiration linked to the art of the different periods, like Art Deco, among others, which was - and remains - so prestigious in the minds. The beauty of the stones also fascinates me, I can look at a stone like a painting. So when I see a jewel, I imagine a lot of things, objects, landscapes, a city, an animal ... a story is gradually emerging in my imagination and I describe what I see. Images can come fast or take a week of reflection. Writing is rarely a click. The Chinese and Japanese inspiration interest me particularly. In our European culture, they keep something mysterious and profound that Europeans feel never quite seize. This delicacy of line and colors subjugates us and I am sensitive to it.
Q. By browsing your website we can not miss the passion you have for jewelery, where do you get this passion?
A. When I was very young, as soon as I had some pocket money, I bought jewels, not real ones of course. I always looked at them in the magazines we had at home. They made me dream, I saw small art objects in them. Then I did "Sciences Po" and I wanted to become a diplomat, the luxury did not attract me and I forgot them. I went back to Chanel a little by chance and I owe a lot to this beautiful House where I spent 7 beautiful years to take care of jewelry. Since then, the love of jewelry has never left me.
Q. As part of writing and journalism; What is your writing style? This little "plus" that differentiates you from others?
A. It may be to others to tell me, I can not judge myself but I often hear that I have a pretty poetic style. Who can please or not. I always invite my future clients to visit my site and look at my style before coming back to me.
Q. As an MBA speaker, what do you like about teaching at IFA Paris or other institutions?
A. Transmit a passion. I do not always succeed, some students listen to me politely without experiencing this passion. But when I find some later at jewelers, I think I may have help that in some way. They tell it to me sometimes and it's a nice reward! I also like to share my knowledge in the writing technique, it will always serve them, whatever their job. At IFA, students have a curious mind, they are interested in art and creation. The jewels are part of the finery, which is their future profession, so overall, there is a beautiful symbiosis with them.
Q. Do you have plans to come? Which ?
A. I would like to deepen my historical culture and work more with Asia by making this intercultural bridge between French and Asian culture by allowing them to adapt their storytelling to a more international clientele.
Q. What advice would you give to a young student who would like to follow a path similar to yours?
A. Be passionate! Without passion, the path is difficult. You should not read a book or an article without having the idea of enriching your vocabulary, to broaden your point of view, to feed your culture. And then you have to be interested in everything, I always start my classes as well: take an interest in everything, get out of your area of expertise. Having a base of culture allows, when a project presents itself, to put it immediately in its artistic, cultural, geographical context. Culture gives a broader view, hindsight, helps to find the right words. But be careful, you have to accept one thing: writing is a solitary work.
To know more about Isabelle Hossenlopp's work, visit her website http://isabelle-hossenlopp.com
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