Kevin Slade, Director of Growth at DUXIANA, continues the conversation on the importance of partnerships and unveils some upcoming collaborations.
Late last year, we spoke with Swedish bed and furniture manufacturer DUXIANA on the benefits of being a DUX partner, exploring their ongoing partnerships across a number of sectors. These included Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and The Arran Hotel in St Andrews, Fife. More on both Spurs and their hotel business, which has already seen the company partner up with more than 150 prestigious hotels globally, later.
For now, the attention focuses on a new, sky-high collaboration with airline SAS. DUXIANA has been appointed as Official Comfort Partner of SAS airline, as Kevin Slade, Director of Growth at DUXIANA, explains: “We have been working with the brand for many years but this new initiative takes our relationship to new heights and will see us with dedicated relaxation areas within the Gold member lounges at Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen airports.
“We will be utilising a number of our iconic furniture pieces to create various vibes or environments from small group work areas, to casual chatting spaces through to individual chill zones. In addition to this, we will build on the existing sleep rooms that exist in the Copenhagen lounge to further enhance our offering to the SAS customers.”
And that’s not all. The partnership will also see DUXIANA products become a fixture on board SAS aircraft too. “Away from the lounges and moving on board, we are providing the pillows, duvets and comfort kits within the first-class cabins across the fleet,” continues Kevin. “This ensures that we have enhanced the comfort of the premium traveller from the airport to their destination. It’s an exciting partnership for us and we look forward to seeing how our collaboration grows.”
From the sky to sound, next up on the partnership programme takes DUXIANA to Danish premium audio and vision producer, Bang & Olufsen. Officially announcing the collaboration in May, Kevin said that it was a “no brainer” to forge a relationship due to the many points of “synergy” between both brands. “We are preparing our announcement of our new Bang & Olufsen (B&O) collaboration next month, where there are many points of synergy between our brands. We are both 98 years old and seen as high-end premium/luxury brands and products, while also both predominately manufacture all aspects, or at least key the elements, of our products in house to having an almost identical customer demographic.
“The collaboration will see us launch a handcrafted statement headboard constructed in solid wood and upholstery with any premium features that also includes B&O sound. The product will be exclusivity available through the DUXIANA retail channel and will be offered in three wood finishes with a number of further customisable elements.”
The main launch event is planned to be in Malmö during early May before simultaneous events in London and Los Angeles. Staying in London, DUXIANA has also revealed plans to further enhance their ongoing partnership with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
As previously reported, the Spurs collaboration has been a huge success story for both brands, which saw every player kitted out with a DUX Bed, both at home and at the training ground, with sleep an important ingredient when trying to achieve sporting success.
“The partnership is working really well,” said Kevin. “The products have been really well received as has our concierge style of service. To ensure that the players gain the full effects of sleeping in The DUX Bed, a personalised fitting for each player was carried out to set their Pascal, lumbar support and pillow needs, which is the level of attention to detail we provide to all our DUX users.”
Spurs players got to learn about the products DUXIANA provides, as well as the benefits of its unique customisable comfort zone system, called Pascal – their patented Cassette System named in honour of the French physicist and mathematician, Blaise Pascal. A “pascal” is an international unit of measure for pressure, and in DUX’s case, a measure of the precise pressure required by each spring to support a resting body of a particular size, shape and weight.
Adding to this partnership, Kevin revealed a sneak peak of what’s to come. “We are now working with the club to enhance the comfort and maybe even the sleep of the players when travelling, be that by bus or air. This is likely to be in place for preseason travel, but that’s all we can say right now, so watch this space.”
Kevin didn’t stop teasing there either, with two more under-wraps projects currently ongoing that are close to launch. One is the expansion of their hotel division here in the UK where the brand is working closely with a London hotel to kit out their premium suites with DUX beds, just like The Arran Hotel, while the other is the opening of their second British showroom, and their first outside the capital, in Stamford. Situated on Ironmonger Street, the new store is one of DUXIANA’s strategic locations to grow the business model and target audience, and opens this month adding to its Marylebone in London site.
“Our next hotel venture will see their premium suites offer a fully customised sleep experience utilising Pascal and pillow choices,” revealed Kevin. “From here we will look to move to all rooms across the hotel. As for our Stamford store, this forms part of our expansion strategy where we are actively looking for 6-10 retail partners across the UK that are in line with our strategy of offering, which is a premium unique product via a premium customer experience.
“The reason for each of these collaborations is of course to drive brand awareness, however more than that, they are driven by our desire to work with like-minded brands in a way that enhance people’s lives. We will continue to explore further opportunities and have a number of equally exciting possibilities on the horizon.”
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