Francois Pouria Latscha, Brand Specialist

0:02Welcome to the Business of Modeling, the podcast where we explore the fascinating world of the modeling industry. I'm Tessa Dewing, Managing Director of Sandra Reynolds, a commercial model agency celebrating its 50th year of business. Today from Dubai, I'm thrilled to introduce a guest whose entrepreneurial journey beautifully bridges the worlds of luxury hospitality, creative branding and fashion. Francois Poirier is the founder of Dubai Beach Boy, a brand renowned for its high-quality swimwear. With a background in marketing for prestigious brands such as intercontinental hotels and resorts, Francois has led iconic projects such as the rebranding of the Orient Express.

0:50Not only is he an accomplished brand manager, but he also models for his own brand, adding a personal touch to Dubai Beach Boys' image. Welcome to the podcast, Francois. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. If we can start with where you grew up and what your early life was like. So I grew up in Paris, where I was born, where I was raised. I stayed there for, yes, I would say 15 years. And then after that, I went to university in a city outside of Paris. OK, what did you study at university? I studied law, politics, international relations. OK. Then after that, I went to a school called Sciences Po, where it's also about politics, also about international relations, so kind of the same sort of topics.

1:44And were there any early influences or experiences that led you towards a creative path? My mother is an artist, so I think obviously there is definitely an influence on her to me. My parents, they always loved art and cultures. So I think, yes, from my childhood, from my background and my family, yes, I think it has an influence. And did you always sort of envision yourself working in fashion and branding? Not necessarily. I have always loved to look at brands and to just to think about what the story, what they tell, all those brands. I love storytelling, I love luxury experiences, I had the chance to travel a lot with my parents from a young age.

2:30I was always fascinated by all those amazing hotels and the brands behind those hotels. So my first job, actually, I was an intern for intercontinental hotels in France. I was doing marketing for France and South Europe. So it was also about Italy and Spain. Then I went to the UK, to the head office, to the global head office of IHG to improve my English as you need. And I was studying there. I was studying. I was still an intern as well. I was in sales for, I think, six months. And then my first real role, it was to do the marketing for a new hotel in Marseille in south of France. very beautiful hotel called Hotel Dieu which used to be a hospital erected by Louis XIV so very beautiful place the job I had to do it was really to implement and to create the marketing plan then after that I went to because I did well with that job I came back to the head office in in the UK and quite quickly I became in charge of marketing for all the intercontinental hotels in Europe so 32 hotels to do the marketing mostly tactical marketing.

3:48What do you mean by tactical marketing? It's all the type of campaigns that are created to drive revenue for hotels for example we have 32 intercontinental hotels so it would be to create all the campaigns to drive revenue for winter so the winter campaigns or the summer campaigns or all these sort of activation marketing activation to to really drive revenue to those hotels. Sure and presumably you will also booking a lot of models during your time? Yes, because here I'm talking about campaigns as a whole, but of course, when it comes to communicating the campaigns, you have to use what we call brand assets or commercial marketing assets.

4:28And so you need lots of images, lots of videos to communicate the story that the campaign is telling. So if that's summer, you need to book the right models that are the right models for the brand, for the Intercontinental brand, because those models need to be aligned with the customers who are booking this brand. In some cases, for example, you need to have children if that's a family campaign, you know, so all that sort of thing you have to think about. And then from Intercontinental, where did you go from that role? Belmont. In that role, I was a global brand manager. And where were you based?

5:04I was based also in London. In that role, it was all about rebranding Belmond. So Belmond, it's actually an old brand. It used to be Orient Express Hotels Group, but they decided to change the name to Belmond before I joined, but they were not very happy with the rebranding. People didn't know what Belmond stood for. And of course, the Orient Express is just so iconic to suddenly change that. So that's very difficult to do because when you decide to rebrand, you start from scratch. You need to redefine the identity, the brand identity, the brand philosophy. Everything about the brand needs to be built again.

5:48So I was part of that journey of rebranding Belmont. So this is a different type of job because this is not purely marketing, tactical, about campaigns and driving revenue. Here it's more about, it's more general. role. And so when you were there, what were some of the key marketing strategies? What we did is really created the brand from start, you know, what is a Belmont property? What does that mean through so many different aspects from a design point of view, from a tone of voice point of view, from a guest point of view, what is a guest journey? I guess you have to put yourself in the shoes of your clients, of your customers and how they are going to perceive the change.

6:28Exactly. What we did, we tried and we succeeded to define what is a Belmont experience, you know, from the day you arrive to the day you leave the hotel to create all those moments, all those touch points to make it memorable and to make it Belmont. because you know nowadays you can go to so many different places but you need to find this balance between having those key touch points and key moments during your stay where you feel this is the Belmont property and at the same time this property is also unique because it's such an iconic building that you need to feel the relation between the iconic building where you stay and the relation with the Belmont brand we used to be in a place in hospitality where a long time ago you would book a Hilton hotel and you would know the standards and very American.

7:20So you would know that it would be everywhere the same. Nowadays, for this type of property that are very luxurious, very iconic, you are staying at the Cipriani in Venice. And the Cipriani on its own, it's also a brand. It's such a strong building. You are staying at the Cipriani. But the idea was to say, it's unique. I am in Venice, but it's part of Belmont. Yeah. So they all still have their own identity. Exactly. But it's part of something bigger to discover and to explore. And what were some of the biggest challenges you faced? It's actually quite difficult to navigate between keeping a strong identity of a place and also creating a brand.

8:01So you need to find a way to make them connect. Also, we are talking about places that are extremely famous and also very old. and also you have to respect and understand the place and this is something that you can really only do if you go to those places to understand the people walking there to understand the history of the place why people love that place so much so I think that is something that you can't just do from a head office you have to go and which is your favourite that you visited? I love to stay in the one in Portofino it's Blandido very beautiful hotel with a beautiful view and beautiful history with Elizabeth Taylor staying for her honeymoon.

8:43It's a very beautiful, amazing place.

8:49So from Belmond, I moved to Dubai. So I decided to start a new career in some ways because I was not in the fashion industry. When I was at Belmond in the brand department, so we were also in charge of creating the brand from any sort of perspectives. One of the perspectives is also the uniform. So I was already working, make sure that the uniform we are creating are aligned with the positioning of the restaurant of each hotel. So I was not in the fashion industry entirely, but I was starting to get into that world indirectly. Then I moved to Dubai. And I mean, you know, after so many years in London where it's gray and rainy, I mean, it's a beautiful city, London, but it's very different from Dubai.

9:33So I was very excited. so much sun, a lot of energy coming out of this weather and entering the sea, you know, the beach. What happened is that I was spending so much time working out on the beach and have so many friends telling me from London, from Europe, we can't keep seeing you on Instagram, on the beach. You're such a Dubai beach boy. You have become a Dubai beach boy. So this is coming from that story that the brand is called Dubai Beach Boy. and because I love working out on the beach I was trying to find beachwear actually it's not easy to find beachwear in Dubai that are affordable in the mid-range in Dubai you have lots of items either very cheap and not necessarily good quality or very expensive from the big brands nothing really made locally so this is why I came up with my own brand and did you face any doubts or challenges when you were setting that up yes because you know when you come to a new country you don't know actually at all the system.

10:31So you know you have to have different documentations and so you need to learn how to build a business in a country that you don't know very well because I was new at the time. I really wanted to make my products locally because it's something that matters to me to be sustainable. It's becoming more and more important here in Dubai but it's not as big as in Europe. So the challenge for me was to find good suppliers, good fabrics. I think I have this background in hospitality where I understand the importance of the destination, you know, because when you promote a hotel, you don't only promote only a place, you also promote the destination.

11:10What I noticed as well is that in Dubai, you have so many tourists, they love Dubai, they want to come to Dubai, they're excited. And as always, when you go somewhere you want to materialize your experience with a gift you know with a souvenir for women it's easier because you have so many kaftan and so many nice things to buy your scarf or whatever it's easy but for men it is very difficult so this is why the the dubai aspect is important because people are also buying my products because they want to have a bit of the part of the lifestyle of that dubai represents i think looking back were there any experiences or lessons from your past roles that proved invaluable like the experience you'd had oh yes many many many because uh of course my my um my experience in branding it helped me to to create a brand to create the storytelling to create the consistency the identity uh so all these sort of different processes very naturally to you you didn't have to research that you just that was there no this is my thread this is what i didn't need to learn i needed to learn all about And that's the most important thing, I think.

12:18You can have the best product in the world if you can't brand it well and market it well, no one's ever going to know. Exactly. Before you came to Dubai, had you modeled before? Not really. No, I was not a model in the UK or in France. But you started to model for your own brand here. Exactly. So I started modeling for my own brand here in Dubai, but also for other brands. so I enjoyed it I thought it was amazing I still do it from time to time when there is an opportunity it's working mostly freelancing you have lots of agencies some good ones some bad ones like everywhere where you would register they send you you know what the client is what they are looking for and if you are fitting you can go for a casting and then you are going to go for the fitting and And I thought it was pretty easy.

13:10It's just Dubai, because Dubai is becoming such an attractive city, you have more and more people coming. So the competition is more and more important. And I think also it's probably not paid as much as it is in Europe. I think that the pay is a bit under what it is in Europe. You learn a lot of things because especially me was not a professional model when I started in Dubai. You learn a lot of things from any situations anyway, you know. But for example, going to a photo shoot, you see from the pictures taken by the photographers how to strike a pose and what looks good on you. And this has helped me after that also to model for my own brand.

13:48Because you learn from those professional people that are surrounding you. And then you can apply it for your own brand and promote your own product. Do you think you being the face of your brand helped the brand grow? Like, do you think people buy into the brand more because you are the face of it? I think it helps. I think it helps because people, they want to know who is behind the brand. They like to understand a bit the backstage and to know the story of your brand. So if you put yourself forward, if you have the face, you can tell yourself the story. I think it's more authentic, it's more sincere.

14:28And in my case, it's exactly what happened. And also, I think that people, they prefer to follow on social media someone rather than a brand, because a brand, it seems as too commercial. It feels like you want to sell something where if you if if that's you, if you put yourself forward and because this is my brand, it is also me. They are more interested in me as well. You know, it's a bit less commercial. And I think they are more keen to follow and to look into the content. Yeah. And I think people buy into people. So I think, you know, for your customers to know who is behind the brand and know about you, I think is really valuable and important too.

15:12I think so. Yeah. Do you look for models with a social profile? Is that important to you? Because I'm still a new brand and I don't have a big marketing budget, most of the pictures you have on my grid on Instagram, they're all friends of mine. I selected them because we get on well, they are nice guys. They like the products also. What is the most important for me is that I ask people to model for my brand because they generally like the products. Because they are more than just models on the grid, they are ambassadors. models. And that's true for me that it's important that they have a good social following because obviously it's going to increase my visibility.

15:55So they're not necessarily professional models, they're friends of yours, they could be in different careers, but they just have the right feel for your brand. Exactly. And they align with my brand, with the story of my brand, with what it represents. What advice would you give models who might be looking to work with emerging brands like yours? they need to understand the brand they need to look at the product to see if they lack it I do think that it's very good for everyone and especially new models when it's a new brand to understand that the budgets and the requirements are not the same I think it's good for them to start with those brands because they are going to get good pictures for their portfolio and it's a good way to start we always start from somewhere And if the models, if they are good, they are going to grow and they're going to become more established and probably they're going to get into bigger, stronger brands.

16:48But they should give a chance to young brands because they can get more than they think out of it. And Francois, we have a lot of models listening to our podcast. And I'd like to ask you, can you tell me why you think personal branding is important for models? How does a strong personal brand impact a model's career and opportunities? I think what's important it's always to to find to find a gap in the market you know because this is what matters you need to even if you are good looking or even if you have a good product if your product is looks good and if that's a good product but if that's not a product that the customers want it's not going to go anywhere so don't just follow what everyone else is doing try and find something I agree exactly and sometimes it doesn't have to be too complicated because if you look at my brand, I'm doing a product that is good value for money, locally made, simple, good quality, good price, where there is a relation with Dubai.

17:51I am the only local beachwear brand for men. Yeah. Made in Dubai. So if you're a model, you know, if you're looking at that strategy, it's about finding your USP and... Absolutely. It doesn't have to be too complicated or you should not overthink things, you know. It's just me, it's not complicated. It's just a beachwear collection, locally made, but there was nothing like it here in Dubai.

18:26Dubai is attracting a surge of new international brands at the moment. What's driving the influx? I think Dubai has become a world global city. It used to be, but it's more true now. It's not completely new, but it's becoming, Dubai is becoming more and more hot and sexy. I mean, it's definitely hot for sure, but it's... But we're here in the winter, and we're boiling. Exactly. I mean, Dubai, the last few years, I have seen so many people. I remember I moved to London in 2014 and 2015, and I felt, wow, this is the place to be. I love this place. London is so hot, it's so sexy, it's just so many opportunities.

19:05I left London because I felt the city doesn't have those aspects anymore. It's still an amazing place, but those kind of feelings that I had about London, I have them in Dubai. Dubai has become, and this is I think where the rulers of Dubai and the UAE have been doing a great job, and they've managed in a relatively short time to create a city from scratch where everybody wants to have a flagship like Paris, like London, like New York. And it feels so, but I mean, still driving around, there's such a lot of development going on as well. I mean, it's still growing, isn't it? Oh, yeah, it's just from what we see from the different projects.

19:46It's just the beginning of so many other projects. So that's why all those global brands, They want to be here because they feel like they should be there. You know, they should be here. Dubai has become a name. You want to be associated with the name of Dubai, I think. How are they then localizing their identity here? The key feeder markets of Dubai are slightly different from all those places I was talking about. The people here, you know, you have lots of Russians, you have lots of Saudi, you have lots of Indians. And the stories from those places, they have different likings. So you still need to keep the spirit of the brand you want to bring to Dubai.

20:27Because if they want to bring it to Dubai, it's because they were successful where they started. They don't want to come here and completely change. Exactly. But they are going to make some smaller adjustments. So, for example, it's going to be because entertainment is so big in Dubai. people are expecting you know a lot of wow effect or a lot of shows artistic some sort of performance during your dinner that you maybe you won't have in in Saint-Tropez or in other places so these are all those little things you adapt to what people what they like here they love to have a shisha or you can you know mix a bit things without completely changing the original identity of the of the brand and then of course all these all the more brands that come in and creating more opportunities for you know creatives in the region so how can designers models and branding specialists position themselves to start working with these brands in dubai you need to to knock knock at the doors uh it's a bit different from i mean you need to hustle yes you need to hustle a lot in dubai you need to speak to everybody you need to meet everybody if you are shy it's going to be very um not difficult no it's not for you because dubai um at the end of the day we're not talking the same size of inhabitants as New York, London, and you know, where you have 10 millions.

21:43Here it's, it's, it's still big, but it's like three or four. So you would sort of tap into a small world quite quickly. And this small world, the connections you're going to make, you need to, to go for it, to embrace meeting new people. And if you make a product like me, you need to, to sell yourself, to sell your products and try to meet as many people as possible and convince them that your product is great and they should have them in their restaurant. And is there a lot of sort of referrals? So if you get a connection with someone, are they likely to tell other people? And then that's how it spreads.

22:18Yes, yes, yes. Because Dubai, this is something nice here that you have lots of expats. So everybody knows what it is to, you know, to be new in a place. So people are welcoming and supportive. And if you know how to connect, people will help you here to meet someone else. Maybe this person you're going to meet is maybe not the right person for you is going to help you but maybe this person knows someone else who's going to help you so you need to be patient you need to take the time you need to to hustle what trends do you think are emerging here like in fashion branding and luxury hospitality i think dubai used to be seen um as a place that is very bling bling you know all everything is gold and and it's this is the old dubai this is old Dubai you would imagine like 10-15 years ago.

23:04Now Dubai, because it's a city that knows how to reinvent itself and to follow the trends, the trends are more aligned with big global cities renowned for architecture and taste than you might think. It's keeping up with the trend definitely in Dubai, I think very much so. Dubai is interesting to be here because it's become I'm a more authentic, I think you're right, because people are staying here longer. I have met so many people here where they were telling me, oh, I came to Dubai and I thought I would stay only a year. And actually it's been 10 years I'm here and I never thought I would stay in Dubai.

23:43And I think here you have so many different nationalities that are bringing their taste and their cultures. And this is creating a sort of a world city. and in terms of taste, a nice combination of different trends that makes it a very worldly place. It's becoming a creative powerhouse for luxury branding, for kind of global brands. Yes, and also it's a place where you have still growth, you know, a lot of growth, where it's not easy to find growth at the moment in Europe or in the US and even in Asia. So I think for some brands, they understand that the Middle East market is a very important market for them because there are lots of opportunities.

24:22there is Saudi as well next door. Because it's a very different feel to Europe. If you grew up in France, it's very beautiful, very old. Do you miss that? Do you get to go back a lot? Yes, of course. I go often back in France and in England and in the UK. And I mean, what you love about UAE is what you don't find in Europe and the other way. So I don't think it's good to compare. I think it's best to embrace each place for what they have to offer you. what has been the most rewarding part of building your own brand so far a couple of times now when i've been walking uh in malls in dubai i've seen people wearing my brand and i think that that's for me it's um an achievement it feels it makes you feel good it makes you feel that you know people are buying and and and they like the brand they are wearing it and and when you remember where you are coming from you feel like you are achieving you know by by seeing other people wearing your your clothes.

25:20And what are your plans for the future of Dubai Beach Boy? Have you got any new products or expansions? So I'm getting more and more products for sure and also I'm going to to expand in new markets so for example I'm going to be soon in Salala which is a beautiful resort place in Oman. But the plan is to all the Beach Boys, you know, Saint-Tropez Beach Boys, Mykonos, Ibiza, and to have those, all those other destinations. How do you handle being both the creative and the business side? You're obviously doing both and you're good at both. How do you find that? I'm driven by creativity. I think it's my personality.

26:01So if you had to drop one, you would get someone else to do the business and you would stick with the creative probably because i think i'm better in in creativity in creation than in i think sometimes you have to to try to find a way to separate those two sides those two aspects because otherwise one aspect is going to take over the other one so you have to sort to plan your day and plan your your agenda to make sure that one aspect doesn't take over otherwise you you if i become too creative I'm just obsessed with fabrics and and I spend my my days into those shops and to run a business you need to think about the other elements as well and what's the biggest lesson you say that you have learned on your journey so far customers are always right you should always even if they're wrong exactly exactly because at the end of the day you are for me, you are creating a brand, you are making beachwear.

27:04If they don't sell, there is something wrong with your products. And you can't always anticipate what customers, what they want, what they like. So what I always do is that I always start with a very small collection. When I have a new idea, I start with, I don't know, like maybe 10 t-shirts of this new design. I put it in my best seller store and I'm gonna see how the customers how they are reacting do they like it they don't like it what are the feedback if there are feedback I'm gonna adapt and modify the design and if they don't sell it means this is it should be stopped right away and I see the mistakes of friends of mine creating businesses and they start with a a beautiful design and something they love and they make like too many products and they don't know what to do with them because actually the customers are not buying them because they are too expensive or because the margins are not good.

28:03They're not listening to that. They're still carrying on. You need to start. I think so far what's working for me, what's explained why I'm now in 30 locations and I think is you need to take your time step by step. Don't go too fast. Yes. Take your time. Don't go too fast because if you go too fast, you can go wrong very quickly. it's not easy because you need to find um enough confidence to stick to some to be able to make decisions but at the same time you need to listen to the customers you need to listen to also to your suppliers you know if they tell you oh be careful this fabric it's not going to be good if you're in a hot environment so you know if if your buyers they sweat it's not going to smell nice i'm not going to like a lot of stuff like that you need to think about so many you need to listen you need to listen everyone yeah um and then you need to make your own mind and stick to it

29:00so francois thank you so much for sharing your story with us today thank you so much your journey from the luxury hospitality sector to building a successful swimwear brand is really inspiring and i'm sure our listeners have gained really good insights into branding and entrepreneurship. Head over to DubaiBeachBoy.com. Products are available both online and in over 30 locations across the UAE. You can also follow on Instagram at Dubai Beach Boy. Thank you for joining us today.