LVMH Chief Digital Officer to join French crypto startup Ledger
Ian Rogers is transitioning from Chief Digital Officer to an advisory role at LVMH, and joining French crypto hardware and software maker Ledger as Chief Experience Officer.
“I’m extremely proud of what we have accomplished at LVMH the last five years. We exploded buzz words - “digital”, “data”, “social media”, “omnichannel”, etc — into practical applications focused on the future of the business,” Rogers said in a blog post.
He added: “The luxury business itself hasn’t changed, but the ways we create awareness and sell are changing dramatically, so at LVMH we have made many adaptations.”
“When I joined LVMH there was disagreement on strategies regarding online distribution which have since been rationalised, agreed upon, and are being executed.”
He noted that the company has started to build a practice around data and artificial intelligence, a move that will “drive customer satisfaction, reduce waste, and drive sales in the coming years”.
“We built bridges and partnerships with the companies surrounding our industry, from the thousands of startups who have applied to the LVMH Innovation Award to partnerships with Google, Apple, and Salesforce,” he commented.
At Ledger, Rogers will oversee the B2C business, including product, marketing, and sales.
“There is no question that cryptocurrency will be a part of our lives in the future, and that it will change the landscape of finance,” he said in his blog post.
“Last year I would go to my corner grocer in Paris and pay with cash. Today, they prefer you pay with Apple Pay or by tapping your credit card. This trend will continue, pandemic or no.”
“But I don’t see a future where Visa International takes a small percentage of every cashless transaction when digital cash is technically possible,” he concluded.
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