Growing your brand: The glamour and the global

Trinco will be sharing her business secrets with other business owners next month as part of Small Business September in New South Wales. She will be speaking at an event, Glamour, Global and Growth and joined by Jodie Fox, co-founder of online shoe design website, Shoes of Prey.

See also our Shoes of Prey case study.

After working in the fashion industry as a designer for several years at brands such as Jigsaw, Oroton, Saba, Mambo and Fiorelli, Trinco decided to strike out on her own and launch her own online business in 2007, selling high-end luxury change bags for mothers.

Last year, Il Tutto went international and is now stocked in 15 countries in more than 150 stores, including Harrods in the UK. Trinco’s bags have been seen dangling on the arms of celebrities such as Cate Blanchett, Danni Minogue, Sarah Murdoch, Jackie O and Miranda Kerr.

“I think you've got to know your niche and customer. It's not an easy time, but if you offer exceptional customer service and exceptional follow up service, then customers are buying more than a product. They’re buying into the brand and its philosophy and it's important to create that in this climate,” she told Smarter Business Ideas.

According to Trinco, when customers buy an Il Tutto bag, they are not only purchasing a product, they have also become part of the Il Tutto community, which has been largely fuelled by Facebook. At the moment, the Il Tutto fanpage has more than 2,000 members, who actively discuss baby-related topics and share photos of their children on the page.

There are some customers who have five or six Il Tutto products, which have become ‘status’ bags and collectible items, said Trinco.

“It's not an everyday purchase. We made sure we didn't out-price ourselves, so the end consumer is not too narrow. But it is an aspirational purchase.”

For more information on Glamour, Global and Growth, click on the Small Business September website.