Yann Bozec on global expansion
From #188 – Why Most Fail to Understand Their Customers – With Yann Bozec · · Made in China Podcast
“There is a particular risk for brands that succeed in a large home market — many American companies focus so much on their home pie that expanding abroad becomes dangerous; European brands often build global muscle earlier because their home markets are smaller.”
On , Yann Bozec, President of Tapestry Asia Pacific and President & Chief Executive Officer of Coach Asia Pacific at Tapestry, Inc., spoke about global expansion during #188 – Why Most Fail to Understand Their Customers – With Yann Bozec on Made in China Podcast.
About Yann Bozec
Yann Bozec, former President & CEO of Coach Asia Pacific and now Founder & CEO of YB Stratis, spoke at a CEIBS InnoTalk event in Shanghai on April 30, 2026, about luxury branding in the age of AI. He argued that brands should prioritize relevance over aesthetics, stating that "what is really important is not to look beautiful. It's to look relevant for your target audience." Bozec described a tension between maintaining a brand's DNA and adapting to customer desires, and said that AI accelerates content creation but does not fundamentally change branding strategy. Bozec also discussed personal branding, comparing the selection of clothing to creating content for one's own brand. He suggested that individuals should ask themselves "why am I here? Who I am? What really am I standing for?" and emphasized the importance of being "incredibly curious about what's happening in you and around you." He noted that long-lasting luxury brands "pay tribute to the intelligence of the hand" as a distinguishing factor.