Movado Foregoes Basel for Davos Summit

Davos, Switzerland--Movado Group Inc., maker of Movado, Coach, Tommy Hilfiger and Rebecca Minkoff watches, is in the midst of its first Movado Group Summit.

The four-day event, which began March 17 and concludes today (March 20), includes about 300 distributors from 40 countries who have gathered in Davos, Switzerland to see new product from its portfolio.

“We wanted to create a different meeting experience for our key partners—an experience that would be inspiring and informative within the dramatic beauty of Davos, Switzerland,” Movado Group Chairman and CEO Efraim Grinberg said about the decision to forego the Baselworld 2018 trade show in favor of this new summit.

Movado said the summit features speakers discussing topics such as the empowered consumer and digital and social media.

The company also announced two key hires tasked with driving its global digital strategy.

Behzad Soltani is Movado’s new chief digital officer. Soltani will be in charge of creating Movado Group’s Digital Center of Excellence through “innovative technologies” and consumer-oriented projects, the company said. He will report to Grinberg.

Soltain previously worked at online wholesale retailer Boxed, where he was vice president and general manager of the business-to-business sector, and Keurig, where he served as vice president and general manager and focused on improving e-commerce.

Movado also has appointed Michelle Barna-Stern as vice president of social media. Barna-Stern will report to Chief Marketing Officer Mary Leach and will be tasked with increasing Movado’s digital and social footprint and using it to communicate effectively and authentically with consumers.

She has joined Movado from 360i, where she worked as the vice president of social marketing, working with clients such as Oreo, Nestle, Pernod Ricard and Subway.

Grinberg commented, “Connecting with our consumers digitally is one of our top priorities as we invest in building our Digital Center of Excellence and execution of digital initiatives that support our global brands. We are committed to adding the senior talent needed to elevate our digital capabilities and social connections and are thrilled to welcome Behzad and Michelle, both proven and innovative leaders.”

Paramus, New Jersey-based Movado Group produces watches under the Movado, Olivia Burton, Ebel, Concord, Coach, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Juicy Couture, Lacoste, Scuderia Ferarri, Rebecca Minkoff and Uri Minkoff labels. It also operates Movado stores in the United States.