Interview with CEO of OMAS
Christophe Artaux

Classic Fountain Pens has always considered OMAS to be the "racehorse" of fountain pens with a long history and beautiful nibs. In 2006 OMAS went through a major transition when Christophe Artaux took over as CEO. With his approachable nature and eye for detail we are happy to know his plans for this fine fountian pen company.

CFP: What were the challenges at OMAS when you arrived?

CA: My challenge in coming to OMAS was capitalizing on the strong and successful story of the brand while at the same time modernizing our overall approach to the market through an updated product. I also had to bring evolutions on the branding, marketing support and production organization in Bologna.

CFP: Does the long history of OMAS as a family business influence the decisions you make with the company?

CA: Permanently. It is our duty to remain fully loyal to our heritage, to Omas's strong values of outstanding design, craftsmanship and innovation. While keeping with that philosophy, we are also committed to make our brand evolve in such a way that it remains modern. It's all about finding the right balance, especially as far as the product is concerned.

CFP: How has becoming a part of a bigger corporation affected the way that OMAS pens are being made?

CA: Many investments have been made possible when LVMH acquired Omas now 7 years ago. These are investments in the production capacity but also investments in people.


CFP: What kind of changes have occurred since you took charge?

CA: I have to say that we went through a lot of changes over the past 2 years; it's been quite an exciting period. First of all we decided to rework our basic assortment and propose a clear and distinctive offering of our four families of products (Arte Italiana / Emotica / Bologna / 360). Emotica was introduced in September 2006 and the other three lines have all been restyled in the last 2 years. The new Bologna is being launched (June 2007) and the new 360 will follow in September 2007. It was an opportunity not only to work the aesthetics in order to modernize the design, but also to further improve the product performances and price positioning. During the past 2 years, we also expanded our international distribution, primarily in China where we are planning an ambitious development for the years to come and made some changes in our production organization in our Bologna headquarters.

CFP: What sorts of challenges do you foresee for the company?

CA: Mainly our capacity to convince new consumers to purchase writing instruments. The category is not growing, at least on most of the markets. Trying to "steal" market share from the competition is surely one challenge we are working on every day, another one is to bring new consumers to the category. But this goes beyond Omas.

CFP: Many of our customers are steering clear of the new Paragon because of its size and metal gripping section. Why did OMAS make such a departure from what many people thought was the pinnacle of fountain pens?

CA: The new Paragon is actually our best-seller. Through this restyling of the new Paragon, we wanted to give more importance and preciousness to the pen, maybe also a little bit of modernity. Aware of the fact that some of our valuable customers prefer the cotton resin nib-holder, we kept this solution on the Milord fountain pen size (actually pretty much the size of the old Paragon). And we did the same on the Milord Arco brown fountain pen.

CFP: How are you going to make really great fountain pens that can compete in this age of rollerballs and laptops?

CA: Fifty-percent of our sales mix is made of fountain pens. We still intend to develop them with great attention and through re-engineering for permanance (the most recent example was on the new Paragon with our development of an outstanding new ebonite feeder). And obviously we are listening to the market to understand the trends.

CFP: What would you like to see OMAS become?

CA: Omas has the potential to become THE reference in luxury writing instruments. Beyond this category, I also believe OMAS has a beautiful future of becoming in the long term, a more "overall" luxury brand, extending its offer to accessories.

CFP: What part did you play in deciding to have Kenro distribute OMAS in North America?

CA: After a very good job of our previous team through our New Jersey LVMH Watch &Jewelry division, I thought it was time to have the brand be distributed by a specialist of the Fine Writing Instruments category. The main reason for this was that the synergies with LVMH Watches organization were small. So I went through a US distributors selection process last year and we gladly signed with Kenro as of Jan 1st 07.

CFP: What were the reasons for choosing Kenro as the OMAS distributor?

CA: Kenro has a talented team with long-lasting experience in the market and an excellent reputation of service and dedication.

When I met Joel Blumberg in my hotel during our first contact in NY, we "connected" quickly. And I can tell you that Kenro has been doing an outstanding job on the brand since they took over, we are very happy with the current developments.

CFP: What is your favorite fountain pen at this moment? For all time?

CA: The Paragon Arco celluloid with HT finishings. For all time.

CFP: Thank you, Christophe.