Page 32 - November 2020

© Lewis Harrison-Pinder
© Jon Waagstein

offers brands multiple opportunities to reach and build
like Farfetch you will struggle to find anything that looks, or
The Adventure is as thoughtfully segmented as SEIKK,” explains de Paula. relationships with their customers via native advertisements
and campaign activations. What makes the company
In the coming months the business has new development
unique is their ability to seamlessly integrate brand and
phases on the horizon which will see greater integration
options for brands and other retailers as well as the
retail partners’ products into the features via our product
Lifestyle Experience development of some vertical product and more brand catalogue, take a sales commission and provide a clearer
return on ad spend (ROAS).
influencer collaborations.
Meanwhile in-house, SEIKK are developing their creative,
Their in-house creative studio can also create – in
marketing and media studio to help with content creation
of media from immersive and SEO rich editorial, photo
for internal use, as well as for external brands and clients. conjunction with their network of influencers – a range
There are also discussions taking place with investors to shoots, video production to white label content.
help grow the team and scale more rapidly when the time “Social media is a really important touch point and
rawing together a compelling flow of curated department stores and this is evident throughout the
products and stories, the mission of SEIKK is SEIKK brand. The company is a department store of the is right. gives us a great opportunity to reach our tribe around the
to help customers discover the tools they future for active gentlemen. Since launching in 2018, they “We have a lot of ways to integrate products and technology world and connect directly with likeminded people, brands
Dneed for their next adventure. Through the have built up partnerships with over 200 retail partners to cope with that multi-channel approach, which in turn and influencers. We currently have a network of over ten
cultivation of tailored micro-environments, they create a and 2,000 products. limit our stock availability concerns,” de Paula says. He accounts on Instagram with over 40,000 followers,” explains
more immersive and sustainable shopping experience. For Their focus is currently on the UK with it being the goes on to explain that one of the benefits of the affiliate de Paula.
active gentlemen who like whisky, menswear, surf, vintage brands home market and where most of their current channel is that it offers potentially limitless stock options When discussing the changes brought on by Covid-19,
rides and the great outdoors, this is the place for you. suppliers and customers are based. However, being an and allows them to scale quickly off the back of brand and Charles mentions that SEIKK has not been nearly as badly
“Having worked in or around retail for most of my life, online concept with a strong social media presence they retail partners utilising their stock, delivery capacity and affected as other businesses. However, they have felt the
I have found the experience to be often quite boring, do reach and have customers from quite a few other customer services. knock-on effect that the virus has caused, which in retail has
particularly online,” explains Charles de Paula, Founder markets including the USA, Australia, Hong Kong, Western “Digital is a great connector, however I’m still a great notably been oversupply and undersupply issues, changing
& CEO of SEIKK. “Most of what we buy these days are Europe, UAE and even Brazil. believer that you need to be flexible and play to the shopping patterns and more discounting.
‘wants’ not ‘needs’, but retail remains rather entrenched in “I feel that SEIKK is probably the only platform or particular strengths of each medium or channel. The physical Looking to the future and the challenges SEIKK faces, de
convenience and monotony rather than experience and ‘shoppable magazine’ that focuses on style, sport and space will always be more sensory but the digital space Paula says that starting a business is exciting but certainly
entertainment.” adventure lifestyle specifically for men in the 30-50 age should be more diverse and personalised. So for me the not easy. “We launched online into a crowded UK market,
Deep down Charles has always loved the idea of range. From soulless marketplaces to more tasteful ones ultimate omni-channel experience is dynamic and varied so like any new business brand awareness and the cost of
and not just about a convenient or seamless customer customer acquisition continue to be challenging. Aside from
journey via a number of separate touch points.” this I would say finance, resources and algorithms continue
SEIKK is a direct-to-consumer focused magazine that to be obstacles for us.”

A shoppable magazine for active gentleman, SEIKK is a concept born out of

a desire to merge content and commerce online and bring together a more
considered lifestyle approach for active gentlemen. Here, RLI speaks with

Charles de Paula, Founder & CEO of the business to discuss how the company “On a more personal level I’m a
started and what its aims are for the future. bit of a perfectionist, which in
© Colin Rex business is probably a curse.”