Christopher Hope

Brand Manager, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Melbourne

There are certain cars that just get you around and then there is the epitome of elegance and beauty. Bespoke luxury and one of a kind craftsmanship is the business model that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has successfully positioned their brand; the top tier of the world’s most lavish automotive marques in the world.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Melbourne brand manager, Christopher Hope, or more affectionately known locally as ‘Mr Melbourne’, perfectly embodies these Rolls-Royce values and he speaks not only highly of the brand he represents, but also of how it continues to retain a focus on heritage and exclusivity. “People are attracted to the Rolls-Royce brand because it represents a lifestyle that many aspire to” says Hope. “Even when visitors walk into the showroom just to have a look, they are awestruck by the presence of these beautiful cars.”

“We are obviously not a massive volume manufacturer. We make enough cars to create a viable business, as there are just a certain number of Rolls-Royces on the road to the ratio of the population that makes it exclusive without being saturated,” Hope explains.

In this Hope is indeed accurate, as when these magnificent vehicles are seen on the road people are guaranteed to stop and look, not only to admire the fine detail and exquisite features of the car, but to wonder who owns it or drives it.

THE PERFECT PARTNERSHIP
The Melbourne business was recently acquired in late 2015 by the Zagame Automotive Group, a premium automotive company in Melbourne. According to Hope, there could not have been a more perfect partnership.

“I’m so excited to work with Zagame Automotive because they are well established as Melbourne’s exclusive dealer for high end cars and for Rolls-Royce in particular, we share the same vision and goals,” said Hope.

A family run business, Zagame Automotive successfully retail and support prominent brands such as Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Audi and ŠKODA and are the exclusive dealer for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Rolls‐Royce, Aston Martin and McLaren within Victoria. Zagame Automotive are passionate advocates of English and European motoring vehicles and operate over twenty award winning dealerships, parts and service centres located centrally throughout Melbourne and expanding.

The company’s managing director Bobby Zagame, along with his siblings and father, run a business with a firm focused on hospitality and service values. “Bobby and I have known each other for many years and we work well together and in particular we share the same vision and goals. The timing is also great, as the brand transforms to meet the needs of younger and more ethnically diverse customers with cars like Ghost, Wraith and the new stand-out convertible, Dawn” says Hope.

“If you think I’m Mr Melbourne, so is he and we often have a good laugh about it!”.

In fact, Hope is often recognised around Melbourne in most places he goes and is known for his love of bright and eye-catching colours and ever so helpful nature.

“How I dress reflects the way I work, as my role involves everything from sales & marketing, down to the selling cars on the floor and designing and personalising the cars for our clients”.

“I love to push the boundaries, within reason, in designing these cars and one of my greatest joys is to see how a customer is delighted when they receive theirs, because it has exceeded all expectations.”

Hope is also not one to delegate and is very hands-on and involved in everything that he does for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Melbourne. In his words, this all stems from a passion of working with others, building good relationships and motivating people to be the best version of themselves.

“Life is too short to waste it on self-doubt and having short term or average goals,” says Hope. “We have to utilise the skills and experience we have and I love showing people how to do that at work and at home. I’m also involved with a number of charities and non-profit organisations as my way of giving back to society,” says Hope.

At the age of 49, his experience and reputation in the automotive industry is second to none, however Hope spent the early years of his career in banking and finance. Whilst he admits this career path wasn’t his ‘cup of tea’, he was soon into a career in automotive with a twenty-year employment at BMW cars. Hope has only been at the helm of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Melbourne for two and a half years, however Hope believes this was a natural transition to take.

“Working for BMW enabled me to understand Rolls-Royce as a brand, its heritage and its customers. It’s a unique and very niched market but one that will always remain top tier,” he says.

Hope undeniably enjoys the finer things in life and appreciates beautiful creations and luxury brands and services. He is also an avid reader who has recently added our own EZ Australia to his reading catalogue.

“I was hoping for the longest time that a magazine like EZ would be distributed (in Australia) because whilst it is a luxury publication; it is also very people-orientated and has enjoyable, easy-to-read content,” says Hope. “It also boasts great eye-catching images and it’s so heart-warming to see my friends being featured as well.”

The Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Melbourne dealership is located in Southbank at 80 City Road. For any enquiries please email Christopher Hope at chrish@zag.com.au or for more information visit http://www.zag.com.au.

有些车子能让你的周围充斥着优雅和魅惑氛围。这就是定制奢侈品的一种工艺，也是全球最顶级豪车劳斯莱斯定位自主品牌的成功商业模式。

墨尔本劳斯莱斯汽车品牌经理-ChristopherHope，或者更亲切地称他为“墨尔本先生”，完美体现劳斯莱斯的价值观，他的说法不仅高度代表品牌，也显示如何继续保持关注传统和独特性。

他说，人们会被劳斯莱斯所吸引，因为它彰显了许多人渴望的一种生活方式，即使仅是步入展厅观赏，表达他们对这些优美豪车的存在之惊叹。

“我们显然并非大量生产的制造商。仅是生产“足量”的汽车创造可行性业务，由于比对人口不饱和比例，仅有少数劳斯莱斯在道路上尽显尊贵独特性。”确实，当这些华丽的车子在道路行走，人们都会停驻围观，不仅欣赏车子细节和精致特质，还会想知道是谁拥有或开着它。

完美配合
2015年底，墨尔本业务被ZagameAutomotiveGroup收购。Christopher Hope认为，这是一个无法超越的完美伙伴关系。“我非常荣幸能与Zagame汽车集团共事，因为他们早建立墨尔本专属高端汽车经销商网络，很明确的对劳斯莱斯来说，我们共享一致的愿景与目标。”

属于家族运营的Zagame汽车零售商，支持汽车品牌如阿尔法罗密欧、菲亚特、奥迪和斯柯达营销；在维多利亚区内也是法拉利、玛莎拉蒂、兰博基尼、劳斯莱斯，阿斯顿·马丁和迈凯轮的独家经销商。Zagame是英系和欧系豪车的热情倡导者，经营20家以上的获奖经销商、零件和服务中心，集中遍布墨尔本并且不断扩大。

该公司总经理BobbyZagame，他父亲和兄弟姐妹所联手经营的公司专注于酒店业和提倡服务价值。他与Bobby相识多年，拥有良好的工作默契，特别是朝向相同方向。而时机非常恰当，品牌的转换将满足更年轻、多样化的客户需求，犹如劳斯莱斯古斯特、魅影和新敞篷车曜影。

“如果你觉得我是墨尔本先生，所以他和我们经常对此调笑。”事实上，Christopher在墨尔本所到之处皆受称誉，他所喜爱的明亮抢眼色调，还有乐于助人的天性。“我的着装反映工作方式，我的角色担当包括上至销售与市场营销，下至底楼卖车，为我们的客户设计和提供个性化的车子 。”

“我乐于突破界限，在合理的范围内设计这些汽车，我最大的乐趣之一就是看客户兴奋的神情，尤其当收到超乎预期的车子。”

在未受到任何人委托下显得积极与实际，他尽心为墨尔本的劳斯莱斯经销做好每件事。对他来说，这一切源自与他人合作的激情，建立良好的人际关系和激励人们成为最好的自己。
“生命短暂，不可将之浪费在自我怀疑和短期或平均目标，必须善用具备的技能和经验，我喜欢向人们展示如何兼顾工作和家庭生活，也积极参与慈善机构和非营利组织活动作为回馈
社会。”

正当49岁，他在行业中的经验和名声后无来者，其实他的职业生涯始于银行与金融业，但承认此行业并非他的那杯茶，很快转入汽车业务领域，并且在宝马汽车度过20年职业光景。虽然在墨尔本的劳斯莱斯汽车仅有两年半，但他相信这是一个自然的过渡。

“宝马工作的累积使我更了解劳斯莱斯这个品牌，其传统和客户-具备相当独特和专营市场，但将永远是顶级象征。”

他也同样享受生活中美好的事物，欣赏美丽的创作和奢侈品牌与服务。而作为《EZ澳大利亚》的狂热读者，这本杂志已提上他的阅读目录。

“我希望像EZ类似的杂志可在澳大利亚长久发行，少见的奢华精粹出版刊物，令人愉快和轻松阅读的内容。还有许多使人赞叹的好图片，最感人的是，我看到了朋友们的特写报道。”

劳斯莱斯墨尔本汽车经销店位于南岸区(Southbankat80 CityRoad)。任何咨询可发送到Christopher Hope电子邮件: chrish@zag.com.au或想了解更多信息，请浏览www.zag.com.au。

 

Graeme Lewsey

Chief Executive Officer of VAMFF, Australia

With a burning passion for fashion, creativity and innovation, Graeme Lewsey has made his way to the top as the CEO of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival (VAMFF).

As a graduate of arts and design from RMIT University, he describes himself as a “moth that’s attracted to everything and anything that’s creative”.

He was awarded ‘Australian Young Designer of The Year’ by Woolmark after graduating from the Bachelor of Arts in RMIT. It followed with more than a decade of working with leading fashion brands, retailers and marketing agencies in Europe.

But it didn’t start off so smoothly as Graeme candidly recalls that he disliked how Australia was rather awkward and backward in fashion when he was a young graduate.

“I grew up in the outskirts of Melbourne and desperately wanted to be part of the fashion scene, but Australia at that time was so slow,” said Graeme.

After graduating, he went to London and had the opportunity to work on incredible projects where he stayed on for about 12 years.

Graeme climbed the ladder quickly by working hard and networking- “going to the right parties and met the right people, some were movers and shakers of the industry”, he quipped.

The big highlight of his career was working with acclaimed fashion designer, Paul Smith.

“He suggested that I’ll be great with PR and marketing and I went to become a small PR officer for the Paul Smith brand.”

Graeme finally returned to Australia in 1997 and found that it changed. “It was suddenly new and the country had become more connected to Europe and Asia.

“We’re very conscious about trends and we pick up things quickly as we’re very fortunate to live in this environment where designers are easily inspired. Resort wear and sophisticated casual wear is a big thing in the industry. We’re also adopting a lot of inspiration from countries in Asia.”

He thinks that the tourism industry is also evolving from the traditional tourist spots to the growth of a more sophisticated retail tourism.

“They want to see art, fashion and the lifestyle. Tourists are enjoying what bespoke Australian designers have to offer. If we can make it big in Asia, that’ll be a terrific outcome for our industry.”

Graeme claims that the much anticipate VAMFF (held from March 7-13) is different from other festivals because it is consumer centric – not just for the big wigs or VIPs.

“We have a big budget for our shows because we have to replicate the quality and effect of high-end runway shows of Paris and London as that’s what visitors are expecting.”

The show is starting to engage on the international marketplace where there are Chinese and Indonesian designers showcasing the best of their creative works.

无时无刻都紧贴着时尚、创意与革新激情燃烧的岁月，造就维珍澳大利亚墨尔本时装节(VAMFF)首席执行员Graeme Lewsey的时尚巅峰。

这名皇家墨尔本理工大学(RMIT)艺术设计科系的毕业生，自我描绘是“被任何创意思维吸引的飞蛾。”他自RMIT本科毕业后获得由澳大利亚羊毛标志公司(Woolmark)颁发的“年度澳大利亚青年设计师”。随后在欧洲与领先的时尚品牌，销售和营销机构工作逾10年。

Graeme坦率回忆说，年轻毕业生时尚之路开展不顺遂，他在墨尔本郊区长大，虽然拼命想成为时尚舞台的一部分，可当年澳大利亚时尚拓展非常缓慢。毕业后，他去了伦敦，因缘巧合度过12年不可思议的美好契机历练。

透过辛勤努力和延伸人脉，他迅速获得往上攀爬的机缘。“加入了优秀团队和遇上对的人，有些是业界呼风唤雨的推动者。”

职业生涯的一大亮点是与著名时装设计师PaulSmith一起工作，由于对方肯定Graeme宣传和营销方面的杰出表现，所以邀请他成为自主品牌的公关主管。

1997年，当他终于回到澳大利亚发现有了变化。“完全耳目一新”，时尚角度转变并连接欧洲和亚洲。

“我们对趋势的意识清晰，迅速做出配合，非常幸运生活在启发与鼓舞设计人员的环境中，其中度假服装和精致休闲装设计是首要任务，很多灵感也取材自亚洲国家。”

他认为，旅游行业也从传统旅游景点转型为更深入的营销旅游模式演变。“游客希望看到艺术，时尚和生活方式，也在享受澳大利亚设计师所呈现的独特面貌。如果扩大至亚洲，那将是业界喜闻乐见的。”

Graeme Lewsey表示，3月7日-15日举行的VAMFF迥异于其他节目，是以一般消费者为中心- 不仅是为名人或者贵宾打造。

“我们在节目中想要复制巴黎和伦敦的高端走秀表演效果，相信也是观众所期待的。”而表演节目也有国际市场的倾情参与，来自中国和印尼的设计师展现创意作品。