The need to work on communication proactively and the importance of taking a step forward in the digitalisation of companies in order to project a good overall image of the sector: unanimous reflections from all the speakers

On Wednesday 30 November, Leather Cluster Barcelona organised “Diàlegs sobre la pell” at Adoberia Bella, a session in which various companies from the value chain presented initiatives for the projection of the image and communication of the leather sector.

With Diàlegs sobre la Pell, the cluster aims to give a voice and visibility to significant projects of different companies and stakeholders in the value chain of the leather industry.

This first edition focused on communication and presented examples and projects through which the vision, action and experience of cluster members regarding the communication and dissemination of the leather sector were revealed.

There was talk of influencers, e-commerce and social media, but also of narratives, content and different target audiences, with a first-class line-up of speakers:

• Salvador Esquerra of Quimser
• Toni Puig of Curtidos Lancina
• Sandra Quílez of Nquart
• Sadurní Moreno of Splenda

The speakers presented how and why they are working on communication, and this was followed by a debate with the audience to reflect on and broaden knowledge about communication.

The round of presentations was opened by Salvador Esquerra of Quimser, a company producing chemicals for the leather industry. Salvador explained how Quimser works on its website and its activity on social media. He highlighted the importance of an online presence both for winning new customers and for improving the image of our industries. The chemical industry, like the leather sector, has to fight to change a negative perception held by society, especially with regard to sustainability issues.

Next came Toni Puig of Curtidos Lancina, who presented his e-commerce project, Artesano Factory.

Toni, just 21 years old, represents a new generation of tanners. In a context in which there are still companies in the sector without an online presence, Curtidos Lancina, through him, has committed to selling leather online to craft workshops and designers, thus meeting a market need and researching and learning what the end customer does in order to be able to offer the right products and a very good buying experience.

Next to speak was Sandra Quílez of Nquart Leather, restorer, leather artisan and an activist defender of leather on social media. Sandra highlighted the importance of working proactively on social networks such as Instagram in order to sell. Social media are the communication channel par excellence for a mainly young audience, but also an important tool as a sales channel. Sandra also underlined leather as an example of the circular economy, presenting all those attending with a pot of leather confetti, thus showing the infinite possibilities for making use of leather throughout its life cycle.

Finally, Sadurní Moreno of Splenda shared his experience regarding image projection and communication, showing the relevance of having a dynamic, attractive website and its integration and interaction with the various social networks. Sadurní also highlighted the importance of being part of the cluster and of each company projecting a good individual image so that it adds to the overall image of the sector in Catalonia.

The session was highly participatory, with many questions from those attending to the various speakers over the course of the event.

Leather Cluster Barcelona is a competitive cooperation environment for promoting cross-cutting, transformative strategic projects with the aim of driving forward the ecosystem of the Catalan leather sector. The cluster is an accredited body within the Catalonia Clusters programme and has the support of Acció.