ONBOARDING IN LUXURY STARTS WITH EMPATHY

Montserrat likes to say that her work begins long before opening a training module. It begins with stepping into someone else’s shoes. In luxury retail, this isn’t a metaphor, it is the foundation of every meaningful learning experience.

Every day, she shifts perspectives. In the CEO’s shoes, she listens for direction: What world is the brand building? What message must be carried into every store? In the learner’s shoes, she feels the fatigue of a long day standing, smiling, serving. At 7 p.m., would I really open a dry, linear module? And in the client’s shoes, she senses what it means to encounter the brand through another human being.

Onboarding in luxury is not operational. It is emotional. The very first training must feel like an act of hospitality, a moment where the brand opens its universe, not a moment where it delivers instructions.

THE REAL CHALLENGE: INVITING LEARNERS INTO THE FULL RABANNE UNIVERSE

Rabanne is famous across the world for its bestseller 1 Million. But behind the gold bar bottle lies a story that few truly know : a human heritage shaped by boldness, diversity and creative rebellion. Paco Rabanne was not a traditional couturier. He was an architect. A rule-breaker. A visionary who assembled metal dresses instead of sewing them.

When Montserrat arrived, she felt frustration more than anything else: so many people sell the brand without ever discovering its richness. The onboarding project became a response to that gap, not a product tutorial, but an introduction to a house with a strong identity and a story worth falling in love with.

The ambition was simple and ambitious at once: reveal the heritage of Monsieur Rabanne, transmit the house’s human values, and build pride, genuine pride, in belonging to the world of Rabanne. In luxury, it is the people on the shop floor who become the true ambassadors. If they don’t feel the brand, no campaign can replace that.

THREE AUDIENCES, ONE WORLD TO UNIFY

Rabanne’s training ecosystem is as diverse as its markets. Some wholesale teams work exclusively for the brand and live its codes daily. Others work for PUIG and juggle several houses. And many more are external staff, navigating the entire luxury market at once, flooded with information from all sides.

Yet they all face clients under the same name: Rabanne.

The onboarding had to speak to all of them and to do so in a world that spans continents, cultures and seven languages. Central teams define a global vision. Local teams adapt tone, timing and usage depending on their realities. In France, WhatsApp would never be used to deliver training. In Brazil, it is the fastest path to engagement. Luxury retail is never just global; it is deeply local.

Rabanne needed an onboarding strong enough to carry one unified message, but flexible enough to survive in very different ecosystems.

TECHNOLOGY THAT FOLLOWS THE REALITY OF RETAIL

Digital learning in luxury cannot demand that learners come to it. It must go to them.

Rabanne uses Teach on Mars, but many retailers legally cannot access external platforms. This meant the onboarding had to exist in multiple forms: SCORM for LMS systems, web links for mobile access, even WhatsApp-sharing for markets where this is the norm.

And it worked. In Brazil, sending the game through WhatsApp groups generated exceptional engagement, not because the format was revolutionary, but because it respected the learner’s reality. The more the training fits naturally into daily habits, the more it is completed, enjoyed and remembered.

WHY THE ONBOARDING HAD TO BE A GAME — NOT A MODULE

Montserrat never imagined a static module. She knew the experience needed to be sensorial, fast-paced and alive. Modern learners, across all ages, live in a constant stream of micro-stimulations. Social media has shaped a new grammar of attention: short arcs, surprises, immediacy.

A traditional module would die instantly.

Gamification and interactive storytelling became the obvious choice. The onboarding and the earlier Christmas game shared the same DNA: short, non-linear journeys, playful moments, micro-actions that keep the learner active, curious, moving. Because if the learner sits still for too long, Montserrat knows exactly what will happen: “They switch off their brain after one or two minutes.”

A TIME-TRAVEL EXPERIENCE, CRAFTED FROM RABANNE’S OWN STORY

The onboarding didn’t just borrow from Rabanne’s heritage, it built an entire narrative around it. The guide is a small metal pastille, a poetic symbol from the brand’s early creations. This pastille becomes a companion, a discreet character leading the learner through time.

Through a shimmering tunnel, learners travel from one era to another, discovering five locations that shaped the life and legacy of Mr. Rabanne. Each space blends campaign imagery, heritage moments, videos and interactive games. The world feels alive, coherent and rooted in truth, not fiction.

The structure itself follows the tempo of a luxury experience: twenty minutes of carefully composed progression, divided into five chapters. Learners can pause at any moment and resume later, a simple feature that respects real life in stores, where time is fragmented, not linear.

The result is neither a pure educational module nor a pure game. It is a hybrid universe, as sensorial as the brand, as structured as retail needs it to be.

BEYOND IMPRESSING: THE TRUE GOAL WAS COMPLETION AND CONNECTION

Luxury onboarding often falls into the trap of spectacle. But Montserrat’s objective was different: she wanted learners to finish, to internalize the foundation, to understand heritage and products, and above all, to feel something for Rabanne.

When she joined the brand, she herself knew little about its heritage. Over time, she fell in love with it, with the story, with the boldness, with the people. She wanted newcomers to feel that same spark, that same pride.

The onboarding is built to generate attachment. It is not only about knowing the brand, it is about recognizing yourself in it.

THE CHRISTMAS GAME: A PILOT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

Before the onboarding, there was a spark, a small Christmas game created to train seasonal staff during the busiest month of the year. It lasted barely five minutes. It focused purely on products. It followed the Christmas campaign theme. And yet, it triggered something powerful.

People replayed it. Colleagues not even targeted by the training wanted to try it. Feedback described it as “new”, “fun”, “immersive”. The NPS soared to 4.8/5, far above traditional digital modules. Between 600 and 1,400 learners joined, depending on the market. Some countries even organized internal competitions around the score.

This pilot proved that short, playful experiences outperform heavy e-learning. It validated that repetition strengthens memory. It confirmed that gamification can motivate even the busiest teams. And it gave Rabanne and Emraude the confidence to design an onboarding that was bolder, richer and more ambitious.

GAMIFICATION AS A TOOL FOR ENGAGEMENT AND FOR MARKETS

The onboarding integrates subtle yet powerful gamification mechanics: a scoring system that gives rhythm, a pastille that guides the learner like a companion, and chapters that allow the journey to be taken in fragments.

Interestingly, the absence of a certificate didn’t reduce impact, markets used the score as fuel. They created competitions, internal challenges, incentives. The game became not just content, but a tool for managers to spark engagement locally.

This dual purpose, learning + activation, made the onboarding valuable long after the learner finished the journey.

ADAPTIVE LEARNING, DESIGNED FOR REALITY

Rabanne’s onboarding is not one-size-fits-all. It adapts.

Markets that don’t sell high-end niche collections can hide those chapters. Learners still become aware of their existence, but only those who need deeper knowledge receive it. Staff working exclusively for Rabanne receive more detailed modules. Multibrand store employees receive concise, impactful content. The structure flexes without breaking.

This is what true adaptive learning looks like in luxury: one global heart, many local expressions, and tailored depth depending on roles and priorities.

WHAT LUXURY LEADERS CAN LEARN FROM THIS PROJECT

Montserrat often shares the lessons she learned through the creation of this onboarding.

- Patience, because an onboarding is always bigger than expected.
- Empathy, because learners deserve an experience that respects their time and energy.
- Clarity, because in a universe filled with detail, not everything is equally important.
- Anticipation, because products change, strategies evolve and markets differ.
- Simplicity, because complexity kills engagement.
- And pacing, because twenty minutes, or small, clear chapters, is often the sweet spot.

These principles turn onboarding into something more than training. They turn it into a moment that stays with the learner.

CONCLUSION: WHEN TRAINING BECOMES A BRAND EXPERIENCE

Behind the scenes, the Rabanne x Emraude collaboration was built on rigor, agility and trust : a shared desire to respect the realities of retail while elevating the brand universe. The final result is more than a gamified module. It is a journey. A story. A sensorial introduction to a house that has always dared to be different.

For luxury L&D and HR leaders, this project shows what happens when empathy meets storytelling, when gamification meets refinement, and when operational constraints meet creative ambition. At that intersection, training stops being a task. It becomes an experience people want to live.