Let's Talk About Luxury

Luxury is a highly subjective concept. A holistic experience. And luxury goods are usually bought because of their symbolism to their consumers. So in a nutshell, luxury is an idea that we buy into because it speaks to our needs and ways in which we wish to be perceived.

Being aware of the above, we can now see why, when it comes to luxury branding and marketing, it's its own universe, and the typical go-to rules for non-luxury promotional tactics don't apply here.

First, the concept of luxury and global brands as they are recognised today did not exist until the 90s. So it's a fairly new phenomenon. However, even in such a relatively short amount of time, brands have been able to take full advantage of this and go all in, quickly expanding across borders, taking on global markets. And they did so very successfully, as we can see today.

Second, luxury comes with its own rulebook.

Since we know now that it's a concept, you can see the importance of speaking to people's emotions. It's all about conveying the story, authenticity, exclusivity, timelessness, and quality of the brand.

True luxury brands will never "claim" or say that they are luxury. It's more about the "quiet" and indirect communication through which a consumer will perceive the qualities of the brand and build trust.

This explains the importance that the visuals have played all along. From creative video ads and short films, to the photoshoots and editorials - visuals lead the way, because it's the easiest and most obvious way in which one can communicate a story, a narrative.

For luxury brands, less is more. Literally.

It happens that brands want to scale too much, too fast, and through licensing deals gain too much of a market presence and too vast an availability of their products. And that's a red flag for a luxury brand. Remember, they sell based on the sense of exclusivity, so once that idea is gone, with it they also lose their clientele loyalty.

In that case, brands need to take a few steps back and re-evaluate their approach to the market. They usually scale down, focus on their core offerings and bespoke products, which, in the long run and bigger picture strategy, help to re-establish the perceived brand value and exclusivity. With that, people again see the brand's allure, and the loyalty rates start increasing.

This brings us to consumer patience.

Luxury brands don't focus on fast sales. In fact, the promotion of discounts is quite a rare thing to see in the world of luxury. Not only that. If people want a specific product, they are willing to wait for months, even years, to get their hands on that specific piece.

Why is that? Because they know that time equals handcrafted quality, and usually also means a unique, one-of-a-kind piece of art. And that comes with a time cost. So we can say that luxury buyers are well-trained in patience.

Luxury brands also sell ideas more so than products.

Yes, they create promotional visuals for products, but the way stories are told through moving pictures is very superficial, more like a dream to which a customer can relate. If you've ever seen a commercial from a luxury brand, you probably noticed how different it is from something that you would usually see from a mainstream brand. Its focus is on the experience, emotion, the story. It showcases the product, but it will never tell you to buy, it will never tell you the price, and it will never make it look generic.

It's all about conveying the sense of exclusiveness, the brand's essence. By buying into a brand, the consumer buys into values and traits that the brand represents.

So you can see how different the world of luxury branding and marketing really is. It's a universe of its own.

When you are building your own brand, marketing, and business strategies, keep in mind these principles. Speak to your audience in a deeper way, try to connect emotionally and form deep and meaningful bonds. Because those bonds are the ones that will help your business to reach the next level of success.

So if you are now left with asking yourself:

How can I build my brand?

How can I make my brand profitable?

How can I create an effective and unique brand strategy?

How can I build my personal brand that's authentic and establishes a sense of authority?

Well, get in touch, and I can help you develop a bespoke Brand Evolution Strategy that will help you reach the next level of success in your business and branding journey.

Till the next read.

Teja Jereb