What it is about luxury brands that we can learn from? Everything about luxury brands oozes opulence, wealth, knowledge, and power, a sense of superiority and quality that you just can’t get from ordinary day-to-day brands.
1. Pricing is key.
It’s no secret that luxury brands are very expensive, but that doesn’t mean a luxury brand can just slap on an exorbitant price tag and expect people to buy.
The pricing of luxury items is supported by several key elements. Brand positioning is of the utmost importance, and that means a flawless brand strategy is put in place. Luxury brands spare no expense in this department. They come up with a strategy that sets them apart from their competitors.
If a luxury brand is similar to a non-luxury brand, then the consumer will pick price over the name. Let’s use the HERMÈS Birkin bag as an example. What makes this bag the most expensive and coveted in the world? What sets it apart? Every single bag is handmade by an artisan, they advertise. Every bag is unique, not even the stitches are the same; you’re walking around with a piece of artwork on your arm.
2. Scarcity drives demand.
Luxury brands have often come under fire for the mass burning of their excess clothing. Burberry made headlines for burning up to $40 million worth of clothing to protect the luxury brand of the items. CHANEL LOUIS VUITTON, CARTIER, and MONTBLANC, even NIKE and H&M have all burned surplus stock.
Luxury brands do this to protect their intellectual property and to ensure no illegal counterfeiting takes place. Plus, there would not be such a strong desire to purchase luxury brands if anyone and everyone could afford it. It wouldn’t be a luxury brand anymore, would it? Another reason why it’s not a good idea to discount luxury products is that people will doubt the high markup of the products and question whether they’re being taken for a ride. It also makes the consumer believe the luxury brand doesn’t believe in their product. What they’ll often do to move the stock is to add more value to the purchase. So, if you purchase a LOUIS VUITTON suit, you’ll receive a little something extra.
3. The brand has a history that clients and staff are passionate about.
We all love a good story and luxury brands know how to tell theirs. Historians have suggested that branding was around during the Roman times, but owning luxury items was frowned upon. Same for the Greeks, and even during the middle ages, it was considered a bad form. You could go back even further in time to when prehistoric cattle rearers would brand their cattle. But that’s another story for another day.
Each luxury brand tells a story. Giorgio Armani started off as a window dresser. It was a dream of ROLEX founder Hans Wilsdorf to have people wear a watch around their wrist and Mario Prada and his brother began selling animal goods in a leather shop. Clients and staff are passionate about their favorite brand’s story. It’s inspiring, motivational, and an important part of history.
4. Great customer service is essential.
Customer expectations are on the rise daily. And what sets a luxury brand apart is its detail in customer service. It’s not just a quick in and out for the customer, but an entire experience. Luxury brands have stores that draw you in; the way the clothing is displayed appeals to the discerning buyer. There is a focus on pre-purchase encounters, creating a desire before the decision to purchase has been made. Once inside, personal service is at its best, lasting impressions are made and brand loyalty is strengthened. Yet, the experience doesn’t end there; they extend their services to include after-sales, which once again reinforces their commitment to the customer. Like Hubert de Givenchy once said, “Luxury is in each detail.”
5. Luxury brands practice experiential retailing.
There’s a major shift in how brands are marketing their products. Instead of purchasing to prove what I have, people are buying to show who I am. So when consumers are purchasing, it’s not just about the items they’re buying; it’s about the whole experience. What music is being played? What lighting is being used? How does the place smell? All of these play a huge role in the experience the customer has inside a luxury brand store.
6. A luxury brand has total confidence in its product.
If you take a walk through Madison Avenue in New York City, and you soak in all the stunning window displays, you’ll notice the luxury brands set themselves apart from each other while it’s good to know what the competitor is up to. It’s certainly not good to copy them. Luxury brands have a base signature look or style, which is the benchmark for every creation going forward. It’s how we recognize when someone is wearing BURBERRY or FENDI or carrying a SAINT LAURENT or a PRADA handbag. Luxury brands have the confidence to remain the same yet change. One of the ways they do this is through technology, which we’ll delve into next.
7. Luxury brands embrace technology.
One of the ways that luxury brands stay on point is they embrace technology. They’re using it to their advantage by driving sales online, increasing traffic, and maintaining customer loyalty. And the online experience is a close second to the in-store experience, where your browsing needs are met with class, style, and confidence, especially since the onset of the pandemic.
Another way in which luxury brands are welcoming technology into their retail space is in-store wifi. Take the PRADA group, for example, they put wifi into more than 500 stores worldwide and used it to enhance their customer’s in-store experience. The network was also able to identify repeat clients and notify the store staff thereof so that they could make sure that clients felt extra special. The data they collected also helped them to identify how long each customer stayed inside the store, how many customers they had each day, what their peak times were and what drew the customer’s attention first. This kind of data helped to boost sales. Staff could make better-informed decisions, and each customer’s experience could be tailor-made to suit them.
8. Social media accounts are kept up to date.
Haylock search says there’s nothing more frustrating than heading to a business social media account, and the last time they updated was mid-2015 with some shitty meme saying, “Hello from the other side, you’re going to hear my song a thousand times.” Compare that to LOUIS VUITTON who posts every day, PRADA three times a day, and CARTIER every day. By staying on top of their social media presence, there’s a constant reminder that they’re there. They’re reliable and they won’t let you down, just like their superior quality products won’t let you down.
9. Luxury brands manage to strike a balance between classic and trending.
Karl Lagerfeld once said trendy is the last stage before tacky. Luxury brands manage to strike the perfect balance between what’s trending yet still keeping things classic. And it’s impressive how luxury brands continue to grow exponentially, yet their products still remain exclusive, rare, and often unobtainable. We mentioned earlier that instead of purchasing to prove what I have, people are buying to show who I am. So, many luxury brands are shifting their focus to make more sustainable choices in fashion. And a trend we hope will continue to grow is the use of more eco-conscious materials like organic cotton, vegan leather, hemp, and bamboo fibers. Affluent customers want to make responsible choices when it comes to the consumption of luxury products and luxury brands are delivering.
10. There are subtle differences in their narrative.
When it comes to luxury brands, they know what language to use to get the right clientele to purchase their goods. Words like timeless, luxury, powerful, discerning, and prestige are used to lure in the customer. And speaking of customers, luxury brands don’t have customers; they have clients. They don’t have salespeople; they have lifestyle managers. These lifestyle managers, don’t just try to make a sale. Their job is so much more than that. They’re there to curate a tailor-made experience for their clients. Luxury brands don’t try and bombard you with dozens of items they want you to buy. They focus on one thing at a time and really convince you it’s the item you desire and need, which brings us to our next point.
11. Less is more.
This is true for every part of a luxury brand. When we compare the advertising of a luxury brand product to that of a non-luxury item, you’ll notice the ad campaign for the luxury product is clean, simple, and draws attention to the beauty of that one product. Compare that to a non-luxury brand that will often have a busy advert, giving too much information and its sensory overload for the customer. The same applies to their stores. Luxury brands opt for simplicity. You won’t find hoards of coat hangers crammed with clothing overflowing bins of buy two get one free discarded shopping carts, incorrect shoe sizes in the shoe boxes, or have someone bumping into you every time you turn a corner.
12. The packaging is just as beautiful as the product.
Steve Jobs once said, “Packaging can be theater, it can create a story.” And when it comes to packaging, luxury brands are on top of their game. The thrill of watching a sales advisor lovingly places your purchased item into the packaging and walking proud away with it is a surreal feeling. The texture smell and look are a promise of great things to come. And when you’re home and you’re opening it up, you are careful not to tear anything and keep the packaging for as long as you keep your luxury product – the product and packaging go hand-in-hand.
13. Luxury products give clients a purpose.
A lot of research has gone into sussing out the clients of luxurious goods. And the consensus is much of the same. Purchasing luxury goods is an emotional decision. Clients feel like they’re part of something more when they buy a luxury product. The purchase of luxury items boosts a client’s self-esteem and gives them a sense of belonging, a sense of accomplishment to afford something that most people are unable to. Clients want authenticity, which is why they’d rather skimp on other areas of their life and buy an original ROLEX despite knocking up looking exactly the same.
14. Buying a luxury brand is an investment.
Reports suggested that investing in a luxury handbag was a better investment than gold, but like any investment, there’s always a risk involved. If you’re keen to purchase a luxury product as an investment, do thorough research on the product first. Make sure it aligns with your values and that you know exactly how it was made and where the materials are sourced from. Make sure you’re buying it from a reputable source or straight from the store. Check the paperwork is legit and up-to-date. If you do all of the above, you’ll have a solid little investment on your hands.
15. Reasons why high-end clients buy luxury products.
The 2017 Deloitte survey for global powers of luxury codes asked over 1000 high-end consumers their exact reasons for purchasing luxury goods. The results were as follows: 88% bought luxury products because they were of premium quality. 82% said it made them feel happy and confident. 75% said they only bought handmade luxury products. 68% wanted to buy the latest trends. 63% bought luxury products to own unique items that others didn’t know about. 60% said they bought luxury items impulsively. 57% confirmed they only wear luxury items. And 56% bought luxury items just to show off.
Armed with that information, small businesses can easily learn a thing or two from luxury brands. Luxury will always be around no matter what happens in the world.