Luxe

1. Anti-laws of marketing
lundi 6 septembre 2010
11:23

We have shown that traditional marketing could not readily be applied to luxury. This is also the case when managing a luxury brand. It is necessary to forget a fair number of laws of marketing, which may very well applied to brands, to premium brands and even trading up but not luxury.

Not only traditional marketingtechniques do not suited to luxury, they can in fact be positively harmful to it. Traditional marketing is only concerned with the bottom of the pyramid where they are no longer selling luxury products, but products derived from luxury brands.

We should put 18 management suggestions, which we can call anti-laws of marketing peculiar to luxury ad they are the opposite extreme of whatmarketing doctrine normally preaches.

1. Forget about ‘positioning’ luxury is not comparative:

In consumer marketing at the heart of every brand strategy you will find the concept of positioning. Every classic brand has to specify its positioning, and them conveys them through its products, its services, its prices, its distribution and its communications. It has define itselfby a hey facet, depending on the market context and the main competitor and the expectation of the target consumers it is aiming to reach.
Ex: coca (daddy’s drink) versus Pepsi (new generation)
When it comes to luxury being unique it was it counts, not any comparison with a competitor . Luxury is the expression of taste, of creativity identity, of a passion of the creator, ‘this iswhat I am’. It is identify that give a brand the particular powerful feeling of uniqueness and timeless.
Chanel has an identity but nor a positioning. Identity is not divisible, it is not negotiable -it simply is. Lacroix is brand it is image of bright sunshine and color and its certainly not concern with its position to other designers.

1. Does your product has enough flaws?
Product excellence is a primary prerequisite of luxury. The aim of upper premium brand is to deliver a perfect product. Functionally a Seiko watch is more accurate because is it’s quartz watch than some famous brands (Rolex, Hermes…) that may loses to minutes every year. His flaw is not only know but, it is assumed. Some say is both charm and guarantee of authenticity. This is the ‘madnesstouch’ that goes beyond perfection and people collect them.
Luxury brands are not interested in being the leader of in utilitarian or functional, primarily they are hedonistic and symbolic.
In luxury the model and product must have character or personality. Ex Ferrari is not easy to drive, its noisy but owner accept its flaws. Of course a luxury products is not a flawless product. Addingflaws also doesn’t turn a regular product into luxury.

1. Don’t pander on your customer’s wishes.

In traditional marketing customer is king. P corporate identity relies not in one men, or even one category of product, but on the methodology that puts the customer’s desire at the heart of the business. Listening what they have to say or trying to say, them transformingthese wishes into global product, regional product that are sold through mass distribution channels.
Luxury brand come from the mind of its creator, driven by a long term vision.
They are two way to go bankrupt: not listened to the clients, but also by listening them too much. This does not mean that the luxury brand should not care about its clients nor listened to them. However itshould do nothing that threaten its identity.

1. Keep non-enthusiast out

In traditional marketing there is an obsession with poaching clients from other brands: sales growth is management’s is principal measure of success and performance. This lead companies to come up with new products to help extend market penetration. To increase the relevance of the brand- the number…