What is the first thought that comes to your mind when you hear the name of a luxury brand? The answer is, it depends. The images that are already conjured by the brand custodians and your personal experience with the brand makes is tough to give an answer to this. So in one part, it is the real experience and on the other the imaginative faculty that the brand is able to successfully arouse. So in this mix of fact and fiction what really transpires is very personal. If your experience is good or if it had left a sour taste will finally determine the outcome. On the surface, every luxury brand aims to give a sense of exclusivity and class. It is a tool to make you feel special. And the premium charged is just a means to an end.
So what exactly is the philosophy of a luxury brand? Essentially it means the promise that a brand makes to its customers. Let me explore some facets of brand philosophy:
The first critical piece behind brand philosophy is the prime reason behind its existence. Why do we need that brand in an already cluttered brand-verse? The brand needs to find the reason of its existence and establish it in the eyes of the customers.
After establishing its reason for existence, and once the brand itself is convinced on its existence, it is time to find a niche and establish itself in the eyes of its customers. So now from the brand's eyes to the customer's eyes, the brand is finally able to establish its niche.
The critical part in establishing the positioning is the brand story. This is the time when the custodians have their creative juices flowing. This is the best way to establish the brand philosophy to the customers. For example, if the brand philosophy is to live the core values then the story has to be built around how the brand actually is walking the talk and not just doing lip service. The brand campaigns, which are used to tell this story, have to be clear in their narrative as to how a brand is living up to its philosophy.
Communication via various media and in various media helps communicate the brand story to the target audience. A brand needs to identify the right format and the right media for communicating its story to establish its philosophy. For example, if a luxury brand wants to reach out to a young audience then the preferred format will be videos as opposed to a print ad, which is more suited for a more mature clientele. Similarly, the media chosen for a young audience will be social media versus a magazine for more mature clients. These choices are the reasons why communication is impactful or it fails to resonate with the audience.
No matter how much successfully a brand is able to communicate its philosophy, sloppy handling of a client can make or break its reputation. Be it an inappropriate gesture at a boutique by a rookie or by an over-smart manager or even a rude customer care executive over a phone, it will do more harm than a brand custodian can ever imagine. It is the 'fact' that I was talking about that with the sprinkled 'fiction', will conjure up the real philosophy in the minds of the customers.
Let your quest for luxe continue.
The writer is a luxury commentator and author of 'Dark Luxe' and 'Decoding Luxe'