What do we mean by identity? Our name, our gender, our profession, our family, things that define us. Isn't it? If we look at it spiritually, even these are not your identity, it is much deeper, known as your "original face" which you can only see once you go beyond these elements that you think defines you.

Similarly, a luxury brand also has an identity. A luxury brand also had a gender, a family, and other elements that define it. Gender? Yes, let me explain. When you think of Rolex, is it historically a male brand. If you trace its historic advertising campaigns and brand ambassadors such as "Live for Greatness", which features JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. The brand is essentially an extension of the male identity.

Another popular watch brand Patek Phillipe has an iconic ad campaign that recently completed 20 years, "You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation." A Patek watch isn't a device for telling time. It's an heirloom that transfers values across generations. Now if you closely look at the visuals, they are a father-son duo. It is only after much criticism of their gender bias that they decided to come up with a visual with a girl and her mother. But essentially, they focused singularly on the male identity of the watch.

Just like our life, there are two aspects of identity. One is internal, what a brand thinks or oneself and the other is external, what consumers think of the brand.

For the luxury brand, the external identity becomes the real identity that matters at the end of the day. For example, a Patek can charge $2,500,000 for a timepiece. Now internally, it may think that this price is justified given the identity of Patek as an heirloom. Now in commerce, this identity will not matter. The identity that will matter is what its consumers think it is really worth. So if there are no buyers at this price, then Patek's internal brand identity is not in line with the ground reality. Thus it warrants a serious course correction, which means a relook at the areas where the company needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Thus to strategize how it can elevate the external identity to the aspired level.

The market is a great leveler and quick to tell a brand what it is actually worth. Then the brand needs to look into various facets so as to figure the way forward. A brand can choose one of the three strategies: 1. The brand stays arrogant and ignores the market signal completely. 2. The brand bows to the market pressure and revisits its pricing and corrects it. 3. The brand internally is confident of its worth and thus knows that the price is right, but it is not arrogant and respects the market. So it understands that the need of the hour is to strategize towards making the brand's external identity more exquisite.

While the first group loses the battle in no time, the second group is smart and wins the short-term battle. The third group, however, is the prudent one which wins the long-term battle. Market indicators are like an "acid test" for the brand's identity and its worth. So these inputs need to be taken very seriously if the brand wants to survive the test of time. The brand needs to build its external identity giving a hard look at various facets including the way boutique managers are handling customers, post-sale customer service as well a brand campaign or the selection of brand ambassadors.

It is the marriage of the external and internal identities that make a luxury brand stand the test of time.

The writer is a luxury commentator and author of 'The Luxe Trilogy'