News

Brian Duffy, CEO of Polo Ralph Lauren Europe and Middle East has confirmed for Italian media ...

Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli returned to profit in the first half, as a pick-up in ...

The capsule collection created by Karl Lagerfeld for premium Italian shoes brand HOGAN, ...

Italian fashion group MAX MARA, owned by the Maramotti family reported it closed 2009 with ...

Swedish mass fashion retailer H&M has confirmed this week a collaboration with LANVIN. ...

Hugo Boss is cutting the time it takes to bring its collections to the shop floor, in a move ...

MORE NEWS

Why luxury brands fail to produce coherent communications campaigns

Analysis 07 March 2010

Catherine Deneuve for Louis Vuitton

Click on the picture to see gallery (1 picture)

Those of you who frequently abroad, irrespectively of age, gender or sexual preference, have at least once noticed how different you are regarded in each country. For instance, Asian women prefer foreigners versus locals, therefore an American male in Tokyo or Beijing has a definite advantage over a local when it comes to social networking and dating. The same applies to a Japanese lady travelling to the UK where she might be more ''successfull'' in dating British handsome men than any local British women. There is also the example of European gay men who travel to the Middle East and who are preferred by locals over locals. The same applies vice versa, for a handsome Middle Eastern gay man who has higher chances of dating a handsome local. Is it just a matter of how different we all see beauty and what we perceive as being beautiful? Or is it a new revolutionary trend in social networking brought about by all the means which bring all of us closer together, such as affordable travel and the internet ? I would incline towards the second assertion and the defining argument would be that, beyond physical appearance we all act a part in the movie which is our life. By acting, I am referring not only to the behavioural part but also to the ''outside shell'' we all wear, whether it is a clothing, make up or embelishment item. This is the very essence of the mechanism luxury brands rely on, when addressing consumers worldwide. Apart from the quality, exclusivity and design features, a luxury product is meant to differenciate ourselves from each other and mark our territory as well as reflect our social status. Whether we are considering an aspirational consumer or a connaiseur, at the end of the day, they all have the same motivation for buying a luxury product or a luxury service. For some it is a matter of overt show off, while for others it is the subtle way of ''showing off''. Coming back to our initial argument, does this mean that we also dress and behave differently depending on where we are or where we travel? Is there a ''universal'' luxury code? In my opinion, before the current crisis, we had such ''universal'' codes, in major brands such as LOUIS VUITTON, GUCCI, PRADA, ARMANI which have stores worldwide. The financial crisis which made its first debut early 2008 triggered a very complex change in the way consumers regard luxury, whether it is a product or a service. ''Belonging'' to a club or wearing a particular brand does no longer suffice. Neither is the ''anti-luxury'' trend a response for all those who can no longer afford luxury or who never found a luxury brand as a personal statement. Mention should be made that ''anti luxury'' applies to all those who mix and match mass market brands with luxury brands or who deliberately wear fake luxury products as a resentiment to luxury. It all becomes clear why luxury brands have to pay attention to the way we express our sexuality and the way we interact with each other. Louis Vuitton grasped brililiantly on this idea by introducing ''The Journeys'' collection of advertising both in print and tv. Recently, Prada followed suit and launched a series of clips based on the journeys concept. Unfortunately, none of the two brands pursued the concept. Catherine Deneuve's voice on the Journey movie, which Louis Vuitton dedicated to the famous French actress, has a much deeper and longer lasting effect on the auditor than the actual photos taken of her by Annie Leibovitz. The other Louis Vuitton Journeys actors, Andre Agassi with Steffi Graf and Michail Gorbachov have only partly touched the subtle concept which makes the Vuitton brand an international passport recognized all over the world. What both campaigns missed, was the every day issues of nowadays constantly and effervescently changing environment. And I believe, sexuality in itself and the way we all express it, is a must in drawing up any marketing strategy for a luxury brand in both products and services. Oliver Petcu

Analysis

W Hotels and Andaz Hotels have been making headline this year with several key international ...

The booming sales of luxury brands in the years leading up to 2008, were much attributed to ...

World's largest luxury groups announced last week better than expected results, most of them ...

People

British born designer Stuart Vevers graduated from the University of Westminster in 1996. ...

Recognized as one of the most experienced luxury retail executives specialized in emerging ...

German born Tomas Maier is currently the Head of Creative Design at Italian luxury brand ...

Opportunities

The decision to renounce terrorism, its program of weapons destruction as well as the ...

In less than two months, the legendary SAVOY Hotel in London will be open for business after a ...

Formerly at Mulberry where he was creator of ''it'' bags, Stuart Vevers is now Creative ...

Review

Established in France in 1835 initially as a trunk maker, GOYARD is today the best illustration ...

Inaugurated earlier this year, TRUMP SOHO Hotel opened this week an impressive ...

Back when I was working in advertising, most of my creative work was for luxury retail ...