Kapferer highlights a crucial challenge faced by luxury companies: managing the delicate balance between growth and maintaining brand integrity. The dilemma stems from the inherent requirement of luxury to be scarce and to foster exclusivity, yet modern business demands call for expansion and increased financial returns.
Luxury brands encounter distinct obstacles that differentiate them from sectors beyond luxury. Luxury brands are required to strategically broaden their consumer base while maintaining the unique sense of scarcity and exclusivity that is essential to their prestigious reputation.
Kapferer emphasizes the growing allure of premium brands in emerging economies, including China. This global interest presents significant opportunities for revenue growth. The growing demand for these items, though advantageous, also carries a hazard: when a brand becomes more widespread and frequently used, it begins to stray from the essential concept of luxury, which hinges on scarcity and uniqueness. An accelerated rise in accessibility may give rise to the perception that the brand is losing its exclusivity, which could reduce its allure and threaten its ability to sustain premium pricing.
Luxury brands must steer through the intricate equilibrium of expanding their customer base and enhancing their revenue while preserving their distinctive essence and ability to evoke aspirations. Kapferer emphasizes the importance for luxury brands to uphold their exclusivity by avoiding increased production or price reductions to appeal to a wider market. Luxury brands must avoid actions that could potentially undermine their inherent allure. They must instead devise strategies that allow them to connect with a new customer base while maintaining an air of exclusivity, handcrafted quality, and uniqueness, distinguishing them from masstige brands and continuing the enchantment synonymous with luxury.
Kapferer examines three core strategies employed by luxury brands to sustain their exclusivity while pursuing growth. The approaches involve altering the process of product development and distribution, while also managing the strategic direction of the brand to influence consumer...
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Kapferer elucidates that while many brands embrace the term 'luxury' for promotional purposes, genuine luxury brands follow a distinct business model. This strategy is markedly different from the methods used by premium and masstige brands, which are built on principles that highlight their exceptional skill in creation and unique personality.
Kapferer emphasizes the importance of identifying the distinctive characteristics that distinguish luxury brands from those that are premium or masstige. The brand's guiding principles, which shape its strategies for product development, distribution, and marketing, are rooted in more than just increased expenses.
Kapferer highlights the luxury sector's focus on...
Kapferer emphasizes the importance of associating luxury brands with the world of art and culture, which in turn elevates their status, expands their appeal, and secures a competitive edge internationally. He explores the critical role of revitalizing these brands by introducing innovations to prosper in the digital age, highlighting strategies to capitalize on digital platforms while preserving their distinct charm.
Art and culture are fundamental elements that luxury brands employ to create and sustain an atmosphere of enduring fascination and unique exclusivity. Luxury brands are strengthening their connections to the art world through collaborations with artists, hosting exhibitions, and engaging in various cultural activities.
Kapferer emphasizes the importance of collaborations with artists in bestowing luxury brands with a unique and inventive essence. Working with renowned artists, such as the...
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Kapferer examines the two-fold evolution within the luxury industry: a growing recognition of the importance of environmental sustainability and the trend of luxury brands merging into larger conglomerates. Luxury brands are obligated to create novel concepts that consistently adhere to their core principles.
Luxury brands are increasingly acknowledging the importance of incorporating principles of sustainable development into their business practices in response to heightened consumer consciousness regarding the environmental and social impact of their buying choices.
Kapferer emphasizes the significant steps that luxury brands have taken to ensure sustainability is embedded across their entire value chain. These initiatives encompass a broad spectrum, including the procurement of raw materials from responsible suppliers to...