and for those who desire but are not able to share in this paradise of consumption the feeling of rejection and resentment must be overwhelming. The frustration may possibly lead to the increased sense of disaffection from society many feel and this will lead to an increase in alcohol and drug abuse which leads to crime and further erosion of our society’s quality of life. The first trend we should consider is that companies are driven, as never before, to expand and grow revenues in the pursuit of vast and profitable returns for the investors and managers. The intensive drive is always for more and better returns and so expansion, often expensive and risky, continues but there are consequences and eventually they may be faced with brand erosion or worse a changed perceived image. Once highly defined and aspirational brands that have been over exposed will dilute their core values and thus retain a very small piece of their original value and lustre. Very few look to new methods such as the Internet or TV for fear of brand erosion but they do so at their own risk. There are methods for them to retain their integrity and reach out to new consumers while embellishing their brand. Not everyone can access their high street stores and the brand stories can be told better via new media than most other forms. In-store experiences with sales staff are not consistent or successful. Today, the favoured or typical method to expand is to roll out affordable versions or to build expensive new stores. With all strategies there is risk but one wonders why new concepts have not been properly tested while the most dangerous one of making luxury affordable seems to be in vogue The second trend towards global terror is not new but recently rekindled. We live in an increasingly populous and radical world where technology has forced confrontation between cultures as borders are relentlessly invaded by brands via the TV, mobile phones and the internet. This threat can not be completely prevented and resistance is probably futile. Consumers may be forced to stay at home, behind fortified walls with patrolling security cameras and guards. They will work, shop, gamble, interact with various forms of entertainment and of course chat throughout the day from their secure or perceived secure home. The outside world will become increasingly dangerous and the media, Fox News as one example, will feed stories of gloom and doom to this captive audience. The worse the news, is the better their ratings are. The modern world is hectic, frightening and insecure to many who are suffering and one form of relief is to reward oneself. This works on a number of levels as purchasing can fulfil our hunter/gatherer tendencies which are a deep seated genetic trait. In scary or difficult times people tend to either save more or buy quality goods in order to secure their value for future emergencies. They also have a need to find relief and indulge in self-gratification. The third and final trend is towards consumerism as a form of entertainment or break with reality. People need to aspire towards something and an improvement of their lifestyle, aspirational desires, have always been a much sought after goal. What is the sense of working hard and not reaping rewards? Why attain a level of status and not be able to display or enjoy it? And, with the increasing amount of stress in our lives, why persist with the ardour of our working life struggles unless we know at some point we can enjoy the fruits of this labour? The luxury industry feeds off this basic human instinct and with the growth of new and wealthy consumers who will enthusiastically joini the luxury market through their purchases. There is little doubt that the trend will experience significantly growth. There is some downside to all of this high-end consumerism with many issues to contend with such as ecological impact, labour ethics and the growth of the minimalist consumer. The mass media also contributes to the confusion and anxiety and might add to consumer stress. Certainly people have a choice but no-one is educating people of the effects of their choices and as we all know, people will not always gravitate to what is good for them. We live in a free society with too many choices which make us less and less satisfied with our lives. As with children who are constantly asked what they want or want to do, too many choices are a burden and cause more problems than solutions. Adults must face thousands of messages and choices daily and most decisions are made with insufficient thought or experience and lead to dissatisfaction. If we start to study how to cope with all the information and choice out there we might begin to take advantage of the richness of our society. But few of us have the luxury of time or the awareness to consider how to deal with it all. Mass luxury is just one aspect of the new wealth and we are faced with new challenges as change, often related to new concepts driven by technology which makes change happen quicker than at any time in our history. Information used to be the ultimate luxury but in a world of plenty it might be debilitating. We are exposed to huge amounts of information, mostly unfiltered and difficult to quantify and qualify, and this leads to more problems rather than better solutions. Today, accurate and reliable information is even more valuable than ever before but finding it within all the clutter is as hard as finding that diamond among the rough. Consumers know what they desire and they must always look upward towards goals ahead of their reach. It is up to the luxurious brands to provide the symbols of achievement, the rewards of wealth, the ultimate experience and the long term satisfaction of ownership which is becoming harder and harder as more brands become accessible to the mass market. Companies should focus on their best customers and look for new and better ways to reach them. They must also respect that consumer sdemand that the brands retain their values and image. They must constantly innovate and improve the design and desirability of the product and experience. The top luxury brands are driven to expand and grow, the world is progressively getting less secure and finally people buy to fulfil some need or void in their lives or as a form of entertainment. Mass market consumption of luxury is a new human capability and whether it is a good trend or something we will later regret will take some time to understand but we should be careful that we do not seek short gains at the expense of longer term vision. Tradition takes time and a great amount of care to create yet it can all be quickly destroyed if mishandled. Growth with purpose is of course the optimum goal but much of the growth has been lead by greed and history repeatedly teaches the lesson that greed, especially when combined with ego, can have very short sight and disastrous results. It may be time for some companies to look to create greater brand value by developing extreme scarcity not based upon price but upon limited production, reduced lines and access points. It will take a brave leader to convince shareholders that this is a way forward but for some I fear the time is near for this decision to be debated and seriously considered. Источник: www.poolonline.com
SELLING LUXURY TO EVERYONE
И на закуску - отличный текст от Harvard Business School:
Selling Luxury to Everyone
Author: JULIE JETTE Executive Summary: Few retailing segments have been as hot in the past several years as luxury goods. Even as middle-priced stores have struggled, luxury goods and luxury brands have, in many cases, outperformed the rest of retail. How? Luxury is the new essential. Consumers know it and retailers are reaping the bounty. At a 'Growth Strategies in the Luxury Goods Industry' panel on April 3 at the HBS Retail and Luxury Goods Conference, moderator Nancy F. Koehn summed it up well. Koehn, the James E. Robison Professor of Business Administration at HBS, called luxury goods 'a changing space, a space with extraordinary zip and excitement… Things are kicking along vigorously.' 'Simultaneous with that, there's all kinds of change,' Koehn said, noting 'the extraordinary redefining of luxury by established middle-market and even lower-market players.' For example, she said, 'eight years ago, Starbucks was a luxury game on the east coast… Now, Starbucks is daily standard operating procedure-a mass business.' 'The tectonic plates that define luxury are shifting,' she said. Panelist Rory Tahari, creative director and brand designer for Elie Tahari, Ltd.-and wife of designer Elie Tahari-said she saw a clear trend toward higher expectations from consumers in the fashion industry. 'We're experiencing ourselves a tremendous amount of growth right now,' she said. 'The consumer really wants highly designed garments at an affordable price.' Tyler Morse, president of Bliss, an upscale spa and beauty company purchased by Starwood Resorts and Hotels in 2004, said that even in a recession consumers will splurge on luxury items, particularly those that give them a little taste of luxury at a reasonable price. 'It's an affordable luxury,' he said of his company's beauty products. 'Do you have thirty-two dollars in your pocket for a tube of moisturizer? Every day of the week.' But how can luxury goods manufacturers and retailers keep the segment growing? Tahari said she and her husband have considered the idea of buying one of their retailers in an effort to get more information about how their products are selling, improve their margins, and better control how their brand appears. You go into a mall and everybody is getting into the cosmetic business. - Tyler Morse, Bliss 'We'll know exactly what brands are performing well, exactly what sizes are selling,' she said.
Instant feedback Morse said controlling a retail channel is a powerful growth strategy for his company. Bliss performs 55,000 facials a year. Those services provide the company with a paying focus group from which it can gather feedback on its products. 'Our customers are paying us $200 [a facial]; you better believe they give us feedback,' he said. While the company has a far smaller research staff than big cosmetic houses-Morse noted that Estee Lauder has 400 chemists-selling products to customers who come in for services help it compete. Daniel Langer, executive director of marketing for hair products maker Bumble and Bumble, said that while many luxury
