How are luxury brands formed?

The old rule is to talk about the essence before talking about the problem:

If you want to talk about luxury brands, you must start with luxury goods, and when talking about luxury goods, you have to start with the word luxury. Interpretation.

What is interesting is that luxury is not an imported product. It comes from "Guoyu·Jinyu": As for Huanzi, he was arrogant and extravagant, greedy and without skill, and his ambition was based on a little care. The basic meaning is to direct Huo to waste money and pursue enjoyment excessively. In the past when productivity was low, luxury belonged only to a small upper class of human society. Only they have the resources to enjoy such luxury, the royal family of China, the pharaohs of Egypt, the kings of Europe, etc.

In Mr. Ratschler's "Luxury Brings Wealth" it is mentioned that "Luxury is a lifestyle that is considered luxurious in whole or in part by the respective society, mostly determined by products or services." In a class society, money cannot buy such luxury, and most people at that time were still struggling to survive. Luxury goods at this stage are just derivatives of enjoying privileges and have nothing to do with the brand.

When society developed from a class society to a democratic society, the strict social hierarchy became looser. Luxury goods are gradually coming to the general public. The simplest example is that you will no longer be beheaded if you wear bright yellow, which is evidence of rebellion in the imperial society.

In addition to changes in social class, people's consumption power has also been significantly enhanced due to the improvement of social productivity. If you can buy it, you can also sell it. Luxury goods truly possess the characteristics of commodities. Only luxury goods with commodity characteristics have the concept of brand, and the luxury brand we are discussing today is meaningful.

The formation of any brand must have a correct and long-term brand strategy. Brand strategy must be composed of three modules: brand positioning, brand image, and brand communication, and luxury brands are no exception.

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01 Positioning of luxury brands

Let me start by saying that luxury goods were only enjoyed by the privileged class in the past. Therefore, almost all luxury brands will be more or less linked to the royal family, kings, nobles and so on. Hermès, Evian, and Louis Vuitton are just like that. As a result, many companies that want to look foreign are trying their best to be like the aristocracy. For example, the following one:

This is just scratching the surface. Consumers will not be willing to spend an extra penny for you just because you advertise yourself as an aristocrat. I will only pay for what I feel like I am a noble after using it. This is the core of luxury brand positioning: consumers can build their ideal identity through luxury goods.

This is the biggest difference between the positioning of luxury brands and consumer goods brands: the positioning of consumer goods brands is to be able to meet the needs of target groups better than competitors, thereby occupying a larger market share. The positioning of luxury brands pays more attention to their own uniqueness. A long history, a symbol of status, and unparalleled innovation can all make luxury brands unique.

The key words for consumer goods brand positioning are: target group needs competitors’ benefits

The key words for luxury brand positioning are: brand personality, customer image, customer awareness

In the past, Gangzhu Qiao was widely praised for his philosophy: "Don't investigate what customers want, but directly give them what they dream of." In fact, it is the brand concept of luxury goods.

02 The image of luxury brands

Brand image is mainly expressed through vision, touch and hearing, and the same is true for luxury brands. Next, we will talk about the characteristics of luxury brand image from three modules.

The visual aspect is actually the simplest, no different from most brands. By repeated visual patterns, clear brand colors and more. This module is the easiest part for luxury brands to imitate. Most companies can easily achieve this if they are willing to put in the effort and money.

The auditory part is not that simple. Consumer product brands will strive to incorporate the brand promise into an advertising slogan and then repeat it over and over again. Luxury brands use legends, stories, and experiences to express their brand promises.

The Tiffany blue gift box in the picture above was promoted like this in 1906: "Tiffany has a product that you can't buy no matter how much you spend, because it is only given away and not sold.

This is Tiffany's gift box. ”

Whether you glance at it by chance in the busy street, or stare at it in the palm of your hand, the Tiffany blue gift box will make your heart beat. It symbolizes Tiffany’s elegance, uniqueness and flawlessness. Craftsmanship tradition.

Luxury brands continue to use stories to spread their brand connotations, so that every consumer can be attracted by these stories and pay for them. Cartier’s famous cheetah series is first of all unique in shape, and also There is a poignant love story between Joseph Cartier, the third generation of the Cartier family, and Jeanne Toussaint, the artistic director. When consumers see this product and hear this story, the brand image will be deeply imprinted into their consumption.

The tactile part is mainly through various rare materials: such as Hermes' silk, Prada's python skin or ostrich feathers; extreme and paranoid details: such as the close-up of Louis Vuitton's seams. and locking in details; excellence in hand-made requirements, etc., will add points to the brand image when consumers come into contact with the goods.

03 Luxury brand communication

Luxury brand communication. In addition to the well-known spending money on advertising to hire the most popular celebrities to endorse, there are several communication rules that are particularly interesting.

Rule 1: Make everything about the company a topic of conversation. Why now. Companies are so keen on holding press conferences because they hope to create enough influence. Various big names take the initiative to participate in the press conferences of luxury brands, and various media rush to report them, whether they are criticized or praised. It has been discussed for a long time. In this regard, Apple's press conference and Chanel's press conference are essentially the same.

On the other hand, some brands develop conferences for the sake of launching conferences. The effect is intriguing.

Rule 2: Promotional content is not promotion

Although we all know that all brand communication is required to promote the sales conversion rate. Clearly give reasons for purchase to achieve publicity effects. All publicity of luxury brands is more about self-identity in order to satisfy consumers' self-identity and generate buzz.

As we all know, perfumes and luxury goods prefer to do a lot of public relations activities and cultural sponsorships instead of promoting through a lot of TV ads. This is also based on choosing channels that are consistent with the core meaning conveyed by the brand. After all, using TV ads to tell a story. The story of identity is too difficult.

04 A few final words

A brand is a promise made and fulfilled by a company. This definition is valid for all brands, whether it is a consumer product brand or a brand. Luxury brands. The formation of any brand must have a correct and long-term brand strategy. Brand strategy must be composed of three modules: brand positioning, brand image, and brand communication.

Luxury brands are inseparable from their long history, status symbols, and unparalleled innovation. But we have also seen two "young" luxury brands: Vose and Apple successfully build their brands into luxury brands through status symbols and unparalleled innovation without a long historical background.

Especially Apple, which relies on status symbols and unparalleled innovation to support its high premium. As people's consumption awareness and domestic mobile phone technology continue to improve, these two points are facing more and more challenges. And Apple is not sitting still, why do you say this. When we open Apple's official website, we will see the woman next to Cook: Angela Ahrendts, senior vice president of retail.

This vice president has a lot of background. Before coming to Apple, he was the CEO of Burberry. It was she who revitalized Burberry, a traditional luxury brand.

The purpose of saying this is to hope that everyone understands that the brand strategies of consumer goods and luxury goods cannot be compatible. Although Apple is facing challenges, and some products have also begun to significantly reduce prices. But his luxury brand strategy has never changed, and this strategy is the foundation for Apple to obtain more than 90% of profits.