Hi all,
after exchanging with a few customers who explained to me their strategy to get into the luxury market, I thought it would be good to write another article with a few key elements that work for that segment.
Let’s assume your product is good enough to make the cut of the luxury standards. The whole environment you create around your brand needs to perpetuate uniqueness, timelessness, excellence; exclusiveness. Your marketing strategy should create a proper atmosphere and deliver the necessary attitude to sell in this segment.
Here are a few tips you can think of, from “The Luxury Strategy” by J.N. Kapferer and V. Bastien:
- Be unique – as usual, my number one advice says to create a unique identity and make a bald fashion statement about who you are as a brand. As for your strategy, do not copy what other brands do. Make the necessary adjustments to tailor your strategy to serve your vision: always be faithful to your brand identity.
- Find the flaw that adds character to your brand – of course, impeccable craft and excellence are obviously expected when buying a luxury piece. However, if you can think of small flaw that can be explained by the way your craft or your brand story, assume it and like for luxury watches that lose two minutes every year, make a charming trait out of it as well as a way to guarantee your piece’s authenticity.
- Stick to your target customer – since luxury fashion is all about being exclusive, you don’t chase clients so you won’t redesign your pieces in order to make them relevant for other customers. Be faithful to your vision and let people come to you.
- Resist the demand – when you sell a limited edition, actually limit the number of products. Luxury is about uniqueness and exclusiveness : do not try to make volumes. Follow what Hermes CEO once stated: “When a product sells too much we stop producing it,”.
- You distribute rarity: make your brand desirable – the perfect craft takes time. Make your customers wait for their product.
- When advertizing, show a dream vision – advertizing is another means to talk about your creative vision and set up your ideal environment. Luxury advertizing is not about selling, it’s about pursuing a dream.
- Have a part of your product handmade – use a traditional craft that is maybe passed on from a generation to another and have it made by hand and look exceptional, even if we are speaking about a small part of the product.
So when you enter the luxury segment, besides serving your brand vision, the decisions you make need to help your line sell excellence while being unique, timeless and exclusive.
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Find more tools to help you with your fashion business in the number one FXF guide. “The Fashion Business Plan” by Bako Rambini is available on Amazon.
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