Luxury Marketing: what is luxury?

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Luxury was for kings and king, now it is for rich and famous.

Dream is priceless, it is about social elevation, timelessness and about gift to other or to yourself.

How do we measure a dream value?

If everyone has it is not impressive.

→ Lack of dream value

It is hthe accessible stuff. If many people can afford it, there is no dream value. The most people are able to buy, it the most a product loose it dream value.

→ Dream value

A really few people can buy it, but many people dream about having it

Keeping the dream alive

The packaging is as important as what is inside. It gives excitement.

It is the creator that make the brand exists that’s why fashion show exists it is to reinforce the idea of artistic.

Luxury is about timelessness that’s why lot a “mise en scene” are retro.

Louis Vuitton case study

Louis Vuitton is in the stock markets. They are making a lot of money for LVMH. It is the most lucrative product of LVMH. They pretend to be a luxury product but in reality they are in the mass production.

The main problem of Louis Vuitton is the monogram, it is easily recognizable. If you buy a bag that everyone can tell where it comes from, it’s look like you want to be noticed.

Thy try to fight against the idea of their products are not unique. Then they show people as artists (those who made the product). They were sued for this ad, they ad to take it off because it has been proved that it was not a faithful representation.

In reality Louis Vuitton is surfing on the past, it is more about the price now.

→ Vertical integration

It use to be sold in small maroquinerie, but they didn’t make enough money with it. They decided to sell it only in their own shop. That what made them special, the advantage was to keep their margins that were small. You controlled everything, the product are not compared.

→ The monogram debate

When LVMH bought the brand, there was a debate to decide if they should change or not the monogram. They decided to keep it because it is who they are. They wanted to change it because it makes the brand easily copy and if you can copy it, it is not really luxury. But increasing the price was a way to fix a limit of people who are able to buy it.

They are trying to recreate the dream value, because they are loosing it.

Louis Vuitton is trying to rescue the brand promoting a lifestyle rather than a product.

They creating exhibition

Louis Vuitton Pyramid:

- Top

- Heart of the range

- Entry product

Cars

→ Ferrari

When you are a luxury company, your capital is your brand.

Hard to distinguish between luxury and premium luxury is more like investing and long term expectations.

Being on the stock exchange make them lost a little bit of this value.

Sales of cars had grown up since 15 years, and the big sellers leaders are German cars (Audi, BMW, Mercedes).

Premium vs luxury

- Specificity of luxury – Lancôme in no Guerlain

- Premium is not luxury and can never become it – premium is an upwards extension of marketing strategies

- Luxury cannot become premium (not without sacrificing its identity)

- Luxury is not only high price$

Top of the range : upper end of a brand’s range, the showcase of the band’s know-how.

Upper premium : in an upper-premium car, the priority is tu usage value because it is for everyday use, in all weather, on al roads, for all travels. Upper premium is recognition for hard work.