Digitizing #Luxury Brands

Gone are the days of avoiding the Internet. The prevalence of digital and social media has made it imperative for luxury fashion brands to have an active online presence. Facebook pages, livestreaming fashion shows and e-stores have made brands, like Gucci and Prada, more accessible to everyday shoppers. 

The Internet has enabled high-end fashion brands to expand their reach, create a more direct relationship with their consumers and receive instant online orders. However, the problem with making luxury brands more accessible is it puts the risk of making the brand seem ordinary. 

To quote Jean-Noel Kaperer, a luxury marketing consultant, “If too many people can buy it, the brand loses its exclusivity.” This is an important concern, but the services and merchandise that are available to the wealthiest and most loyal customers may not be accessible online. As Cori Galpern, worldwide marketing and advertising director for Tom Ford International, said on a panel at the Wharton Marketing Conference, “The core for a luxury brand is a customer with considerable wealth.” This means that luxury brands have to pamper and create vastly personalized experiences for their core customers. 

Despite the ubiquity of digital and social media, the in-store experience is still integral to producing individualized experiences for high-wealth customers. “Even though the products are available to view online, it is not the same as the experience of seeing them in person,” said a business analyst at a high-end fashion brand in a recent interview. Viewing the product in a store enables you to touch it, learn more about the story about the collections and build a face-to-face relationship with dedicated sales associates. Digital and social media can amplify in-store experience for high-wealth customers, but shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a substitute.   

Catering to the wealthiest consumers has always been a constant in the luxury industry, but fashion houses have to keep innovating on their customer experiences to stay ahead of their competitors – both on and off-line. When looking at ways to innovate, fashion houses should think about ways for not only core customers to keep coming back, but to inspire potential customers to become engaged with the dream of their brand.

The challenge for luxury brands is in evoking an aura of desirability across broad audiences, while curating individualized experiences for their core customer base.  Luxury brands have to develop strategies that promote both accessibility and exclusivity. Digital and social media can help increase awareness of and perpetuate the myth surrounding the brand, but they must be carefully curated in order to maintain an impression of exclusivity. Furthermore, these channels should be viewed in the context of the store experience. 

What do you think are the most innovative examples of fashion in digital and social media? Which luxury brands are creating the most accessible, yet also exclusive experiences? 

(Melissa Andrada) @themelissard 

Photo courtesy of iirraa via Flickr Creative Commons License.