In today’s competitive market, where mainstream brands are pushing into premium category and traditional luxury fashion moving into mass market, it is necessary for real luxury to distinguish itself and retain its mystique.
Manal Khater, Regional Strategy Director, Atelier at Leo Burnett is of the opinion that today the definition of luxury has changed. She said, “The definition of luxury has evolved. It’s no longer about luxurious brands but more about services, experiences. In fact, being unbranded is luxury.”
With a multitude of luxury players on social media, brands need to be personalized and customized in providing their services to consumers both offline and online to stand out and connect them to their brands.
“In the GCC, each market is different. If you look at Dubai it is not representative of the other GCC markets as consumers here are much spoilt in terms of experiences. So the approach for each market should be different,” said Ms Khater.
Another strategy to stand out is to built long term relationships with niche consumers. “At IWC, we have built personal relationships with our consumers, investing in long term relationships with people who can carry our message to their followers. It also comes down to how authentic you are, in presenting your brand. There should be great emphasis on attention to detail and that is what we do. We invest in everything, be it communications, digital media, tradition, the mechanism with which the watch is made, in fact we take this to even the activations that we have for our brands,” explained Karoline Huber, Brand Director at IWC.
For luxury car manufacturers, its not just about building a super car but ensuring to become a part of the lifestyle of consumers. “What is important is the out of the car experience. It should become a lifestyle for people, something that they don’t just use once in a while, but something that touches their lives everyday,” shared Neil Slade, Middle East Director of Operations, Aston Martin MENA.
He further added, “Innovation is the key. If you stop being innovative for an year, you will be forgotten. People are looking for constant change and you need to deliver your brand with customization and personalization at the core of it to stay in the race.”
When it comes to watches and cars, a main marketing strategy that is followed is to have limited editions. However, too many limited editions may lose its true essence. Ms Huber said, “Limited editions are a good strategic tool but should not come out too often. The more successful your limited edition become, the more desirable it becomes and people start speaking about them. It targets a specific group of audience in terms of design and technology. However, limited editions should be the ones that doesn’t come out to often.”
2015 is being called the year of the Millennial with it constituting a large part of the global economy including the Middle East region. And for this generation, mobile is the technology close to their hearts. “If you look at the millennial audience, you need to see where they are spending their time. Everyone is spending time online. You need to be a more dynamic brand, embrace technology to connect with the young millennial,” commented Daniel Browns, International Strategy Director, OMD London.
“In this region you start consumption of luxury at a very young age, so to connect with this audience which is mostly on mobile, you need to be on mobile. You need to be where the conversation is, what is trending. But not necessarily, what’s trending is what your brand is also about. So you need to embrace the trend with a filter so you do not lose your brand identity,” added Ms Khater.
