(Feature image credit here)

Louis Vuitton is advertising their watches in a new luxury brand campaign. Interestingly, their end line is ‘High Watchmaking’.

For those not familiar with the watch world, ‘High Horology’ or "Haute Horologie” means fine, luxury or high-quality watchmaking. The word is used to describe watches created using the finest techniques, with the most complicated functions, and the most intricate details. It’s out of the luxury brand copywriting playbook.

If you know what high watches are, you’re in the in-crowd. If you know how to pronounce A. Lange & Söhne, Audemars Piguet or Jaeger Lecoultre you belong. Most people don’t know what a high watch is.

So, exclusivity matters in luxury brand marketing, including its words and copywriting.

But the word ‘luxury’ itself is absolutely not luxury.

Love luxury, love success

For thousands of years, the wealthy created markets through their love of luxury. Chinese silk, Eastern spices, Venetian glass, Swiss watches, Meissen porcelain, Staffordshire pottery and French couture. They created, each in their turn, rich niches.

Smart founders and luxury copywriters used them to develop lucrative markets through the desires and aspirations of the less rich social classes.

The very success that has been achieved has probably negated any serious sense of the original word.

Which is over-used, cliché ridden and applied to just about every luxury brand sector you can think of. From the usual wine, jewellery, holidays, cars, hotels, aviation, skincare, fashion etc to celeb brands to er....toilet roll. (end line: Wisdom in every Wipe), vinyl flooring, and shampoo.

(See here, from Esquire Magazine, some of the most ridiculous luxury products. Chanel tennis balls anyone?)

It seems like any company can adopt a luxury brand strategy even if it does not actually produce a product or service usually associated with the sector, e.g. Apple.

But it is also - still - the most immediate short-hand way to signal rarity, exception, quality privilege, and price.

Louis Vuitton's line led me to think, yet again, how we struggle to reframe our haute, our high-end, sector’s presentation.

Luxury brand marketing: who writes 'luxury'?

The HEC Paris business school examines the issue:

Although luxury brands cultivate the myth of their humble origin and vaunt their continuous loyalty to pure craftsmanship, the reality of the luxury sector today is that of mega-brands, of mega-groups holding a vast portfolio of brands. Some are still family owned (Chanel, Hermès) others are listed (LVMH, Kering, Richemont, Swatch).

An in-depth analysis of the websites of many leading luxury brands and groups reveals a paradoxical absence, that of the word “luxury” itself.

Hermès never uses the word, nor does Porsche, LVMH itself now refrain from using the word in its newest corporate website, favouring the words: excellence, dream, exceptional and exquisite.

Altagamma the syndicate of all Italian luxury brands never uses the word “lusso”.

ANEW has constant client conversations about ‘accessible luxury’, ‘casual luxury’, ‘new luxury’ – not to be confused with ‘old’ luxury.

We have those as well. (They are always followed by words like ‘relevance, meaning, modernity, technology, Gen Z…)

Depending on your point of view, these phrases – lazy luxury copywriting even - either shows we have lost the meaning of the sector, or it has matured into something all-encompassing and flexible.

Luxury should mean craftmanship, perfection, exceptionalism, exquisite aesthetics all backed by founding beliefs, culture and values rooted in a very specific local past. Many a luxury brand founder story is about innovator beating tough economic times or hard personal circumstances.

Luxury should also mean relevance, disruptive creativity and sustainability.

In 2019 the New York Times reported on The Louvre Abu Dhabi’s luxury exhibition which presented the evolving, often conflicting, interpretations of the word luxury.

They ask: “Is it ostentatious spending on trend-driven whims like handbags and lipsticks, or investing in unique pieces associated with a specific place or period? Is it a concept rooted in product or experience? An ever-changing social construct? Or today, in a frantic world cluttered with objects, screens and logos, is it time itself?”

If the New York Times is confused, imagine how we feel.

Here’s a picture of a solid silver C18th French soup tureen, with cover, to get things back on track.

(Image reference: Gary Stockbridge)

Reclaim the meaning of luxury back

In the absence of any other phrase or word, it will have to be in its brand communications. In good luxury copywriting, art direction, brand narratives and engaging ideas.

That means getting back to the roots of luxury, its know-how, its history, its reason for being, its unusual grace, its relationship to craftsmanship – helped or not with technology.

In a luxury brand’s quest for perfect perfection, it should have a closeness, to art to produce a feeling more than mere ‘I got it’, and status. Ideally…some kind of aesthetic elevation.

Anew kind of luxury

Well, we can’t promise spiritual enlightenment with every luxury copywriting brief. Like Willie Nelson’s sad songs and waltzes, they’re not selling this year.

We started in 2016. A London branding agency whose two founders produce insight from market research, strategic brand thinking, new brand names, luxury logo design, messaging, online and offline content, luxury copywriting, coffee table books, or luxury brand websites. They help companies increase brand profitability through sharper insights, distinctive propositions, creative ideas and faultless execution.

To get in touch do drop us an email. We'd be delighted to meet for a coffee, either face-to-face or virtually to discuss your brief.

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The words you don't need

Rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic; have your cake and eat it; stick to one’s guns; above my pay grade; punch above one’s weight; roll with the punches; come apart at the seams; hit the nail on the head; rub shoulders wit; in the DNA of;, a gold mine; lap of luxury; off the charts; takes two to tango; no holds barred; silver lining; inner demons; skin in the game; game changer; change agent; sweet spot; tipping point; playbook; singing from the same sheet; straight out of central casting; retail’s detail; can of worms; cash cow; rabbit hole;  tool kit; the tip of the iceberg; the light at the end of the tunnel; writing’s on the wall; double down; jump-start; behind the curve; swim against the tide; level playing field; open the floodgates; think outside the box; the edge of the envelope; pull out all the stops; take the foot off the pedal; full steam ahead;  pass with flying colours; move the goal posts; add fuel to the fire; under the radar; grow by leaps and bounds; only time will tell; between a rock and a hard place; gig; rock star; heavy hitter; doing the heavy lifting; laser-focused; piece of cake; bread and butter; cherry-pick, low-hanging fruit; kick-start; a feather in the cap; long in the toot;  pull the plug on; sweep under the carpet; lead the pack; the short end of the stick; at the drop of a hat; jury is still out; what goes around comes around; literally; zeitgeist; mantra; optics; granular; interrogate; paradigm...

The words you do

Anew the London- based luxury branding agency who understands the language of luxury.

We've helped companies – such as Bombardier, Universal Music, Hatch Mansfield and Boodles - increase brand profitability through sharper insights, distinctive propositions, creative ideas, new brand names, market research and faultless execution.

We are particularly adept at working directly with luxury brands, business owners, start-ups and entrepreneurs who are committed to sustainability, outstanding quality and craft.

And some words we do like:

Luxury brand content creation

Luxury brand strategy development  

Luxury copywriting

Luxury website design

Coffee table book design

Brand name generation  

New brand name creation

Market research

Bespoke book making 

You can read more about us here.

To get in touch do drop us an email. We'd be delighted to meet for a coffee, either face-to-face or virtually to discuss your brief.

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Ah, relationships.

Always difficult.

Tricky enough with people never mind with companies and all the commercial expectation and pressure that brings. Luckily, we have lawyers to shed light on potential darkness and bring harmony, common sense and protection to business life.

How to achieve a successful meeting of hearts, minds, objectives and deliverables – and enjoy a fruitful relationship – were the core themes of Mishcon De Reya’s Retail Academy on ‘Brand Collaboration as a Platform for Growth’, which we attended last week.

We had wise counsel to take an audience of start-ups and entrepreneurs through the possible minefields.

The panel featured four leading experts: Daniel Avener – CEO, MDR Brand Management, Lewis Cohen – Partner, Innovation, Mishcon de Reya, Angela Farrugia – Founder of Brand x Society (Moderator), and Fiona Lambert – Brand Advisor, Vice President of The Twenty Club and former Managing Director of Jaeger at M&S.

They pointed out that brand collaborations, if well considered, can be an undeniably powerful tool for growth. From the quirky to the controversial, the innovative to the traditional, partnerships between brands can be highly effective ways to grow both markets and revenue for the respective parties.

All the key ingredients - brand, commercial, creative and legal – needed for a successful collaboration were covered.  Here’s what we learned:

1. Get the basics right

Peter Drucker, famed management consultant got the starting point right when he said, in the 1970’s, about brand partnerships that the first question is not "what do we want to do," it is, "what are the partners' goals, the partners' objectives, what is value for the partner, how does the partner work and operate?" Once this is understood and accepted, the alliance will work.”  And indeed, this still makes sense.

He should have added, get a good lawyer and a sensible contract. Here’s some detail from the event.

To anyone thinking of a brand partnership, to repeat, consider your objectives, why are you doing it and why might your partner be doing it – and do these fit? Not every business or in-house lawyers has the time, resources or bandwidth to engage in these fundamentals.

2. Be clear about the reasons why

They are many and various, ranging from reaching a new territory, gaining short term revenue, buying credibility, driving footfall/ sales, reaching a new audience, range extension, changing lanes, tactical gain (creating noise) versus the strategic plan.

3. Detail the practical issues

For example – and these are a few thoughts from a long list - but might include what if the businesses are different sizes, or if it is a genuine collaboration or an opportunity to gain new IP. Or who will own the IP / trademark of anything new created. Do you have relevant trade mark protection for the goods and services in the geographies/categories relating to the collaboration goods/services; it's particularly worth checking whether someone else have IP protection that you might be infringing or that you have not previously agreed not to use your IP in those geographies/categories? Or what distinguishing elements of your brand mark can you comfortably use which signal that its your brand without using the actual TM. Or who owns the new customer/ and the data that results from it. If you are in the same category there will be less of a learning curve than if your partner is in a different market entirely.

4. Listen to your brand's heart

Your current and potential new consumer – what is it going to make them think/ feel about you? Ultimately does a collaboration create something that is exciting and new rather than confuse / alienate your existing customer.

5. Acknowledge resources

If you are the smaller partner, do you have the physical/ technical/ practical/ legal resources to provide what is needed throughout on time, in order to meet the timescales laid out to deliver the collaboration. Is this going to distract you too much from the actual running of your day-to-day business which needs lots of your time/ energy/ resource. How will you PR it/ who will own the Marketing Comms about the new product?

6. The red lines

E.g. what are the non-negotiables, the parts of your brand DNA you are not willing to compromise on? What are you willing to give away?

‘Ultimately collaborations needs alignment and a matched emotional passion on both sides for them to work’ said New York Times chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman.

So, with that in mind, here were a number that received an honorary mention, together with one of our own clients’: Cordura.

Clarks Shoes x Moncler and Clarks x Zara

https://www.clarks.co.uk/originals/collaboration/moncler-wallabee-collection

https://www.drapersonline.com/news/zara-and-clarks-launch-footwear-line?tkn=1 

Louis Vuitton x Supreme

https://moderncollectibles.jingdaily.com/read/louis-vuitton-x-supreme-2021-history-retrospective-value 

Babolat x Michelin tyres

https://www.babolat.com/gb/heroes-players-blog-michelin/michelin.html 

Nike x Tiffany

https://www.tiffany.co.uk/stories/tiffany-and-nike-air-force/ 

Manolo Blahnik x Birkenstock

https://www.manoloblahnik.com/gb/the-latest/post/Manolo-blahnik-for-birkenstock

Cordura x North Face

https://www.innovationintextiles.com/cordura-celebrates-brand-collaborations-at-or/

Our client Cordura - an internationally recognised ingredient brand - marked their 50th anniversary by creating a series of product collaborations and new fabrics dedicated to helping consumers 'Live Durable'. The new innovations were built on the brand's durable 50-year heritage.

Anew is in the brand relationship business

Well, we do pride ourselves on the strong collaborative relationships we enjoy with our clients and their brands. Here is the work we have done to make them happy.

We are a London-based luxury brand agency who have helped companies - such as Bombardier Private Aviation, Universal Music, Hatch Mansfield and Boodles luxury jewellers - increase brand profitability through sharper insights, distinctive propositions, creative ideas and faultless execution.

Whether it’s insight from market research, strategic brand thinking, a new branding name, logo design, messaging, online and offline content or website development, we are here to help all ambitious luxury brands.

We are particularly adept at working directly with luxury brands, business owners, start-ups and entrepreneurs who are committed to sustainability, outstanding quality and craft.

To get in touch do drop us an email. We'd be delighted to meet for a coffee, either face-to-face or virtually to discuss your brief.

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The latest issue of Luxury Briefing (237) carries an article on the enduring importance of craftsmanship. Luxury Briefing is the international print and digital intelligence report providing news, analysis and opinion across the luxury industry.

We’re proud to say it’s written by us, and you can read it below.

And reprinted in full here below in case its easier to read:

BRAND MATTERS: Issue 237

THE CRAFT OF LUXURY BRANDS

Nick Steyn, co-founder and partner at luxury brand marketing consultancy Anew, contemplates the enduring importance of craftsmanship in the luxury sector.

In ancient Greece, the word ‘poet’ meant ‘maker’.

In luxury, the makers - the craftspeople - are the true creators. The parfumiers, woodworkers, horologists, jewellers, winemakers, furniture makers and fabric designers, they are the people who actually make luxury. They transform the substance of the earth itself - the mud clay, the wood bark, the raw diamond, the ripe grape, the flower essence - into something unique and real.

And their craftsmanship is the one core platform luxury depends on: enduring, long-lasting quality.

Social commentator Peter York wryly said, "Luxury is a business model. If you are a luxury brand, the thing that you make is the brand”. That is, a brand’s painstakingly created marketing and presentation of desire, style, authenticity, zeitgeist and consumer understanding is what gives it value. (In many companies they have more people in marketing than they do in design). But in truth, it’s the longevity of quality craftsmanship that has underpinned the sector’s success over thousands of years.

It gives brands their stories. They can lay claim to having the original, the only, the newest, the oldest, the rawest, and the rarest. Good luxury brand narratives are based on craft. Practically, symbolically and psychologically the act of making something permanent, something beautiful, in an all-too-often ugly, impersonal world has always been valued. And it takes skill. To devote oneself to the task of craft, to toil away patiently.

And craftspeople are usually endlessly inquisitive about their work and its possibilities of different materials and production. Sometimes they reach far beyond what the market wants in a seemingly extreme - if bizarre - desire for total perfection. Which is the whole point. We see brands (in fashion, jewellery, and watches) not especially concerned with practicality but with the unexpected or the non-essential. It is how luxury brands show their total, pure, mastery and understanding of their world.

But it’s good business. It gives a good story: ‘we go to the ends of the earth for you’. Literally. Extremism of craft process, location, environment, nature, performance, and rarity characterise much luxury messaging. To quote Rolex’s latest Perpetual ad campaign on who wears their watch: “Explorers, adventurers, scientists, men and women who always broadened the horizons in the deepest point in the ocean, the highest summits of the earth.”

It produces excellence, but also in some sectors, irregularities or mistakes. In some sectors like fine wine, leather goods or jewellery, being hand-made is better than machine-made perfection.

Think ‘wabi-sabi’: the Japanese acceptance of transience and incompleteness. Imperfect art can be perfect art.

Because we live in uncertain times, being more aware of our vulnerability, and the fragility of being human, qualities of craft should be valued more than ever. Good and righteous, they have meaning. They are sustainable. They are the hallmarks of a civilised society. Vacheron Constantin’s current press ads quote designer Yiquing Yin: “I humbly search for the true, the good, the beautiful”.

So let us reconsider ‘luxury’ - a most unluxurious word - and return to the sector’s origins: well- made, excellent crafted products that are inherently sustainable. Many luxury retailers started out as simple, single-product artisans with meaningful purpose: to create perfect jewellery, luggage or wine, or a dress, usually in socially deprived times. They were expensive and of quality. Think the Hermés horse harness workshop or Louise Vuitton’s flat- bottom lightweight, airtight and stackable canvas trunks ideal for boat voyages. They were built to be durable and to last. It’s a strong relevant message and it taps into the innate desire all consumers have right now: to believe in something real.

Now some think, notably in Silicon Valley, that reality is overdone and the Metaverse is more interesting. Well, we cannot hold back the tide but we can observe that if luxury products did not have humanity and craftsmanship at their centre, life would be colourless and dreary, if not worrying. If everything was like everything else, where would the space be for individuality and for discernment? What would it say about us as people if we could not pass down all that craft skill and knowledge? A Genevan watchmaker certainly could not say “you merely look after them for the next generation.”

The very concept of craftsmanship says much about us as a society. Socrates was the first to articulate the concept of luxury 2,400 years ago. He identified the need for us to aspire to more than just food, clothing and shelter.

He believed a luxurious society would probably have more injustice and illness, but he acknowledged it to be inevitable, given how human desire expresses itself.

Just as the best art, theatre, books, painting, sculpture, and music lets ‘your soul and spirit fly' - as Van Morrison put it - so should craftsmanship celebrate creativity and reflect our constant quest for truth and beauty.

The great luxury brands understand.

Read more from our Brand Matters series:

• Why craftsmanship's vulnerability will win in the tech world here.
• Creativity: From Origins to AI here
• Luxury is ageing gracefully here

The write stuff

You can read more of our views on luxury brand marketing for example, on matters such as:

The art of growing older, a luxury branding perspective

Luxury brand marketing is common sense

What makes a successful luxury brand?

How to conduct effective luxury market research

The craft of a luxury London branding Agency

Anew’s two founders deliver: insights from market research, strategic brand thinking, new brand names, luxury logo design, messaging, online and offline content, coffee table books and luxury brand websites. We help companies increase brand profitability through sharper insights, distinctive propositions, creative ideas and faultless execution.

To get in touch do drop us an email. We'd be delighted to meet for a coffee, either face-to-face or virtually to discuss your brief.

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Big, bold and beautiful

The power of the coffee table book is now being fully appreciated by luxury brand marketers. It’s taken 183 years.

Displaying books as conveyors of cultural value goes back a long way. From early home ‘intelligence signifier’ to luxury business tool, their communication strength was first noticed in 1850 when Montaigne observed, in dismay, that his essay ‘Upon Some Verses of Virgil’, was being used to show off rather than picked up and read. He said: “'I am vexed that my essays only serve the ladies for a common movable, a book to lay in the parlour window”.

He might have been irritated, but a cultural artefact, social trend (and printers’ delight) had been born…

In luxury brand marketing they have become powerful communications tools in the luxury marketing toolbox.

Large formats, expert craftmanship, fine design detail, tactility, visual impact, respect for narrative, history, and culture combine to deliver an exceptional reading, or social display experience, that is unlike any other.

Qualities that our luxury clients such as Bombardier (see above), and Universal Music appreciate.

Luxury coffee table book for Decca Luxe/Universal Music

Custom books are perfect for luxury brands: their rich aesthetic, design and print vocabulary is a stunning showcase to display a brand’s character, interests, beliefs, and values.

Generous in space and size, they entertainingly give readers valuable insights about legacy, achievements and inspirations.

Supersize coffee table book to market one single£64m London residence 

We understand... because we make and create bespoke coffee table books

Our new venture - SO Books - teams us with our colleagues at SO Creative Studio, in a shared passion for luxury print.

We offer seamless end-to-end book making services:

From initial luxury brand strategy, market research, book design, content creation, copywriting, photography, retouching, translation services, project management, printing and fulfilment.

We collectively have over 25 years’ experience working with global luxury brands in sectors including art galleries, museums, architecture, property, interiors, B2B professional services, private investor projects, royalty, luxury jewellery and entertainment.

Our custom books are bespoke

Everything we do is unique, and tailor made. Luxury coffee table books can be any size or format. Book boxes can be any material from cardboard, wood, metal, glass, acrylic, resin, stone to 5000-year-old fossilised black oak, shagreen, mother of pearl, and real gold.

Beautiful custom book and book box concept for a superyacht called JOY 

Not forgetting, digital coffee table books

Yes, coffee table books are unashamedly analogue – and therein lies their power – but we can also integrate emerging technologies.

Of course, we can print books lithographically or digitally, but augmented reality (AR) offers the best of both worlds - bridging the physical and digital worlds to create books with animation and sound.

For luxury brand marketers who want statement pieces of serious artistic value

Superlative high end production values featuring extravagant formats, exquisite imagery, beautiful typography and reading narratives, they should always be a rich celebration of luxury craftsmanship.

Custom book box and book for a company that extracts marble and other precious stone from rock

Whether a luxury brand needs the ultimate HNW and UHNW welcome, or an after-sales gift, a statement in the family office or reception, standout sales material, need to tell your brand’s success story, mark a special moment or establish market or cultural authority, a coffee table book has qualities that luxury customers desire:

Luxury brand marketing that delivers awe

Awe.

It’s not a word we use much in luxury brand marketing, but coffee table books have it.

No one is in awe of an Insta campaign, a DPS in Vogue, the usual third party luxury partner promo, a VR experience yet, or (and it grieves us to say, it no matter how well crafted), a website.

The world is making truthful emotional, and certainly luxury brand, connections, harder.

Done well, a coffee table book gives readers a sense of being in the presence of something bigger, literally, that can transcend one’s understanding of a brand.

Their physicality can be moving, leaving an everlasting impression, making a deeper sensory relationship. It is the ideal medium for luxury brand storytelling, for founder origin stories, history, milestones and achievements.

It is an investment in craftsmanship that speaks volumes about who commissioned such a book.

To learn more about SO Books, our approach, the service we offer, printing using sustainable print solutions, multi-language and transcreation opportunities – see here.

Or get in touch if you want your luxury brand marketing to deliver an emotion unlike anything else.

Other articles

In which we highlight those luxury brands who are aging very gracefully, and very successfully.

Well, many of us dread growing old, but old age is a triumph of life. It’s pointless not to acknowledge the passing of time is predestined, and of course inevitable. (Shoulder shrug/deep sigh.)

Luxury branding is unusual in this metaphysical sense. Their ‘birth’ is more crucial to brand marketing than most.

‘Founded in...', 'Established in...', 'Since...' are core features of many luxury logo designs.

Like humans, wise luxury brands have to keep doing things that give their purpose and existence a meaning. It certainly keeps marketing departments and London branding agencies on their toes.

With luxury branding this means a continued devotion and ways to express craft, design, style, convenience, status, environment, creativity, founder vision etc.

But more than most businesses, their age/historic milestones are often a significant part of the luxury branding story. Creating a vital present from a sepia past is always the luxury legacy brand marketer’s challenge.

Image Credit:  www.stockvault.net/photo/191061/rolls-royce 

Truly, existentialist marketing.

Because luxury brand marketers have to ask continually: Why do we exist? Why are we here? What greater purpose do we serve? What does our history mean? How do we remain relevant now? And other company-soul searching questions.

Here are some that profitably understand how old can mean energy, positivity, relevance through being vintage, style, culture, family, classic…and brilliantly marry it all with contemporary innovation.

Yves Saint Laurent 

Founded in 1962 by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé, YSL, is a French luxury fashion house specialising in haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather accessories, and footwear.

Valentino

Founded in 1960, Valentino is an Italian luxury fashion house with Haute Couture, Prêt-à-Porter lines and accessories that include shoes, bags, small leather goods, eyewear, scarves, ties and fragrances.

Givenchy

Founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de Givenchy, Givenchy is the French luxury haute couture, ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics house.

Dior

Founded in 1946 by Christian Dior this European multinational luxury fashion house sells only shoes and clothing that can only be bought in Dior stores.

Nina Ricci

Founded in 1932 by Maria Nina Ricci and her son Robert in Paris. An haute couture and perfume house.

Image credit: ninaricci.com/en-ww/fragrance/product/nina-rouge

Prada

Mario Prada founded the house of Prada in 1913 and started his business by only selling leather goods. He originally sold English leather goods, before the brand started to produce its own leather items.

Chanel

The French luxury brand was founded by Gabrielle Coco Chanel in 1909. She started her business with hat making, but soon branched out into making comfortable clothing for women – a real revolution at the time.

Hermès

Established in 1837 by Thierry Hermès. The designer originally produced saddles and other equestrian supplies. The first unofficial Hermès bag, which was purely designed as an addition to their riding supplies, was advertised for carrying saddles.

Image credit: Omega Speedmaster , A Collected Man 

Omega

Set up in 1848 by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Omega has been delivering luxury watches to horologists and collectors for decades. The brand owes its reputation to the innovative techniques and incredible design used to deliver each timepiece.

Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche founded the company in 1931. One of the most valuable luxury and premium brands in the world, German automobile maker Porsche is renowned for its superior quality and world-class sports car manufacturing.

Louis Vuitton

The French fashion house was founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The French designer started his business with trunks made from canvas bearing the brand’s iconic monogram print.

Prada

In 1913, Mario Prada and his brother Martino opened the first store in Milan, where they sold a range of products — most of which were imported from England — such as leather goods, handbags and steamer trunks.

Image credit: bulgari.com/en-gb/

Bulgari

In 1884, Greek silversmith Sotirios Voulgaris, who later changed his name to Sotirio Bulgari, founded the luxury brand. Over the years, it went on to be known for its signature jewellery crafted in gold and silver, striking colour combinations and distinct motifs inspired by the company’s Roman heritage.

Gucci

Gucci began as a luggage manufacturer for Italy’s elite in Florence in 1921. Named after its founder Guccio Gucci, the label produces handbags, ready-to-wear outfits, shoes, accessories, makeup products, and fragrances.

Anew

Founded in 2016, a London branding agency, its two founders produce insight from market research, strategic brand thinking, new brand names, luxury logo design, messaging, online and offline content, coffee table books, or luxury brand websites. They help companies increase brand profitability through sharper insights, distinctive propositions, creative ideas and faultless execution.

And they only have a few grey hairs.

To get in touch do drop us an email. We'd be delighted to meet for a coffee, either face-to-face or virtually to discuss your brief.

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Marks & Spencer used to tell us how prized a quality common sense was.

They said it was hard to find people who had it.

And ad agencies – where the account was handled - in those pre-algorithmic days didn’t regard that quality very highly.

They seemed to prefer creativity, spontaneity, flair, thinking on your feet, a degree of eccentricity, making everything possible no matter what, the heart, the craft...

We all know better now.

Brand marketing needs both of course.

Famed psychologist Maslow showed superb common sense when he devised his Hierarchy of Human Needs pyramid.

His pyramid breaks down the various stages necessary for human life. It comes and goes out of fashion, but many luxury brand strategists and planners still use it as a benchmark.

Source: Wikicommons media 

According to him, we have five categories of needs: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization.

His theory – and indeed it does make sense – shows how higher needs in hierarchy of the human system emerge when people feel they have sufficiently satisfied the previous need.

A reminder

The first stage are your basic physical needs like food, drinks and sleep.

Once people’s physiological requirements are met, the next need is shelter and a safe environment.

You must have those two before you can move to the third stage – love and belonging. This spans relationships as well as ties to friends, family and social groups.

The fourth stage involves the desire to feel good about ourselves. Self-confidence and feeling valued by others.

Finally, when all those are complete, you can move to the final stage – fulfilment or self-actualisation. The feeling that we are living up to our potential. One unique feature of this of course is that it is different for everyone. Essentially, it means feeling that we are doing what we believe we are meant to do.

But you must start building at the bottom because without food there is no life!

Which leads us neatly into...

The disciplines of creating luxury brand strategy in marketing agencies

If you’re developing luxury market research, brand strategy, new brand name creation and creative communications programmes, there should be some sensible staged order in the process.

Like Maslow’s chart, you can’t start on the next level until you’ve completed the previous level.

It’s luxury brand common sense.

Source: Pixabay 

So, a first level on our chart would be vision/the reason for being - the Why of a company.

The next level would be the How - how that vision is going to move forward.

The third level would be the What - brand/product functionality

The next level would be the Who – stakeholders and consumers (and all their emotional, psychological, rational and cultural drivers)

The fifth level would be the Brand Proposition - the one single-minded message we can say that will cut through

Given we’re creative people, and we like to break the rules, we might add some extra levels such as:

Persona - what kind of personality the brand has.

Tone of Voice - the tone of how the brand communicates externally and internally to customers, partners or prospective employees

Values - what the brand stands for.

Communication - the toolbox is open: brand name or product name creation, luxury branding, logo & visual identity, content creation & production, websites, advertising, luxury marketing materials, brochures, copywriting, and content creation.

And the simple moral of the story?

1. There’s something to be said for ordered thinking.
2. Logical steps are helpful in brand development - though real life is never so logical.
3. With brand strategy, unless we build the first levels properly, the other levels won’t be as effective or impactful.

Levelling up with Anew

Source: Pixabay

Luckily, we know all the stages involved in creating successful luxury brands.

Anew are a London-based luxury brand agency who help companies - such as Bombardier Private Aviation, Universal Music, Hatch Mansfield and Boodles luxury jewellers - increase brand profitability through sharper insights, distinctive propositions, creative ideas and faultless execution.

Whether it’s insight from market research, strategic brand thinking, a new branding name, logo design, messaging, online and offline content or website development, we are here to help all ambitious brands of excellence.

We are particularly adept at working directly with luxury brands, business owners, start-ups and entrepreneurs who are committed to sustainability, outstanding quality and craft.

You can read more about us here

Drop us an email. We'd be delighted to meet for a coffee, either face-to-face or virtually to discuss your brief.

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(Image Credit: John Phelan)

A colourful creative start for 2023: a contemporary picture essay in which we cast our eye on what’s happening in the fine art world.

Why? Because the relationship between luxury brands and art has always been important – and it’s occasionally good to remind ourselves of it.

As Sotheby’s says: “Art and luxury have a long history of influencing each other to create timeless, aspirational experiences. From creative and editorial collaborations with artists like Salvador Dali, Cindy Sherman, Ed Ruscha and Takashi Murakami, to brand and creative directors increasingly drawing on trends and philosophy of art in their work.”

Recently the blurring of the worlds of fine art and luxury brand marketing has steadily increased, as high-end consumers demonstrate as much of an interest in art as in luxury brands and lifestyles.

We also see it in our work with the NFT world, the metaverse and the accompanying debate about art.

Art and luxury cross-pollination is wide-ranging, from branded spaces at art fairs (Prada Double Club at Miami Art Basel 2017) to brand-hosted art exhibitions (Victoria Beckham’s in-store collaboration with Sotheby’s ahead of its Old Masters sale this summer) and the establishment of museums by luxury fashion houses (Fondazione Prada, Fondation Cartier, Fondation Louis Vuitton, to name a few).

So this is timely:

The Apollo 2022 Artist shortlist

Now in their 30th year, the Apollo Awards celebrate major achievements in the art and museum worlds, commending remarkable work by individuals and institutions in both historical and contemporary fields. We have selected some examples of the work of the six shortlisted artists:

Francis Alys

https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/221505/francis-alsla-dpense/

https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1091

Anselm Kiefer

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/nov/25/anselm-kiefer-when-i-make-a-truly-great-painting-then-i-feel-real

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/nov/25/anselm-kiefer-when-i-make-a-truly-great-painting-then-i-feel-real

Simone Leigh

(for image credits please see below links) 

Hew Locke

https://www.artbasel.com/stories/hew-locke-tate-britain-commission 

Charles Ray

Artist of the moment………Charles Ray

Faith Ringgold

https://www.selvedge.org/blogs/selvedge/echoes-of-harlem

The art of understanding luxury brand consumers

Anew are a London-based luxury brand agency who help companies - such as Bombardier Private Aviation, Universal Music, Hatch Mansfield and Boodles luxury jewellers - increase brand profitability through sharper insights, distinctive propositions, creative ideas and faultless execution.

Whether it’s insight from market research, strategic brand thinking, a new branding name, logo design, messaging, online and offline content or website development, we are here to help all ambitious brands of excellence.

We are particularly adept at working directly with luxury brands, business owners, start-ups and entrepreneurs who are committed to sustainability, outstanding quality and craft.

You can read more about us here

Drop us an email. We'd be delighted to meet for a coffee, either face-to-face or virtually to discuss your brief.

Other relevant image credits

Simone Leigh: Loophole of Retreat

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(feature image credit: Flickr) 

A subversive headline in a luxury brand marketing blog if there ever was one. Heresy.

But yes, good old luxury!

In a world of self-obsession, celebrity, shamelessness, lack of trust, marketing over-literacy, oversharing and pseudo-drama.

Where just maybe people are now seeing through the fantasists, tech greed, the delusion, falsehoods and cults of fake political hucksters.

That expertise, facts and legals might actually matter – think major political failed promises, crypto-currency collapses, Silicon Valley arrogance...

It’s good to remember some of the fundamentals:

Luxury is solid

Image credit: Flickr

We have our bedrock, trusted'n’tested, luxury marketing narratives of beauty, design, innovation, craftsmanship, authenticity, creativity, quality, entrepreneurship and sustainability.

They are the tangibles.

Never failed for thousands of years.

Luxury is also inner directed

Image credit: Commons WikiMedia

As all the luxury brand marketing experts reveal in their interviews, the real luxuries are the intangibles: peace of mind, good health, time, nourishing loving relationships.

We think materialistic things will provide us real pleasure, or comfort and peace – and they do, they do.

People love their cars, watches, jewellery, fine wine, property, fragrances, art…

But nothing lasts for ever 

The reality though is that the pleasure we may take in luxury may be quite transitory.

Psychologists have identified something called the hedonic treadmill.

This is a theory pointing out that people repeatedly return to their baseline level of happiness, regardless of what happens to them.

When we experience good things, such as buying something beautiful, a new house or car, it induces an increase in happiness, which will later reduce to a normal personal baseline over time.

In other words, sugar rush, then crash.

Image credit: Pokerstars

Luxury brands and technology are not boring

Oh, of course they are not.

We’re all angsting about the metaverse, the real verse, digi-fashion, AI, NFTs, CGI, ABBA, Gen Z, data literacy, future skills, the value of art, what is real art, the meaning of art, and the future of humanity in a tech world – and anything else you’ve got - but this week we went to two Metaverse conferences with our colleagues from The British School of Fashion GCU and Syberite, even they say it’s all confusing, and wait 10 years.

There’s a lot of evangelising and futurists out there. And some super smart salespeople seeing gaps.

But it’s a constant – indeed fascinating – conversation, on many levels, and we are working on an NFT project, and learning all the time.

As the President of Nokia wisely observes "If the metaverse was a person, it would be a 30-year-old still in search of their first job”

He points out that we should be talking about plural metaverses: consumer, enterprise and industrial.

If the consumer version is where you play, the enterprise one is where you can co-design with your customers and the industrial portal is where you manufacture it.

The froth and noise is on fashion and art - the consumer version of the metaverse as it is easier to understand.

But the industrial and enterprise metaverses are probably more financially rewarding and are already being used to test future scenarios in industries such as aerospace, logistics and manufacturing.

It’s the wood and trees thing.

What really might work well is really hard to explain right now.

It’s more direct to grapple with the thought of your grandchildren being able to express their different identities/selves wearing different digi-clothes, in different parts of the metaverse – which will also be different to real life.

Luxury is not dull, it is thriving - but it is more complex

Anew are a London-based luxury brand agency who help companies - such as Bombardier Private Aviation, Universal Music, Hatch Mansfield and Boodles luxury jewellers - increase brand profitability through sharper insights, distinctive propositions, creative ideas and faultless execution. And we are here to help.

We are particularly adept at working directly with luxury brands, business owners, start-ups and entrepreneurs who are committed to sustainability, outstanding quality and craft.

You can read more about us here

Drop us an email. We'd be delighted to meet for a coffee, either face-to-face or virtually to discuss your brief.

Other articles

(Feature image credit:  Picryl.com)

Albert Einstein said "Imagination is the highest form of research".

But quoting just our imagination (!) isn’t the answer we can give clients when they ask for the deep insight and knowledge required before developing successful brand positionings for our clients in premium and luxury brand world.

And they do ask.

Years of gaining customer insight

We all know market research is an essential part of any serious company’s marketing plan. It dictates brand strategy, informs resource allocation, and helps brands understand and connect with their consumers.

Though quantitative market research (usage and attitude studies) has always been with us, going beyond the numbers has always interested us – and is especially relevant for marketing luxury brands.

Going deeper, interestingly, was pioneered by Ernest Dichter who developed a new form of consumer market research in the late 1940s, called Motivational Research. Based on Freudian psychoanalysis, he believed that consumers held in their minds a hidden realm of desires, taboos, repressions, and secrets. He believed that every product had an image, even a ‘soul’, and was bought not merely for the purpose it served but for the values and symbolic meanings it embodied.

Well, you couldn’t stop market researchers after that.

Market research aims to understand consumer mindsets

Gaining deeper insight into human behaviour has never gone away of course; it’s just been more refined.

Market research types now incorporates psychology, sociology, anthropology, semiotics, mythology, and economics

It reflects the complex fragmented lives we all lead.

Anew luxury brand and research consultancy is interested in the experiential part of being a consumer– not just the process of buying, but the actual experience of owning and consuming a product/service.

And understanding the context surrounding consumers when they make their choices.

We want to know the role of emotions, feelings, moods, and other affective aspects of consumption. It matters with luxury brand marketing.

Qualitative market research can give real customer understanding

(Image credit: Kateryna Kovarzh)

We like qualitative market research. We like quantitative research too but getting out from behind the desk and listening to real people who are potential and existing customers is more direct.

It’s always been a good way of getting the best insights on a brief. Like real life. You want to see and behold.

Whether that’s a customer workshop, a focus group, or a one-to-one depth interview.

For us, it means allowing time and space for those thoughts, words and phrases that are said by people who are not the client.

Phrases that potentially may reframe the problem or point the way to a solution. Phrases that might give us revelation and help us to create a powerful brand proposition.

The best consumer insights tend to come from face-to-face research. As Covid has shown, there really is nothing that replaces actually being with someone, seeing their body language, their physicality, heft, reactions, their tone.

If we cannot conduct market research in person, we Zoom/Skype for 60 minutes or so and, these can still be meaningful and insightful.

Market research doesn't always have to be quantitative or qualitative. It can be personal

Sometimes it can just be us thinking creatively and imagining things.

Thank you, Einstein.

We used to work in agencies where they discouraged personal subjectivity as it was presumed to be unrepresentative or unprofessional in relation to the brand task.

But sometimes, along with the qualitative and the quantitative market research, ourselves is all we have for original brand insight - and a great proposition.

How is this achieved?

(Image source: Camilo  Ruoda Lopez) 

Reading strange books and articles. Not business books. Thinking what is interesting and not what is right. Thinking the worst. To really get into the inner minds of why people do things, you have to recognise the grimness of buyer motivation. Thinking the best. Balance it with the humour and good in the world. Even in these times, it exists. One good thing about the internet is how the smallness’s of our lives can be shared and give reassurance as well as the Big Stuff. Use one’s life. Depends on your age but dig deep. It can be a great source of inspiration and insight.

Our market research experience

Our brand research expertise has been put to the test in the UK and internationally with clients including Universal Music Group (entertainment), Koch’s Cordura (fabrics), Hatch Mansfield (wines), Peninsula Residences London , Bombardier (private business aviation), Estandon (wine), Boodles (UK luxury jeweller), Ganjam (Indian luxury jeweller), Savoir Beds, The Spectator, New Statesman, Birchall Tea, Clogau, and many private investor brand creation projects.

Contact us here if you want to discuss how to conduct luxury market research or to gather inspiration and insight about your brand’s customers

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