Welcome to Issue 30 of Branding for Good News, Added Value’s newsletter focused exclusively on sustainable marketing; the challenges, opportunities, our solutions and points of view.
Luxury and sustainability: two opposing concepts? At first glance, perhaps. After all, the word luxury derives from the Latin word “luxus” and conjures up images of ‘pomp, excess and debauchery’. Whereas sustainability, by definition, invites us to ‘meet the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs’.
The two sound paradoxical indeed. And consumers seem to agree. In a recent survey by Salon 1.618, consumers put the luxury industry last in a ranking of industries associated with sustainable commitments; ranking lower than the financial and petrol sectors.
So should the luxury industry admit defeat and never embrace sustainability? We think not. For several reasons: Read more…
Leslie Pascaud (Added Value’s sustainable marketing practice) and Melanie Skotadis (Added Value’s prestige brands practice) ask what shifting value systems, brought on by the global recession, mean for the luxury industry.
The age of ostentation nominally ended when Chanel boss Karl Lagerfeld announced in 2009 that “bling is dead” and called for “a new modesty”. The global financial crisis and the recession which followed, brought with them a rejection of excess, replaced by concerns for the environment and a new view on waste. Read more…
Beijing–: What makes a Chinese luxury brand? Do any truly exist? Oracle Added Value’s Chairman, Steve Bale, looks at how Chinese heritage with modern artistry might be offering a new option for luxury buyers in China.
What, I wonder, constitutes a Chinese, or for that matter an English, French, Italian, Spanish, Swiss, German, or American luxury brand? Does the brand have to be designed as well as hand-crafted locally? If so, is it a prerequisite that the brand’s designers and artisans are themselves local? Must it bear a name that sounds as if it is from the heartland of the home country? And what about a couple of hundred years of local history being a must, as well as the treasure trove of wonderful stories that tend to come with that? And surely it must tap in to the brand identity of the country of provenance – and be synonymous with one or more of the qualities that are spontaneously associated with the name of its home country? What about the requirement that its head office is based there and, also, that it is listed on the local stock exchange? Read more…
We recently sat down with Catherine Jubin, Managing Director of The International Luxury Business Association to discuss the issues facing the luxury industry. From defining luxury, to a view on the financial crisis has affected the industry, Catherine shares her insight into this fascinating landscape.
Does it make a difference to the consumer if a brand is premium or luxury? For the consumer perspective Added Value created an international online community called “Luxury Detectives” using AV-id™, our digital ideation platform, designed to engage consumers for insight and innovation purposes.
Luxury brands face a real challenge today to differentiate themselves from premium brands, as clearly, there is a growing lack of distinction in consumers’ minds between the two categories. To express and fuel this distinction is not evident…
Premium brands are strongly anchored in a contemporary and modern reality whereas Luxury brands have a much more complex, deep and holistic approach to time.
Luxury brands shape their identity thanks to and over time. While, with the passing of time, others go out of date, wear out, luxury goods mature, acquire a patina and absorb the imprint of their holders.
This month’s newsletter is guest-written by Mark Whiting of Added Value’s Paris office. Mark joined the company last year, after ten years working for Moët Hennessy, and wants to share some inspiration related to innovation in luxury brands.
Mark Whiting is joining the brand development and marketing insight consultancy Added Value France (WPP), as a Director, on the 4th of October.
