Second Class (with a week of delay)

Finally found some time to write about my second class of Managing Luxury Brands. God, what a week!

But we got Monday off, so Monday is working day.







Anyway, second class was all about the packaging of luxury brands and a luxury brand's DNA. But we started off by presenting ourselves to the class, again!

'Hi my name is Vic. I'm from Belgium. I did a Ba in Business Administration, followed by a Master in Marketing. I'm doing this MA because I'm very interested in the area of luxury. My area of interest in the field of luxury are night/beach clubs, alcohol, cars, technology, watches, etc. Just not the fashion side to it. I hope to get to know the differences between the management of luxury brands and normal brands. I also want to get to have an insight on how luxury brands make people want your products, without needing them!'


Mrs Gossain made us do this presentation because she promised to take the course to us. She will ( at least she promised! No pressure ;-) ) involve some examples from the areas in which we are interested, to make the course more interactive, tangible and interesting. Looking forward to that!

After the presentations the class really kicked off. It started with two lessons one should remember when it comes to luxury brands:
- A luxury brand (the story around it, the name, the mystery,...) has a higher value than its tastable equity.

- Luxury brands have a reputation that has to be respected. ( Louis Vuitton, for example, never do sales on its products)

Brand DNA 

What is a brand's DNA? We already saw this subject in the classes of mr. Paget. From that class we knew that a brand can be visualized by using archetypes, a brand matrix and stylistic position.

Now we used a slightly different approach to a brand's DNA.

What makes a brand?

- Brand's vision: It defines what the brand is, and where it wants to go. It helps define the future aspirations of the company

- Brand Essence: This is the brand's DNA. It defines the 'gut feel' of the brand.

- Brand Positioning: The space a brand should occupy in the minds of the consumers within the competitive arena.

- Brand Values: What the company tries to achieve, in terms of performance, values, innovation, etc.


But what is the brand DNA exactly according to our class?

Brand Conception (understanding who you are as a brand), Brand Image (brand differentiation), Creator of the brand, slogan, creating dreams, colors, craftsmanship, specific style of the brands, heritage...

We were going in a good direction!

The brand essence (DNA) is fueled by: emotions, celebrity endorsement, visual code, style/photography, name, senses and experience.

Emotions

From one extreme emotion.

To another.

Do you need any other examples of how emotions fuel a luxury brand's DNA? ( The emotions have to be in line with the values and positioning of the brand. Can you imagine Tiffany making a commercial like the AP one?)

Celebrity Endorsement

The celebrity a brand choose, has to fit the image of the brand. There is an extra danger using celebrities as endorsement for your brand.

You might remember these cases:

And now? Stick with them or drop them? 

It is an important choice that your company has to make!

Visual Code

Because who doesn't recognize following logos:

Style/Photography

Every respected brand has a certain style that is being used throughout everything they use. From websites, to advertising and the pictures of advertising.

Take Lamborghini for example.

Lamborghini uses the same style throughout their communication. Shops are black and white, pictures are black and white, and the website is black and white. They use a very minimalistic visual style so that all the attention is drawn to the cars.

Name

There is a big difference in the approach of using names between luxury brands and normal brands. 

Normal, mass-market brands use names that are short and easy to remember. 

This approach doesn't work for luxury brands. The name is something that fuels the dreams, the aspiration of a luxury brand as well. It cannot be meaningless.

Most of the times, the name of a luxury brand is the name of its founder or creator. 

Some examples:

A name feeds the myth, feeds the emotions, feeds the WANT towards a brand.

Senses+Experience

Luxury brands also uses the consumers senses to feel the brand. The best example for using senses are car manufacturers . Inviting potential customers for test drives to smell the leather, hold the steering wheel, hear the motor, experience the speed. 

Packaging

Packaging is an important part of the luxury brand strategy. Why?

Our mutual class answers: Brand Image, reproduction of product quality, first image/touch of the brand, cheap advertisement platform, built up the excitement, adding collectibles, etc.

The packaging of luxury brands also have in common that it is of a higher quality than normal packaging and that it complements the brand.

For example: Louis Vuitton packaging exists of a couple of layers. First you have to bought product. This goes in a bag like the brown one on the picture. The bag goes in a hard cardboard box, that eventually goes into a high quality, hard paper board bag.

The big question about packaging remains: Which packaging is the most successful of them all?

Well, we cannot give an answer to this. Packaging have to be integrated in the communication style of the brand. It has to fit the image of the brand, the values.

Two major lessons can be learned after having this class:

- Whatever you choose to do as a brand, make sure everything fits and is complementary. Do everything in line with your objectives, values and brand DNA. There are no exceptions to this rule, or you might bring doubt to the customers.

- Use your brand DNA wisely to differentiate yourself from competitors. Without a clear brand personality, you might end up being forgotten.

Up to next class, for which we have to make a mood board for and non-existing champagne brand for young and rich kids.

Later

Vic