The book Luxury and Capitalism points out that when social wealth increases rapidly, the newly rich and their families are keen to enjoy luxury behavior and improve their social status through this behavior.
In the past, luxury goods were the goods of the aristocratic class, the symbol of identity, status and superiority, and the representative of aristocratic image. Although the society is changing, this concept has not changed in China and the West, and luxury goods can just meet the instinctive requirements of consumers.
Therefore, the essence of luxury marketing is to create a sense of distance and meet the "self-realization needs" of a small number of high-end users, who hope to pursue distinctive temperament, thus demonstrating their unique taste and aristocratic status.
Therefore, the marketing of luxury goods must be high-priced, well-known, symbolic and scarce. At the same time, in order to distinguish it from local tyrants, luxury goods generally have high product quality and unique cultural connotation.
Next, we will analyze the six characteristics of luxury goods in detail from the perspective of marketing: high price, high popularity, symbolism, scarcity, high quality and cultural connotation.
1) high price
As mentioned above, the purpose of luxury goods is to create a sense of distance, and the easiest way to achieve this goal is to raise the price of products and shape the purchase threshold with price, so that luxury goods can really only serve a small number of people.
Moreover, not only the products are expensive, but also the publicity and sales channels of luxury goods tend to be expensive. For example, advertisements will choose famous TV stations, famous movie stars and big-name fashion magazines instead of elevator advertisements and subway advertisements; At the same time, most luxury brands are endorsed by the royal family and nobles; The sales channel of luxury goods is definitely to set up flagship stores in high-end business districts in first-tier cities.
These are all to maintain the inner superiority of the target users, set up consumption barriers, and be thousands of miles away from the public.
2) High visibility
Although luxury brands serve a small number of people, their essence is to make users feel superior, so it is necessary for most people to know that there is a huge contrast between the number of people who actually own and know this brand, so as to truly achieve "a few people dream."
After all, for those who want to show off or show their identity through luxury goods, it will be very unpleasant to carry a pack of luxury brands that no one knows.
3) Symbolism
It is precisely because luxury goods need a high degree of recognition that luxury goods often have very obvious visual recognition characteristics in design, such as the letter LV, the two letters G of GUCCI, the classic lattice of BURBERRY and the diamond of Dior, all for the convenience of users.
4) Scarcity
Luxury goods are produced in limited quantities, creating a state of scarcity and making them precious.
For example, Louis Vuitton LV, the world's top luggage brand, was once the pet of Queen Napoleon; Rolls-Royce cars and Bentley sports cars are sold in limited quantities around the world, and it is difficult to find their traces and see their beauty. Rarity makes luxury goods unattainable for many people, and it is precisely because of rarity that luxury goods have a mysterious feeling and people are full of expectations.
Once most people feel unattainable, the sense of superiority of the target consumers will remain.
5) High quality
High quality includes product quality and service quality.
In terms of product quality, luxury goods are often technically "picky" and pay attention to details, which can bring elegant and exquisite lifestyles to consumers.
In terms of service, luxury brands often have diamond-level service, which allows customers to experience the feeling of "God".
6) Cultural connotation
Cultural connotation has two parts: historical story and value proposition.
Luxury goods are not only the products under certain social and economic conditions, but also the products under the cultural conditions of an era, which will inevitably be branded with the cultural imprint of that era, including design, color, packaging and decoration, brand and so on.
As an artistic aesthetic, luxury goods are endowed with many cultural, historical, artistic, philosophical and social meanings, supported by a cultural system that has been passed down for decades or hundreds of years, and are the external embodiment of a high-grade lifestyle. Every luxury brand has a beautiful brand story, such as the story of Miss Dior.
Value proposition: luxury brands are especially regional. For example, when it comes to fashion, we will think of Milan, when it comes to seiko, we will think of Germany, when it comes to romance, we will think of France, and French perfume and red wine will immediately come to mind. If you want to buy cigars, you must buy Cuban brands.
"When customers buy our products, they expect western quality. President Lu emphasized this. Although with the close trade, many luxury goods will more or less outsource part of their business in the production and sales process, the products will definitely go offline in the country of origin. Gucci, the legendary brand in Florence, Italy, also strictly controls its production in Tuscany, Italy, to ensure the purity and high quality of products.