Over the course of my decades-long career, I’ve had the pleasure of working on advertising for many luxury brands. In addition to marketing elite super yachts and upscale resorts, clients have included opulent condominium towers in Tampa, Sarasota and Philadelphia.
However, “luxury” is a term that tends to get thrown around very carelessly. What actually separates a luxury product or service from one that is just high-priced?
Author Jean-Noel Kapferer offers this definition in his book The Luxury Strategy. He says for something to truly be a luxury brand it must match these six criteria:
- A very qualitative hedonistic experience or product made to last
- Offered at a price that far exceeds what their mere functional value would command
- Tied to a heritage, unique know-how and culture attached to the brand
- Available in purposefully restricted and controlled distinctions
- Offered with personalized accompanying services
- Representing a social marker, making the owner or beneficiary feel special, with a sense of privilege
The book offers rules of marketing to build luxury brands. I’m about half way through and have benefited from a host of insights from Kapferer so far.