The industry of luxury brands is insanely fascinating. Great designers build value, demand, and popularity into the products they make and then raise the prices in order to reap the rewards. Luxury brands have a reputation for being exclusive, expensive, and tasteful. In the worlds of fashion and accessories, the term “luxury” implies a level of quality that is second to none. In this blog, we will explore the concept of “luxury branding” and give essential tips on how you can position your brand as a luxury brand.

 

What Is a Luxury Brand?

 

A common misconception of what a luxury brand should be is that it is simply an expensive product, sometimes equating cost with the quality of the product. In reality, the experience consumers have with the product triggers the emotion of luxury. When you think back on a luxurious experience, you’ll have fond memories layered with emotions you never even knew you were anticipating.

Luxury brands are known for their timelessness, high quality and rich, special experiences. How is it that certain products manage to capture our attention? There has been a market shift from the traditional focus on goods to the delivery of experiences. It refers to the creation of an experience that is so great and so special, consumers would want to own, absorb and repeat that experience over and over again if they could.

 

The gist

Luxury brands aren’t just about cost or even quality. They are entirely focused on creating an emotional experience that is far beyond their product or service.

 

How Do You Position Your Brand as a Luxury Brand?

The luxury market is one of the most competitive in the world. Here are some tips on how to build a position your brand as a luxury brand:

1. Be authentic

It’s authentic. Luxury brands are built on authenticity. Even if they’re selling mass-produced products, they try to make them seem like they’re special.

 

2. Create an exclusive image for your product or service

This can be done by means of design, packaging or other factors. You can also make it exclusive by limiting its availability (only selling it online or at certain times). In order to position your brand as a luxury brand, you need to understand what luxury means to your customers. For example, if you are selling a luxury car, it doesn’t mean that everyone will have a Rolls Royce or Mercedes in their garage; it means that they recognize the status and prestige of owning one. Positioning your brand as a luxury brand is not about making everyone think you are expensive — it’s about creating an aura around your offers that makes people believe they are worth the price tag because they aren’t accessible to everyone.

 

3. Make sure your marketing materials and digital presence scream luxury

This doesn’t mean spending lots of money, but rather making sure that everything looks high-quality and well-designed. If your website has lots of advertisements, make sure they’re subtle and unobtrusive so they don’t detract from the overall experience.

 

4. Use the best materials

Use premium materials and craftsmanship in all aspects of production — from manufacturing to packaging — so that customers will feel like they’re getting something special every time they use your product or service.

 

The gist

The biggest challenge for most small businesses isn’t finding customers — it’s standing out from the crowd. That’s where personal branding comes in: It gives businesses an edge over their competitors by helping them establish themselves as experts in their fields.

 

Be Strategic With Your Marketing Mix

You are in a very competitive marketplace and you want to build a luxury brand. You can’t just be another product or service; you have to stand out from the crowd. How do you position your brand as a luxury brand? It’s all about the marketing mix — your product, price, distribution and promotion — so make sure you’re strategic about each of these elements when building your brand.

Product/Service

Understated yet distinguishable. Luxury brands don’t shout, they whisper their superiority in every detail they offer to their customers. They also want their customers to feel like they discovered something by themselves, without being pushed or forced into buying something that was not really what they wanted or needed.

Price

People are willing to pay more for something if they perceive it as exclusive, rare or unique. This is where the price comes in. It’s one of the more important pieces of your marketing mix to help build your brand as a luxury one. You can create increased scarcity by limiting the amount of product available for sale, or creating limited edition products, which helps justify the high price point. This can be done through exclusive distribution channels, and limiting the number of items/services produced/provided per season or year. See more on this below.

Distribution

You can create scarcity of access by controlling the distribution channel, making it difficult for customers to find your products or purchase them. For example, Chanel has limited sales points and limits online sales to certain countries. You can create scarcity of time by making products and services available only for a short period of time.

Promotion

The best way to create this luxurious feeling is by creating a demand for your product. You need to be selective with how you market yourself, because if you are too pushy, people will not want to buy from you. People want you, you are attracting them, not selling to them. This means that advertising shouldn’t be your main focus when building a luxury brand; rather, use PR, social media and word of mouth to attract customers to your business instead of trying to force them through ads or promotions. This is the most effective way for luxury brands to position themselves because it creates a desire for your product without being aggressive or pushy.

 

The gist

It’s all about the marketing mix — your product, price, distribution and promotion — so make sure you’re strategic about each of these elements when building your brand.

 

Quick Tips to Implement This Strategy?

1. Keep it simple. Think elegance, refinement

Be understated and refined. Think elegance. Luxury is about subtlety, detail, quality and craftsmanship. It’s about the experience of buying the product or service, not just the product itself. The key is to create an emotional connection between your consumers and your brand through design and experience.

 

2. Stay Consistent

Your branding strategy should be at the heart of everything you do – from advertising to product development, packaging to signage – so make sure it reflects who you are as a company. Your brand should have a consistent look and feel across all aspects of luxury branding especially in the design. This means that colors and color palettes are consistent across all areas like packaging, print ads or online banners. You will notice that a majority of luxury brands limit the number of colors used in their branding to 2 or 3. Less is more in the luxury space. You should also ensure that any logos or designs used in your marketing materials match up with your website so as not to confuse customers about who you are and what you offer.

 

3. Don’t tell, show

Luxury brands do not need to prove their value proposition and they don’t have to tell you how great they are. They just show up and let the customers experience it for themselves. The first step towards creating an experience which is perceived as “luxurious” is to understand what makes an experience luxurious in the first place. Luxury is not about price tags or fancy names attached to products; it’s about how people feel when using a product or service – how it makes them feel about themselves, about others, about themselves in relation to others and about the world around them. It’s about the feeling of being pampered and cared for, but also about feeling special and unique – something that not everyone can afford or get access to easily (or at all).

It’s also important that all aspects of your business are aligned with your brand identity. It’s not enough just to use colors and color palettes consistent across all aspects of luxury branding; everything needs to be consistent too: from how employees dress at work to how they interact with customers; from how they speak on the phone (and online) to how they treat each other in the office; and from how they prepare food in their restaurants or cafes to how they present themselves when doing their laundry!

The reason why this is so important is because consumers know when something feels off or out of place with regards to your brand identity.

 

The gist

Your visual brand needs to match your written brand. If they don’t match then there is no consistency in your message and customers may get confused about who you really are.

Luxury brands strive to create value in their products by bringing a unique and luxurious experience. It could be handcrafted leather goods, expensive sports cars or it could be a consulting firm. Luxury goods are desirable because they are rare and exclusive, but at the same time, they can create great trust because they are also high quality and have a long lifespan. If you want to build your own luxury brand, you can start by using the tips mentioned above. Good luck and happy branding!

 

 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by and reading our blog! If you want to continue learning about how to build an authentic brand and learn more about how to market your business, check out Market It! the podcast that inspires and guides authentic entrepreneurs to build the soulful brand of their dreams and lead a purpose-driven business.

 

 

 

At AHBC Group, we are passionate about helping entrepreneurs launch and grow a brand that is authentic to them, their purpose, and their audience. We enjoy working with entrepreneurs who have a strong purpose, a clear vision and who are animated by ethical, eco-conscious, and inclusive values, who like to challenge the status quo, and are not afraid to build a truly unique brand. If that sounds like you and you would like to discuss your project with us, apply here!