A Luxury Brand Is A Cut Above: So What’s Needed To Market One?

Posted by Penelope Herbert on February 8, 2019 · 2 Comments 

The most difficult aspect of running a business, especially a luxury brand, isn’t just in relation to the marketing or the product, it’s about creating an experience.

Creating the experience for potential customers can prove to be a challenge because you’re trying to entice people who belong in certain demographic – the luxury brand cohort.

You want to attract exactly the type of person who is going to use a luxury brand product, and have it become an integral part of their life.

When it comes to high-end products, or things used for niche practices, from upmarket vehicles to package vacations, or even high-end products like stationery, there is a certain image associated with these products. They’re not for the layperson.

So if you are looking at marketing a luxury item, but you don’t know where to start, what are the essentials you require?

A Luxury Brand Has A Name And An Identity

Attempting to grab the high ground in a new business that provides luxury items is all about first impressions. The name is integral, because it should pique people’s interests.

A name implies so much. These days there is so much fierce competition in every sector, it’s imperative you dedicate the time to finding a name that implies much about the brand.

From there, you can begin to build the identity of the brand. Crafting this identity is all about appealing to a certain target market.

So if you are looking to market something like luxury fountain pens, you can start with the product, and work your way outwards at developing a classy, yet classical, approach.

Fountain pens will not necessarily imply tech-savvy millennials, but rather a more mature breed of character. And this is where the next point is essential…

Conducting Appropriate Research

Researching your target market should be done when your business is being set up.

The more you can prepare your targeted advertising and marketing methods to appeal to a certain calibre of consumer, you’ve got to get an honest opinion of the customer.

Sometimes it’s obvious, and it doesn’t require over-thinking; with something like fountain pens, it can be a very small leap to assume that a cultured individual will use this type of equipment.

But we can’t take this for granted; it’s still essential that we conduct the relevant research.

Research through market research agencies or one on one interviews with retailers, pitching the product to suppliers and investors will give you a comprehensive opinion of what is missing.

Market research is a necessary evil, and because it can throw up certain outcomes that we’re not too pleased about. It can result in us drastically altering our marketing plan.

This is a necessary step to ensure you are heading in the right direction.

Imbuing The Luxury Brand With Appropriate Touchstones

Marketing a high-end brand requires specific cues that highlight to the intended customer that you are providing for them and not everyone else. Client expectation boils down to the cues that they look for.

For example, a product like a luxury car will exude certain qualities that immediately communicate to the targeted customer that this is a high-end brand, such as the materials.

These little touchstones don’t have to be front and centre because the type of person that would go for this particular product is already aware, to an extent, of what they want.

You are very simply nudging them towards this product because you’ve already got the essential components and accessories integral to the product.

But it’s not just the product. As anybody with an ounce of common sense knows, we can source raw materials cheaply to build a sophisticated item.

What makes a luxury brand more than the sum of its parts is the customer service, which should be refined in its nature, but also highlights, through the marketing materials, what sort of company the customer would deal with.

It’s fine to display you are being very efficient behind the scenes, but it has to show the customer what they will stand to benefit from this.

Always Focus On The Experience

The experience in any brand is essential. If you are marketing a product, and the promotional material has supermodels, a high-flying lifestyle, and the appropriate accoutrements, it automatically communicates that it’s either something you can afford or not.

The experience starts from the promotional materials and works all the way through to the post-sale feedback. The experience is a very overstated component in advertising, but it’s a cliché for a very good reason!

The experience is, arguably, more important to a higher end product and luxury brand, because the customer is looking for something more sophisticated.

Every single component of the business demands the very best. It’s like classy restaurant service; the entire process has to be seamless, and the customer cannot be seen to have to want for anything. They need to be waited on hand and foot throughout the entire process.

Even when they go away with the product, you still have a responsibility to them. And this is what separates a standard brand from a luxury one.

You can argue that so many standard brands are very hot on customer service, especially after the sale, but this is even more important when a luxury brand is involved.

What a new luxury brand has over its competitors is the fact that it’s brand new- it’s shiny and fresh out of the box. Even those established luxury brands have to work hard at providing an image of freshness.

Because you are a new brand, you will have no preconceived notions, a blank slate, and this is why you can benefit from the most meticulous pre-planning.

As a company that is brand new can have a lot of attention thrust upon it, you need to use this to your advantage.

To create a company that’s classy isn’t just about purchasing the most expensive raw materials, the best marketing teams, and the finest customer service money can buy, it’s about the entire thing.

It’s meant to be a cut above, so a luxury brand can require a bit more in terms of effort than a standard brand.