 Special Section - February 2008  |
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What Is The “New Luxury”?
Future luxury goods will stand more for pleasure than status, selling themselves as part of an emotion-prompting experience The luxury landscape is changing—from the range of products offered and the attitudes of the affluent consumers who purchase them to the techniques used to showcase and sell them. First, the quantities of luxury and near-luxury items have increased as the ability to manufacture high-quality goods at more affordable prices in countries outside Europe has developed. “Now everyone wants ‘luxury’ products and they can afford them,” says Aaron Stewart, creative director, Sferra Bros. “‘Luxury’ typically used to mean the product was made in Europe. Now luxury products are being made all over the world.” “Top luxury brands are leveraging their trusted brand equity to extend to entry level luxury offerings for broader consumer appeal,” says Cindy Kenyon, vice-president marketing, Peacock Alley. “Everyday luxuries are more about making premium product accessible to consumers through mass production sourcing for lower-value items and improving supply chain distribution.” A Feel-Good Experience “Luxury items used to be sold only in top boutiques and top-tier department stores,” says Stewart. “The perception of ‘luxury’ has changed from an elitist product to a product that makes you feel good.” This shift in perception about what “luxury” stands for today is echoed by Ron Pompei, principal and creative director of Pompei A.D. LLC, a multi-disciplinary architecture and design firm. Pompei A.D. created the innovative informal store layout for the upscale Anthropologie lifestyle brand. “Luxury today is less about expense and formality, and more about a distinct sensory experience,” says Pompei. (See his “New Luxury” tables on pages 70 and 72.) Several trends play into the development of this “new luxury” as an emotional state measured by how it makes the consumer feel. According to Pompei, consumers of all ages want to feel vital. This is reflected in the growing popularity of spas and a visceral, tactile emphasis on the body. “An anti-industrial awakening is taking place across cultures leading to an increased interest in wellness, holistic health and beauty,” he says. “Balancing spirit, body and mind through yoga, for example, is more important than merely developing a ‘ripped’ torso.”
Consumers are seeking to define themselves as human beings and specifically as individuals through cultural activities and even vacations that involve their heritage. Luxury consumers want to participate in their own self-actualization. This evolution of consumer mindsets affects how they react to the sale of luxury goods. According to Pompei, when applied to retail shops, a luxury experience needs to be created that solicits a strong emotional response from the shopper. Shopping As Personal Expression “The trends we’re seeing from the U.S.-based Luxury Institute for luxury consumerism and retail are changing at an impressive pace,” says Kenyon. “As an economic slowdown in the U.S. impacts the luxury industry, luxury providers will need to ensure exemplary customer service as a differentiator and to compete effectively with other luxury brands for the attention of the same mainstream affluent and wealthy consumer. “We see selling luxury linens today as more of a personal and emotional process, so we have designed our Peacock Alley Master and Couture branded offerings with mix and match versatility and styling flexibility. This satisfies consumer demand for customized solutions that empower them to create their own individual look/style within a compatible line of offerings,” says Kenyon. Pompei believes the luxe experience, as it relates to the store’s design, is created by mixing elements that appeal to all the senses, from key textures and surfaces to colors and scents. Each Anthropologie store, for example, incorporates 60 or more finishing materials as opposed to the six to eight used in most retail stores. Every Anthropologie store integrates elements of the local architecture to reflect the personality of the local community, insuring that each location is different. Merchandise is integrated into an arcade of informal, creative vignettes designed to offer the customer complete looks at distinct lifestyles. The lifestyle vignettes also allow the shopper to engage in an unregimented journey of delight through personal discovery. “The luxury retail experience is about discovering,” says Pompei, “and the consumer is the ‘discoverer’.” A retail shop need no longer regiment its merchandise, but rather can be designed as a landscape to explore with multi-product displays and without distinct aisles. Store Design Encourages Discovery “Consumers also crave a dialogue. They aren’t looking for authorities, but for trusted ‘editors’,” he explains. For example, a young woman trying on a dress in a boutique won’t take the opinion of the sales associate as the final word. She will instead call a girlfriend and send her a picture of herself in the dress with her cellphone camera in deciding whether or not to purchase it. Pompei predicts that the shopping experience will soon change further. Stores of the future will make information on products via intranet access available to customers so they can participate in the product learning experience en route to making purchasing decisions. Branding is evolving, developing from merely the creation of a brand image to the creation of a brand culture that reflects a definite set of values. Luxury goods today and going forward in the future must answer the question: “How does the brand elevate the consumer’s life?” The past sense of luxury was all about the individual. Luxury goods were status objects. The marketing message projected a brand image and marketing was directed to segmented audiences defined by demographics. The “new luxury” of today, says Pompei, positions the consumer as a co-author. The journey is as or more important than the destination or final purchase. Luxury revolves around status activities and experiences. Marketing seeks to deliver information on the values of the brand culture to an audience defined by psychographics rather than location or income. With dollars tightening and the availability of luxury goods proliferating, the key to selling will increasingly involve deeper levels of customer service and involvement, and store designs that allow the customer to experience and relate to goods in a more tactile and emotional way. Resources
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