With the code implanted in the tongue, Adidas have created a virtual 3-D world that can be accessed using a future line of five men’s sneakers. The project presents 3 games through AR, one based on music, one on Star Wars and one a skating game.

I believe AR has the potential to create cost effective luxury, as mentioned in the piece I wrote on the 16th Nov luxury is now about a unique and personalised experience, something that very limited numbers have access to, AR offers this in abundance – the potential personalised shopping experience in Liberties collating previous purchase and research information (linked to behavioural targeting within the Liberties site and the dwell times identified through AR whilst in store) to potential Nike tie Ups with artists that create limited editions only to be seen using AR.

As mentioned AR offers cost effective exclusivity maintaining or creating a brands luxury and high end appeal, massive amounts of buzz, as in the case of the potential artist and trainer tie up where the concept could be one in a hundred are limited edition, but only your webcam will tell you and for the store the potential to up sell without the overheads of one sales assistant to one consumer, leveraging knowledge not only from previous purchases but from research made by the consumer on the stores website – all in all we like AR.

http://www.businessoffashion.com/2009/11/fashion-2-0-luxurylab-innovation-forum.html

The piece pretty much strengthens and supports much that I have written about over the last couple of years, so I won’t cover that, however there was an interesting comment by Chandler Burr at the event.
Chandler Burr is the New York Times perfume critic (what a fantastic job), basically he highlighted the fact that luxury is not about the cult of the creator but more about the individuality of the wearer/client – “It’s the difference between you wearing the perfume and the perfume wearing you.”

Now this shift in terms of what people want from their luxury brand I feel is somewhat endemic of where we are at in terms of culture. Due to the advancement of the digital age information is easy to come by and whereas in the past those that were directional and very high end had to be in the know it’s now very easy to seem informed with limited threshold barriers to information i.e. price, invites e.t.c.

By creating something that is completely bespoke or furnishing the client with as much information as possible (about the product) will provide the consumer with something to talk about, a unique experience, something that truly separates them from the pack of other very informed and uniformly directional trend setters, creating a reason to spend more on that product as it sets them apart.

Does this then highlight a potential shift in luxury products, due to the fact that luxury is being redefined? I believe so, as Chandler Burr mentions it’s about the individual wearing the product rather than following vogue and wearing what everyone else is, without being armed with the reason to why you choose that brand over another you can’t really seem that individual, informed and ultimately wearing a luxury brand for the right reason…..it’s not so great to follow anymore.

If this is the case then building a digital CRM that furnishes the customer and potential customer with as much information as possible has the potential to build the brand to luxury status? I don’t believe so; however this does highlight that luxury brands need to be in this digital space in order to maintain the brand status that they have built over the many years they have existed. Luxury brands need to offer a level of service that the individual who invests with them can only receive an exclusive club, and not someone that has just surfed the internet to find information that makes them sound informed and a luxury consumer.