The attached link runs through the most recent Luxury Lab Innovation Forum, on the state of digital within the luxury sector.

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.

Now usually we’d question the use of an intro within an e-commerce environment, but it would seem that Hermes can’t do much wrong on their site and this is no exception.

The intro isn’t an intro for intro sake; it educates as to the process of three of their scents and has made me consider the brand when I’m next in the market for a new cologne.

I’ve been trying to upload the image of the site all morning, but for some reason I can’t, so best if you check it out yourself, it’s definitely worth it:

Hermes.com

Back in Jan 2008 Wallpaper* and the IAB worked to together to create the first piece of research looking at the behaviour of luxury consumers online.

This research demonstrated that the age group for luxury consumers online was vastly lower than first thought and that this audience facilitate their lives through the net.

The research split the luxury consumer audience into 3 groups, those that answered yes to 1-2 screening questions, 3 – 4 screening questions and 5 – 8 screening questions. Those that answered 5-8 screening questions were seen as premium luxury consumers.

The premium luxury consumers demonstrated high levels of media consumption including watching high levels of video content online and downloading podcasts regularly.

In summary the research showed that luxury consumers are well versed with the digital landscape, with specific media choices selected and a high consumption of new digital platforms.

Url for the research:
http://www.iabuk.net/media/images/Eye4StrategyFinal_2665.pdf