|
Consumers make a social statement when using luxury brands. Hence, luxury brands need to remain at the front of the social trends to satisfy this consumer need. However, with mass-market brands gradually upgrading their appearance, strategic response and approach to marketing their products, many brands are finding it hard to stay ahead of the pack. In response to the mass-market movement, many brands are diversifying into unrelated areas. The idea of brand extension and at times irrelevant diversification (i.e. moving away from one product category to another one) is particularly delicate issue for luxury brands. This is mainly because of the strong brand origin and brand image associations consumer have with these brands. Many luxury brands have diversified successfully however on the other hand, many have struggled a lot and therefore this issue must be dealt with a lot of caution. For example, Prada's move from shoes to handbags and then into ready-to-wear market worked every time. Gucci also was in the same category. However, it took many years for the first Bulgari watch to become a success. In case of smaller and boutique luxury brands, due to financial and marketing resource limitations, the issue of brand extension looks very lucrative but can become a bottleneck very quickly. To be and become a luxury brand does indeed come at a cost and the need to take your time in the process of this being realised. This also needs to be gradual in terms of the process in which this is to become a true realisation. For a luxury brand to come to full fruition, there needs in place for there to be in place a full advertising and luxury marketing campaign so that the brand effort can be fully appreciated.
Related Articles -
Brand, Branding, Brands,
|
