When marketing a Luxury Brand – there are three main elements that are shared between all of the great Luxury PR and marketing Campaigns over the years.
The three main elements that you must focus on when promoting a luxury product or a luxury brand are: Exclusivity, History and Expertise.
EXCLUSIVITY
Whether it’s a muklti-milion dollar property or home, Rolls-Royce, a Rolex, or Dom Perignon champagne from the best year ever produced, it’s almost all about the exclusivity of the products, when brainstorming a Luxury PR campaign.
Rolls-Royce buyers usually wait a couple of years before the car they ordered is delivered.
That’s because they are built by hand and only a limited number are made each year. Rolex – well there’s the ones at the bottom of the price range.
Those are pricey but not all that uncommon in certain circles, but the 1942 Chronograph – if you could find one – would run you well over a million dollars.
Even in 1942, they were limited, now nearly 75 years later, finding one is nearly impossible.
Those are old-world kinds of exclusivity – products that have stood the test of time. But what about more current items – Tesla sells their cars often a few years before the car is even available for purchase anywhere.
We now live in a world where there are many millionaires and billionaires, so exclusivity may not have as much punch as it once did with luxury items.
HISTORY
Personal history and family history sometimes have a value that can far outweigh any newly purchased product. But those items that can be passed down through more than one generation need to be of such quality as to stand that test of time. And some of those items may not be the most costly ones either.
A father spends time with his son while working on a certain type of automobile. They build memories as well as value in the product. If, having lovingly restored a 1968 Ford Mustang, the father then passes the car to his son as a college graduation present, the car will have an intrinsic value to both of them, but it will also have a value to collectors as well.
If the products made by a company can tap into a heritage aspect and offer a high-quality product that lasts long enough to go through a few generations, the product can be marketed as a luxury item and PR campaigns can be centered on the heirloom factor.
EXPERTISE
When a product is the finest made because of the expertise of the company and its workers, then luxury is built into its appeal. This can be true of artists working in different types of items from furniture to jewelry. But then there’s also items like bespoke suits.
A fully hand-tailored suit by an expert could cost tens of thousands of dollars and might also take nearly a year to be made. However, there are many levels of bespoke menswear that can also be called custom tailored and come at a more reasonable price. Those can still be considered luxury items, just at a lower scale.
When marketing luxury products, it is necessary to decide which features need to be highlighted and then to focus campaigns around those features.
Exclusivity is not always the route to take, but making it something that is a step above the norm justifies a higher price tag on all fronts.