Best Practices for Luxury Brand Marketers

Oil prices are surging. Housing prices are tanking. The news media is relentless in hyping Budget Cutting Techniques for the middle class

Life is good.

is one constant in society or is it?

Luxury

BUT as a Luxury Brand Marketer

your customer is still
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fueling the jet re in

Well, no its not.

The

definition of luxury has changed over the last few years. If your brand is not

newing their Chi Turks & Caicos

Luxury The personal power and financial freedom to live an opulent lifestyle while enriching the lives of others with enhanced personal wellness and benefits to our planet.

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embracing it - beware of decreased market share and disappearing customers.

and sporting the labels that are unmistakable

Best Practices for Luxury Brand Marketing

By Judith Drucker Have you noticed the very The New Definition of conspicuous disappearance of diamonds and deliberate jewels Luxury around the necks of the most rich and famous damsels of late? If you havent, take a look at the latest Ecological Sustainability and images of media stars from the last Corporate Social Responsibility are round of award ceremonies like the more than just buzzwords; they are academy. Heres a link to the concepts gone practices gone Academy Awards Ceremony in lifestyles and thats luxury. February the Bling Scene Extraordinaire. OR NOT! If one is wealthy enough to live in opulence WHILE offering http://www.oscar.com/style/ others a greater sense of wellness there is no greater feeling of personal satisfaction and elite status. Studies have proven it. The wealthy are living it. And the marketers better bring their brand to the forefront of goodness to remain viable. Luxury companies need to put sustainability into their business strategy and report their performance in accordance with nationally recognized guidelines. Prime example. Where have all the diamonds gone? women/ Wearing a diamond, or any other sort of jewel, encircling the sensuously silken skin of these movie icons was the exception and not the rule. Low and behold the New Definition of Luxury amidst the diamond scandals of late. True or not star power is not willing to risk that perception is more powerful than reality. So no diamonds.

Best Practices for Luxury Brand Marketing

By Judith Drucker Majority World Photography. A Few Ideas to Move If your company has an Your Brand into the Ecointernational footprint, Friendly & Corporate Social incorporate photographic Responsible Lime Light images that reflect the third world aka majority world by Print FSC. The easiest and using artists and most expeditious Eco-friendly photographers from those initiative your company can remote locations. This make is to institute FSC Corporate Social Responsibility printing guidelines for your initiative is unique and marketing and related collateral material. Printing with a Forest Stewardship Council certified print vendor such as highresolution, can immediately add sustainability practices into your marketing mix. The cost is virtually the same as non-FSC certified printing and it helps to elevate the social image of your brand. Working with highresolution assures you the finest quality print product while incorporating the use of vegetable inks, wind power, solar power and recycled papers. Additionally, elements of a project can be FSC certified even if 100% compliance is not possible. Consult with David Drucker at: david@guruofprinting.com for details. impacting the U.S. corporate advertising world as we speak. Go to www.majorityworld.org for details of this phenomenal organization that is working to elevate the lives of people across the world by paying artists for working. The majorityworld.org mission is to reveal, support, develop and promote indigenous photographers from the majority world whilst making it easier for their work to be accessed by image buyers and the general public worldwide. With their images, we will also be able to offer an avenue for a more balanced and betterinformed perception of the developing world. Contact judy@PRessentials.com for further details.

Best Practices for Luxury Brand Marketing

By Judith Drucker Embrace social equity as Step Two: Social Equity and corporate law. Some circles Consumer Self Esteem. Weve might just call it good oldfashion business practices. But we often need to be reminded of the elements that create a solid corporate image. Moreover, consumers are no longer willing to overlook a brands negative image or less than-positive- one when deciding which product or service they chose to consume. So heres what mom told you about being a good person as it pertains to corporate governance. Ethical Practice: honest, fair, financially reliable Employment Ethos: a good employer Social Engagement: responsive to local community Service Orientation: cares about its customers, reliable Social Responsibility: corporate citizenship Emotional Proximity: my kind of brand or company Social Utility: provides worthwhile products

defined social equity in a corporate framework. Now lets discuss how that concept directly effects your customer. Consuming luxury products is a means of achieving status; it is a tangible acknowledgement of success and succinctly, feeling good about oneself. Luxury means Ive made it! Todays consumers are more informed about the world around them. They have access to levels of information that was unheard of just 20 years ago. This is where the mix of social equity blends with consumer self esteem. One can absolutely, unequivocally not feel good about oneself if they align with a brand that publicly ignores the world around it and the people in it. The Essence of Luxury Cannot Exist in the Twentyfirst Century IF Negative Actions, Ideas or Practices Surround a Brand. A luxury brand cannot afford to ignore Eco-friendly practices and CSR any longer.

Bendell, J. & Kleanthous, A. (2007). Deeper

Luxury Quality and Style When the World Matters. http://www.wwf.org.uk/deeperluxury/report.html

Best Practices for Luxury Brand Marketing

By Judith Drucker Star-power Endorsers Demand a Clean Brand. Celebrity endorsers provide an immense and powerful sales-pull to the products with which they align. The millions paid are justified with exponential returns. A celebritys personal brand is a commodity that is strictly determined by their identification and level of endearment to the mass public. As weve seen with many celebs, as quickly as they ascend to prominence their descent can be even more meteoric. Celebs guard their personal brand vigilantly, for clear reasons. If a corporate image is tarnished the celebs will stay as far away as possible so as not to align with the negative publicity as discussed in the diamond and jewels mention above. This is an additional corporate imperative and incentive for your brand to align itself with the positive light of EcoSustainability and CSR. Keep an eye out for upcoming e-blasters for more ideas on how to keep your brand IN THE GREEN. jd