Last month we asked how brand owners are translating their brand online, starting with retail. This week we are continuing this theme with a look at how luxury brands are making the leap to digital.
There are a number of fairly obvious ways to cue luxury. You can use beautiful visuals to communicate the quality of the experience, as One & Only have.
Or you can tell the story of the brand’s history as Jaeger Le Coultre and Ede & Ravenscroft do.
However digital is about more than pretty pictures and quaint stories. Some luxury brands have used digital to become more accessible and aspirational, while others make a firm statement about exclusivity.
From its inception the Internet was about sharing ideas and democratising information. It therefore has huge potential to make luxury brands more accessible, just look at the revolution instigated by Net a Porter and now Mr. Porter.
Marc Jacobs has capitalised on the brand’s cult following by creating a diffusion line of lower-cost products, Marc by Marc Jacobs, which is available to fashion aficionados with smaller budgets. Expanding into the digital sphere made sense for the brand. The Marc Jacob’s experience is more accessible to all with its collections available for purchase on line, as well as broadcasts of their catwalk shows and links to Facebook where fans can comment on the designs. Is this dumbing down the brand or a clever way of capitalising on brand growth through digital media?
Daniel Plenge, who manages web and digital presence for Marc Jacobs International explained “By using these connection technologies, we want our fans to be a part of the Marc Jacobs community, which is in the original spirit of the brand created by Marc and Robert in 1984.”
This strategy is not appropriate for all luxury brands and Marc Jacobs has to be careful not to succumb to the overexposure that it took Burberry years to recover from.
Other brands have used the Internet in more unconventional ways. Despite its origins as a tool to broadcast information to all, some brands are using the internet to maintain their distance from the masses.
Walpole, a Mayfair property development, channels the excitement of a spy movie by asking for passwords. It tempts you with stunning visuals of the interiors but you have to be in the know in order to access detailed information about the apartments.
Private members clubs draw on both of these approaches. In recent years Soho House has become more open to the world and its website reflects this. Targeted at trendy media types, the brand is using digital media to generate awareness and buzz. A mixture of both public exposure and private exclusivity has created strong brand affinity amongst members and the wider public, although this requires careful management moving forward to avoid the brand becoming too mainstream.
In contrast Annabel’s, another private club also owned by Richard Caring, retains an air of mystery. Their website has very limited information and is instead populated by tempting visuals that don’t betray the secrets within. More exclusive and with even higher-flying members, Annabel’s is a step up on the luxury ladder from Soho House. It’s a perfect example of when less is definitely more.
Although slow to get started luxury brands are making the transition to digital. Once there they are using different digital strategies that need to be managed with caution. Websites must align with their particular brand strategy and maintain the appropriate degree of exclusivity in a domain that’s all about transparency.
