The Anti-Laws Of Luxury Marketing #1

Jean-Noel KapfererAugust 4, 20092 min

#1. Forget about ‘positioning’, luxury is not comparative.

In consumer marketing, at the heart of every brand strategy you will find the concept of positioning, of the ‘unique selling proposition’ (USP), and ‘unique and convincing competitive advantage’ (UCCA). Every classic brand has to specify its positioning, and then convey it through its products, its services, its price, its distribution and its communication. Positioning is the difference that creates the preference for a given brand over the one that it has decided to target as a source of new business and whose clients it is going to try to win over. In the war that brought it into conflict with Pepsi Cola in the United States, Coca-Cola was ‘The real thing’ (its essential distinguishing feature), whereas Pepsi-Cola, introduced in the 1930s, plugged its image as a young people’s drink (‘The choice of the new generation’), thereby succeeding in boxing Coca-Cola into an image as a product that only parents drank. As we see, the classic brand always seeks to define itself by a key facet, depending on the market context, the main competitor, and the expectations of the target consumers it is aiming to reach.

Nothing is more foreign to this approach than luxury. When it comes to luxury, being unique is what counts, not any comparison with a competitor. Luxury is the expression of a taste, of a creative identity, of the intrinsic passion of a creator; luxury makes the bald statement ‘this is what I am’, not ‘that depends’ – which is what positioning implies. What made the Christian Lacroix brand is its image of bright sunshine, full of this designer’s bright, vivid colors, suffused with the culture of the Mediterranean; it certainly is not concerned with its positioning with respect to this or that established designer.

It is identity that gives a brand that particularly powerful feeling of uniqueness, a timelessness, and the necessary authenticity that helps give an impression of permanence. Chanel has an identity, but not a positioning. Identity is not divisible, it is not negotiable – it simply is.

Luxury is ‘superlative’ and not ‘comparative’. It prefers to be faithful to an identity rather than be always worrying about where it stands in relation to a competitor. What luxury is afraid of is copying, whereas mass-produced brands fear ‘undifferentiation’, trivialization.

See all of the Anti-laws of Luxury Marketing here.

Excerpted from: The Luxury Strategy: Break The Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands by JN Kapferer and V. Bastien, in partnership with Kogan Page publishing.

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Jean-Noel Kapferer

2 comments

  • Matt Daniels

    August 7, 2009 at 12:13 am

    Why can’t all brands take this perspective?

  • Ads

    August 7, 2009 at 9:18 am

    With the Christian Lacroix House in administration, could we be witnessing the first big casualty of the current global economic crisis in the luxury market? Aren’t luxury brands supposed to stand the test of time though? Part of successfully positioning a brand involves a conscious consideration towards its targeted competition, something that has been paradox to haute couture. An “identity” may be enough for couture, but unless it translates meaningfully enough through to the more commercial mindset of the brand’s prêt-à-porter consumer then (from a financial perspective) it’s all just a gloriously expensive show. Identity alone may no longer be enough. Perhaps the Christian Lacroix case may force other luxury houses to start thinking more seriously about their positioning after all?

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