I feel like I have to constantly keep reminding the media that luxury is still alive and well. Seriously, I just spoke to luxury yesterday. Luxury brands who fold typically don’t stop operating old traditional ways of marketing luxury. True if you continue to operate and promote your luxury brand the same as a hundred years ago you will not survive in this new recession economy.
What I love about the recession is that it has made luxury an equal playing field. Gone are the days of fake fluff write-ups in leading luxury media outlets. This practice backfired for luxury brands as well as the luxury publications.
Believe me luxury spenders are still out there and we actually help luxury brands attract, target and find wealthy consumers. The common mistake most luxury brands make is that they are unwilling to listen and not open to change.
I remember a story of a brief former client who contacted us to help place her luxury product on celebrities. In her mind ALL she needed was for her product to be placed on Michelle Obama for the inauguration. This would solve all her problems as this would make her product start selling like hotcakes very quickly. Everyone in the world would want her product! Yea right, in never land!
The problem with most luxury brands is that they fail to establish brand credibility. The one thing that will sustain a luxury brand in this recession will be building credibility for brand awareness. Organic publicity through media exposure from matched media outlets with the best target audiences is what builds brand credibility.
Back to the former client and her obsession with getting her product placed on Michelle Obama for the inauguration. The issue with celebrity gifting and product placement is that brand awareness education is always missing. Thriving to always make our clients happy we were able to pitch her product and landed product placement that would include brand awareness education for a celebrity award show charity event televised on a cable network. We even got it approved through the charity foundation to have Raven Symoné lined up to receive the product, great photo opportunity! But our client pitched a fit about the presentation of the gifting room and killed that great opportunity. Yes, Raven Symoné which the Raven brand accounted for at least $400 million in revenue earnings in 2006 for Disney! I guess Disney knows good photo opps when they see one.
The former client’s product was featured on the cable network with The View’s Sherri Shepherd the host for the event wearing the product and also again at the closing of the show. Incorporating the product with an established celebrity award show with a charity foundation allowed us to promote the product throughout the 4 day event and educate people attending about the product. Our CEO even got the lovely Xernona Clayton to wear the product during a key fundraiser during the event and educate the audience on the product! Gifting celebrities is one thing, educating them on your product is priceless.
Still thinking Michelle Obama could have made the former client’s product sell like hotcakes if we had got her to wear it? Consider this one; Hartmarx who landed product placement on President Obama, actually President Obama wore their suits for his inauguration. Those suits were sure to fly like hotcakes right? Hartmarx filed for bankruptcy in January just after the President wore its suits for the Inauguration.
The big factor for luxury brands will be building brand credibility to sustain and increase profit earnings. It will take implementing luxury PR with strategic plans and approach. Luxury brands must start embracing social media environments as well as be engaging.
Like some help with promoting a luxury brand? If you think you already know everything no one will be able to help you. However, if you truly want to leverage and position your luxury brand to sustain this economic downtime Mosnar Communications, Inc is offering open enrollment for luxury PR representation. Not every luxury brand will be accepted.
Luxury is a perception. Demand the best always.