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8/12/2019 297luxurybrandingindia-130625021337-phpapp01

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FAILURE OF LUXURYPRODUCTS IN INDIA

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INTRODUCTION

Since India has become the scene for the booming industries and growing market, a lot of

importance has been given to the marketing of the goods and services produced by these

companies. Thus, the businesses have now started focussing on brands and brand building

apart from working on the quality and quantity of the services and goods. So, before we

discuss about the exercise of brand building that has been adopted by various industries in

India, we need to understand the meaning of a brand. y a brand what we mean is that, It is

a collection of experiences and associations connected with a service, a person or any

other entity.

rand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company !name, term, sign,

symbol, or design, or combination of them" and how it relates to key constituencies:customers, staff, partners, investors etc. Some people even associate brand with psychological

aspects of human nature like thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs,

attitudes, and so on. This helps in generating the brand experience in the human beings who

experiences the brand as it creates an image about the brand in the mind of the customer

which is referred to as the brand image. rand image is the symbolic construct created within

the minds of people, consisting of all the information and expectations associated with a

product, service or the company providing them.

#eople who are engaged in branding seek to develop or align the expectations behind the

brand experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or servicehas certain qualities or characteristics that make it special or unique. The people have the

brand awareness of a successful brand as they can easily recall and recognise the brand under

different conditions and are able to link the brand name, logo, $ingle and so on to certain

associations in memory.

%s rands started growing in India, brand building strategy started playing a very imperative

role in the success of any corporate. Today brand building exercise has become so important

that the companies cannot succeed without the brands. &ompanies have to focus on their

market mix and policies that promote their brand. The expanding role of brands helped in

identifying and differentiating a product easier' while also providing the benefit of letting thename sell a second rate product.

(uxury branding is a whole new ball)game altogether, both from the perspective of the

marketer as well as the luxury consumer. It therefore becomes important to view it both in

relation and isolation from the *regular+ goods marketing.

(uxury brands have often been associated with the core competences of creativity,

exclusivity, craftsmanship, precision, high quality, innovation and premium pricing. These

product attributes give the consumers the satisfaction of not only owning expensive items butthe extra)added psychological benefits like esteem, prestige and a sense of a high status that

reminds them and others that they belong to an exclusive group of only a select few, who can

afford these pricey items.


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The luxury sector targets its products and services at consumers on the top)end of the wealth

spectrum. These self)selected elite are more or less price insensitive and choose to spend their

time and money on ob$ects that are plainly opulence rather than necessities.

or these reasons, luxury and prestige brands have for centuries commanded an unwavering

and often illogical customer loyalty.

(uxury has never been something easy to define, yet this mystery concept is something

highly desired by one and all alike. -e look at delving deeper into this mystery and aura of

luxury goods by way of comparing them against *regulargoods+ as well as highlighting the

characteristics of the luxury industry. ut before beginning with that, lets first attempt to

understand some common terms associated in the world of high-end goods:

Luxury and prestige brands such as olex, (ouis /uitton and &artier represent thehighest

form of craftsmanship and command a staunch consumer loyalty that is not affected bytrends. These brands create and set the seasonal trends and are also capable to pulling all of

their consumers with them wherever they go.

Premium brands are those brands like #olo alph (auren, &alvin 0lein and Tommy1ilfiger

that aspire to be luxury and prestige brandsbut their marketing mix strategies are more

attuned to a mass market, albeit a luxury mass market. They are also termed as mass-

premium brandsor mass-luxury brands.

Fashion brands on the other hand are those that address the masses.

Characteristics of the luxury i!ustry

2. Luxury means different things to different people

(uxury has no certified origins. ut luxury branding is said to have taken birth in the

west with the appearance of high)end brands. To get an insight into what luxury today

means to different %mericans, we take a look at the table below, compiled by

%merican 3emographics in 4556, to understand how to develop target strategies for

various segments.


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4. Luxury is a product category in itself

This can be best explained by the fact that both an expensive watch and an artwork

can be considered to be luxury items. Therefore, all luxury marketers are not $ust

competing in their *technically defined product categories !like manufacturers of

refrigerators compete amongst themselves" but for the wallet share of luxury goods in

total.

6. The meaning of luxury had changed

(uxury has moved from its *old+ meaning of ownership !also known as conspicuous

consumption ) &onspicuous consumption is a term used to describe the lavish

spending on goods and services that are acquired mainly for the purpose of displaying

incomeor wealthrather than to satisfy a real need of the consumer. In the mind of a

conspicuous consumer, such display serves as a means of attaining or maintaining

social status.Invidious consumption, a necessary corollary, is the term applied to

consumption of goods and services for the deliberate purpose of inspiring envy in

others" of ob$ects to the *new+ meaning of the experience 7 fulfilment derived from

possessing a certain ob$ect.

Aura is more important than exclusivity

8xclusivity is something that cannot be ensured to a great extent and neither is it the

prime requirement of a luxury consumer. The consumer bases his decisions on the

relevance of the aura of the brand to his fulfilment or actualization needs.

9. Trading up

% mass of wealthy people have emerged the world over, give rise to a large section of

consumers who are now moving to luxury 7 premium brands, thereby creating greater

businessopportunity for luxury marketers.

. Emergence of luxury brandsSea of luxury brands have emerged giving a wide choiceto consumers, in all segments of

luxury goods.

;. Trading down
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Today, fashion brands are giving luxury brands competition because of marketing mix

and branding strategies, which make it acceptable to pair these two brands. This is

something that was not practiced before.

eg. -earing an %rmani shirt with a pair of . Customer loyalty is more important that brand awareness

ather than focus on measuring the brand awareness of a luxury company, measuring

customer loyalty is far more significant a metric regarding the success or failure of

corporate strategyto connect with the luxury consumer.

Luxury i I!ia

To be successful in India, it is both necessary to gauge the financial potentialas well as the

mindsetof the Indian luxury consumer. This will help in bringing forth the right product

offerings to the Indian consumer as well as targeting them better.

Qualitative nsights

2. %ccording to a study by %merican 8xpress, *Inside the Affluent Space+, the mindset of

the Indian consumer is a desire to prove that ?!ve "ade t@. This can be related to

the luxury categoriAation which is based on the fact that luxury is seen as a reward,

both for achievements in life as well as showcasing these achievements to others.

4. TheLuxury Marketing ouncil !orldwidehas established a chapter in India, with the

aim of promoting luxury in India. Their task will also be to build synergy between

various luxury brands interested in India by way of sharing of consumer insights as

well as best practices.

6. 8ven the %sian region is not uniformin its preference for luxury in terms of need

fulfilment. Therefore, it becomes important to delineate the needs of the Indian

consumer from the other %sian regions to target them better. This agenda gains

importance because many Indians look at acquiring luxury from places such as 1ong0ong, Tokya, &hina etc.

8g. It is interesting to note that Singapore consumers are more of connoisseurs

compared to 1ong 0ong consumers who want"alk-#alue fromtheir luxury goods


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9. 1industan Times has been at the forefront of driving the luxury revolution in India by

organiAing two Indian Luxury onferences in the last 9 years. To add to it, it also

brings out a monthlysupplementof luxury goods available in India, thereby creating

awareness for the luxury brands.

Quantitative nsights

2. %s far as quantitative estimates are concerned, there will be $%&'(((millionaires !in

BS dollar terms" in India by 455C.

4. The affluentmarket is set to grow at a rate of $%)in India, and by 455C, there will beapproximately 2.2 million affluents here.

6. The wealth potentialof India+s affluents was to the tune of BSD 456 billion as of

455.

Strate"ies for Luxury #ar$eti" i I!ia

There are conventional foundations for ensuring success of a brand and they are listed below

in brief:

2. The brand must be #expansive$

-hich means it should be full of inno*ation opportunitiesfor the marketer and in

terms of satisfying the di*ergent needsof the luxury consumer

4. The brand must tell a story

It is this story, of either heritage or performance or other aspects that goes on to build

the aura of a brand over time. The story always accentuates the identity of the brand.

6. The brand must be relevant to the consumers! needs

3epending upon the mindsetof the luxury class, it is imperative for a brand to satisfy

those needs, whether they be for recognition or functional use etc.

9. The brand must align with consumers! values

% brand that does not concur with the basic values of a consumer+s society has a small

chance of succeeding because luxury items areforms ofexpression or identification

for a luxury consumer. This makes it difficultfor the consumer to adopt the brand in

such cases.

. The brand must perform


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Irrespective of which category the brand belongs to, a performance assurance is a

must for the brand if it wishes to be in the e*oked set of luxury consumers,

considering the price being paid for luxury.


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