Perhaps it is the sense of urgency fostered by the fear of being left behind that has forced luxury brands to finally acknowledge the need to catch up to their technologically-minded customers. Or, perhaps it is the cold, harsh reality that there are fewer luxury customers to be found post-financial crisis and brands now have to work harder to seduce those that are left. Whatever the reason, 2009 will undoubtedly stand out as the year the luxury industry pulled its head out from the sand where the Internet is concerned. I see the arrival en force of centuries-old brands to Web 2.0 as a not-so-small leap forward.
To be fair, the Internet in its early incarnation was hardly a hospitable place for luxury brands. Books and bargains found a natural home online but companies such as eBay and Amazon with their frumpy-looking sites (not to mention eBay's anemic policies regarding counterfeit luxury goods) hardly made the Internet look like an appealing place to be or be seen for image-conscious luxury brands. Thankfully, forward-thinking companies like Net-A-Porter and Apple (a luxury brand at heart) have helped change that perception by bringing a good dose of glamour and high-minded design to the medium. Et c'est tant mieux.
It is however the growth of social media (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) that seems to have made the greatest impact in terms of changing attitudes. This is primarily because social media lend themselves so well to storytelling. They offer brands an opportunity to tell their story and engage with customers on a more meaningful level. Since luxury brands often have wonderful stories to tell, we could potentially have a classic win-win on our hands (provided of course brands become more savvy about how to fully exploit the technology).
Brands also seem to finally be coming to term with the fear that customers will take to venting grievances online. Some brands at least have begun to acknowledge that this will happen whether they have an active online presence or not. The flip side of this is that their customers often have wonderful stories of their own to tell. Providing them with a forum to share those stories can benefit the brand tremendously in terms of making and maintaining meaningful connections with the very people they seek to attract. Given the growth in influence of User Generated Content on consumer purchasing behavior, the possibilities are truly tantalizing.
Over the course of the next few months, The Luxe Chronicles will be featuring interviews with various luxury brand executives to explore their use of social media as a means of connecting with consumers. I hope you'll take the opportunity to join the discussion and share your thoughts.
Sincerely,
The Luxe Chronicles
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