The E-marketing strategy goal is to catch the attention of and wthhold the customer to visit the site of the luxury brand. As opposed to traditional marketing which looks for to encourage the client to make a purchase. Which means internet online marketing strategy is more customer oriented rather then product focused. We will discuss two main rules of the E-marketing. The six Ps of luxury branding and the ten Cs of luxury fashion E-marketing.
In the luxury industry branding and marketing are closely linked. Branding is a center process of marketing which can only take place if there are products and services. On the other hand the marketing can gain from branding just because a strong brand image augment the marketing strategy. To be able to execute a competitve marketing stratregy the blissful luxury brands should take into consideration the following six Ps of luxury branding.
1. The product
A product is "whatever can be wanted to a market for attention, acquisition, use or intake that might satisfy a want or need". These includes physical goods an services. The need can be efficient including the need for a handbag to carry personal things. Or it can produce an abstract dimesion such as the need to transport a tote with the Louis Vuitton logo in order to exhibit the status. This second level of need is fullfilled by, luxury goods since they carry a strong brand value.
Strategies behing the development of luxury goods place a solid emphasis on branding elements. Therefore Luxury products features include innovative, creative and interesting product designs and product packaging, classic and ageless products, high quality materials, careful craftmanship, manufacturing detail and speedy design turnover.
2. Pricing
Price is the first hint of your brand's positioning to consumers. The luxury consumers are less price very sensitive and expect luxury goods to be high grade priced alternatively than economically charged. The high price allows the customer to evaluate the quality of the product, also called psychological prices.
3. Place of distribution
The host to distribution identifies the programs used to make product and services available to the client. For luxury brands there exists the additional activity of brand safety. In order to maintain a special brand aura, the blissful luxury brand distribution channel is tightly governed. As an example when Gucci licensed its brand to multiple manufacturers and vendors their brand value decreased.
4. Promotion
When it involves design a promotional meaning, it's important to determine and focus on the right audience. Luxury brand additionaly have to handle the brands fact and all its elements in each communication. This means that the design itself must be communicated. Effective promotional mediums for luxury brands are advertising, immediate marketing, personal selling, public relations and sponsorship.
5. People
People in the luxury branding mix identifies everyone that is damaged by the brand and everyone that impacts the brand. Including those involved in the development of the product and services, brand management and all the employees staff mixed up in daily business. Folks are the most important aspect of any service because the knowledge they may have with the brand impact the way they transmitt the brand to customers.
The main strategy utilized by luxury brands is using Ambassadors. They're usually superstars providing the brand with life and promoting the brand through presenting it a face. For example Kate Moss was for a while ambassador of Dior. Although danger is the fact that those celebrities carrying out the image of the brand can affect the worthiness brand in a negative way being that they are the center of attention of the mass media. This happened to Dior with John Galliano who was accuses of "anti-semitism", though LVMH managed to successfuly triumph over it. "In the field of communication you'd do not make the same problem double".
6. Positioning
Positioning identifies the choice a brand makes, which decides where and how it competes in its market. Since luxury brands have a plainly defined and specific market, the positionning strategy will serve mostly as a tactical tool for sector benchmarking and exterior competitors intellect.
Luxury brands have a hugh potential to be successful in the internet. When offering an online site they get significant return on investment in conditions of more spending since what luxury consumers value most in the internet is shopping at home and having wide range of merchandise available online.
A. The ten Cs of Luxury Fashion E-Marketing
As talked about in the online versus off range part, the luxury customer is seeking for a high quality shopping experience. Many companies remain lacking the E-touch to there website. In a recently available survey about the blissful luxury consumer tendencies conducted by Unity Marketing 35% of luxury purchasers are discouraged because of troubles in dividends and exchange of goods, 21% are frightened to make costly purchase anticipated to security reasons. Pursuing some main points how to beat this problems.
1. Customer value
Customer value is the additional benefit a customer receives from a firm to ease the shopping experience. Provide the customer with a huge product range and equip the site with the satisfactory tools to see the products, will delight the online customers shopping experience.
Many luxury brands offer thin product range in the e-store or end of season products. Unfortunatly this lower the brands image to the customer. The luxury goods consumers are less enthusiastic about good deal then in high quality.
2. Convenience
Convenience is the key good thing about e-retail. Customers can purchase what they want when they need within an e-store open round the clock.
To make this experience complete for consumers luxury brands need to inter-related the off brand retail offers with the e-retail strategy. Luxury consumers are multi-channel shoppers that may visit the web site and the store before purchasing. The convenience experience should also include effective website usability and streamlining the after sales service to add dividends, refund and exchange of goods in physical stores even if the purchase was made online.
3. Cost
The cost of purchasing a product includes the price of the product and extra costs like transfer cost and travel time for you to and from the store, time spent in the store with checkout factors. . . E-retailers enables the consumer to save this time.
An additional expense issue for luxury brand is price discounting. Online consumers often choose internet as a discount vacation spot due to the wide range of products that are often on sale. In order to meet customers objectives luxury brands have used the strategy of online discounting. This strategy neither enhances brand integrity nor sustains brand equitiy for luxury brands. Luxury brands should maintain a rigorous price policy on line and offline. For example Louis Vuitton is followint a rigorous price policy with no discount and destruction of the unsold goods.
4. Communication
Communication is the equivalent of "Promotion" in the offline marketing. Communication focuses on exchanges which can result in conviction. It provides access to reviews and consumers needs and prospects using emails or customer talk.
To enhance marketing communications with the online customer, luxury brands can use internet toole like exclusive online night clubs, viral marketing, email media and other techniques in order to keep touching the customer and fill having less human connections.
5. Computing
Computer and logistic systems are essential for e-retailers. To be able to deliver the right product, at the right time in the right location, computing systems must be put in place. Other issues such as online payment, security and taxation computation can only be performed through competent processing coordination. This can be done through creating computer sites between suppliers, manufacturers and vendors. Luxury brands currently have increasing product variety and lessening product life pattern. This enlarged range of goods requires effective management online.
Luxury brands can also prolong computing systems to empowe customers through providing tools for online order traffic monitoring and mapping for store directions.
6. Customer franchise
As a result of the knowledge with the brand online, customers develope a connection of trust, assurance, image and overall thoughts with the brand. This is named customer franchise. The brand durability sustains the web experience with the customer, therefore a higher customer franchise is important to develop brand collateral and brand placement.
7. Customer care
Customer care plays a huge role about the shopping experience of the client. Effective customer support is expanded to every part of customer's connection with a brand. Luxury brands have always been criticized about the customer service whether online or off-line. This is because the brands were centering more on revenue.
The main issue with internet is having less human interaction rendering it more difficult to provide a good customer support. Still it could be compensate through fast and reliable delivery of goods, quick come back, refund and exchange of goods. Finally as talked about earlyier, the inter-relation with after sales service off-line and online.
Several different ways are possible such as online chat, extensive product view and explanation E-news subs etc. Those facilitation for the client enhance and alleviate the shopping experience. Those programms also permit the retailer to build up a customer repository and gather feedback from consumers.
8. Community
The online consumer are divided in a number of communities with distributed pursuits. Through bloggs customers can share their positive or negative encounters with brands. The luxury brand Louis Vuitton created a site as a program for its customer to go over current issues regarding the brand. This platform sharing is an effective tool luxury brands can use to create strong romance with customers.
9. Content
The content of an extravagance brands website shows the brands image. Therefore it is very important that luxury brands translate the shop athsmosphere to the web through high definition videos images and sound. Nice colors and all the excess features talked about in customer care, to delight the clients shopping experience.
10. Customization
There is an increasing demand for customization of products on the internet. This is the consequences of individualization, customers need to be recognized and given personal attention. An example is Roberto cavalli that uses customization as an instrument for providing an excellent web experience. The web site offers customizable wallpaper and multiple vocals options. But still in the blissful luxury brand sector there is a lack of customization, since luxury brand only offer this opportunity to "select customers".
If following a ten Cs, luxury brand are able to provide their customers with high quality shopping experience and meet the most important features for luxury consumers such as flexible return policy, thorough product pictures and comprehensive product information and standards.
B. The six Ps of luxury branding
In the luxury industry branding and marketing are directly related. Branding is a key process of marketing which can only just take place if there are products and services. Alternatively the marketing can reap the benefits of branding because a strong brand image boosts the online marketing strategy. To be able to implement a competitve marketing stratregy the blissful luxury brands should consider the following six Ps of luxury branding.
1. The product
"A product is everything a consumer receives from a company in trade for a cost". These includes physical goods an services. Products are designed to meet consumers needs. The necessity can be practical like the dependence on a handbag to transport personal things. Or it can have intangible dimesions like the need to carry a tote with the Louis Vuitton custom logo in order to make a affirmation of status. This second level of need is fullfilled by products that carries a strong brand value, like luxury goods. Luxury goods are used by consumers to job a graphic of themselves to the public. They are status symbol.
Strategies behing the development of luxury goods place a solid emphasis on branding elements. Therefore Luxury products features include innovative, creative and attractive product designs and presentation, classic and ageless products, high quality materials, meticulous craftmanship, manufacturing precision and immediate design turnover.
2. Pricing
Pricing is the first signal of your brand's setting to consumers. The blissful luxury market is less price hypersensitive and expect luxury goods to be top quality priced somewhat than economically costed. Therefore many luxury companies have chosen a premium price strategy.
3. Host to distribution
The host to distribution refers to the programs used to make product and services open to the customer. For luxury brands there exists the additional job of brand safeguard. To be able to maintain a special brand aura, the blissful luxury brand distribution channel is tightly managed. As an example when Gucci certified its brand to multiple manufacturers and distributors their brand value reduced.
4. Promotion
When it comes to design a promotional message, it's important to define and aim for the right audience. Luxury brand additionaly have to carry out the brands essence and everything its elements in each communication. This means that the design itself has to be communicated. Effective promotional mediums for luxury brands are advertising, direct marketing, personal offering, public relations and sponsorship.
5. People
People in the blissful luxury branding mix refers to everyone that is affected by the brand and everyone that influences the brand. Including those mixed up in development of the product and services, brand management and everything the employees staff involved in the daily business. Folks are the most crucial aspect of any service because the knowledge they may have with the brand influence just how they transmitt the brand to customers.
The main strategy utilized by luxury brands is using Ambassadors. They are usually stars providing the brand with life and promoting the brand through providing it a face. For example Kate Moss was for a while ambassador of Dior. Though the danger is the fact that those celebrities carrying out the image of the brand can affect the worthiness brand in a poor way since they are the guts of attention of the multimedia. This happened to Dior with John Galliano who was simply accuses of "anti-semitism", though LVMH managed to successfuly triumph over it. "In the field of communication you'd better not make the same problem twice".
6. Positioning
Positioning refers to the choice that a brand makes, which establishes where and how it competes in its market. Since luxury brands have a obviously described and specific market, the positionning strategy serves largely as a proper tool for sector benchmarking and external competitors intellect.
Luxury brands have a hugh potential of being successful in the internet. When offering a site they get significant profits on return in conditions of more spending since what luxury consumers value most in the internet is shopping at home and having wide range of goods available online.
C. Best practice and biggest failure of luxury E-retailing
We discussed several issues luxury brands are facing when heading online and we evocated tactical possibilities to become successful. Even though many luxury brands remain struggeling heading online, a few were able to successfuly take advantage of the cyber world. Included in this Net-aPorter.
Net-a-porter is an extravagance clothing and accessories shop that carries a few of the biggest brands in fashion such as Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney yet others. It sells developer clothing, lingerie, luggage and shoes. It had been created by Natalie Massenet in June 2010. Four years later the company was already profitable.
What makes the shopping experience so delightfull is the fact Net-a-Porter is adressing two key questions:
How will that look on a person?
What else may i wear this item with?
Furthermore Net-a-Porter is exhibiting its items in two different views. First you will see just the merchandise, second you can view the product worn by a model. This allow customer to envision how they will look when they are using the item, which gives them a strong stimulus to buy.
Additionaly Net-a-Porter applied an upselling strategy that they achieve through including the name of the other items the model is wearing in the merchandise explanation. And suggest what the merchandise can be worn with tagged "Wear It with".
This company is a good example for how to replace the lack of individual interfaces through up to date technology, enabling the clients to enjoy surfing on the site and giving them an incentive to buy.
