The Tamesis
“Products don’t sell themselves,” says Karen Harvey, founder and CEO of Karen Harvey Consulting, a luxury consulting firm that helps place talent. “People need to feel they want to wear the badge [of a brand]and think, “This is actually me.” This is where marketers come into play. “
As the luxury industry moves away from the idea of the “star designer” — a unique visionary who is responsible for a brand’s destiny and oversees everything from store experience to social media strategy — marketers are more important than ever in building brands for long-term success, experts say. “The concept of the celebrity designer is over, at least for now,” said Frédéric Godart, a sociologist who specializes in fashion and luxury goods and a professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD in France. “Rather, it’s about putting the brand back at the center of operations, building trust and craftsmanship.”
This illustrates the core challenge facing marketers today. While most brands divide their marketing teams by region and category to make their messaging as specialized as possible, the resounding directive is to convince customers that the product is worth their money while communicating that a new creative era is underway. What is the correct way to do this? Which customer should be the core target—the rising Generation Z, or older consumers with more cash? Do sarcasm and irreverence, both common on social media, also have a place in luxury messaging? Does artificial intelligence exist? In an attention-starved society, how much attention can you really command?
A new playbook for luxury marketing
During times of creative transformation, experts advise brands to go back to basics. The role of marketers is to unite the company—from store employees to e-commerce managers and designers—around a clear identity. “Marketing is no longer a function. I consider myself an orchestra conductor,” Skognamario said. This involves working across departments and talking to customers to ensure everything is aligned with the long-term vision. “The CMO’s job is to reconnect everyone in the organization with what the brand is and isn’t. Timeless? Sexy? Minimalist? Loud? Go back to the brand playbook,” Harvey said. These guardrails help brands navigate the tricky task of sending relevant messages to the right audience, “which is why CMOs are so important.”
To usher in the Tron era, Scognamiglio revisited the brand’s origins. She sees many similarities between him and the brand’s founder, Pierre Balmain, in their shared commitment to precision and craftsmanship. But the importance of a recognizable identity from one creative director to the next cannot be ignored. “At a meeting, someone used the word ‘minimalism.’ We are bold in the way we express ourselves and you see minimalists everywhere now. It’s not our brand and it never will be,” Scognamiglio said. “We needed to make sure Anthony’s language reflected the values of our brand. The values will remain the same but expressed in a more modern way.”
Kerr said a clear brand image is more important than ever. “What is the core value proposition of every brand that every creative director proposes? This must take center stage like never before, beyond design and creative vision. Marketing must step up its role and really drive the communication of the value proposition.”
