10 Keys to define what Luxury Brand is.
WHAT IS TOP OF THE RANGE?
There are brands or models that have increased quality and reliability of a product that already existed; the top of the range is the showcase of the brand's know-how. It is a completely rational purchase and is made after an exhaustive comparison. For example, a generalist brand uses it for that loyal customer of the brand, first the entry model, then the SUV and finally the top of the range that brings all the technological innovations and a more sophisticated image, for the customer is to feel a bit special since it has climbed a step further.
The Top-of-the-range is chosen for: Its versatility, comfort and value for the money. It is measured and compared with other generalist brands or the lower range of the same brand and with the high range of the premium brands. For example, the high-end model of Volkswagen.
WHAT IS PREMIUM?
Premium brands mark a milestone in the status and income of the owner. It is the result of a reward for efforts and hard work; it is equivalent to a declaration to the rest of society of "I have made it". The purchase is made rationally and for excellence which represents: powerful, versatile and comfortable. The high price of any premium brand must be justifiable by its Utility Curve. The high price sends signals of the status of the owner, but also the fact that he is buying quality and can be used in all circumstances.
The premium brand is chosen for: first, it is judged by the quality-price ratio, usability (rational and tangible criteria), and then by social recognition against other brands (intangible criteria). For example Audi or Lexus.
In Top-of-the-range and Premium there is comparability and rational analysis in the purchase. In fact, in some advertising campaigns of premium brands are compared with other brands.
HOW TO DEFINE WHAT IS LUXURY?
Luxury is made up of different factors that define it as a holistic thing: exclusivity, exquisite quality, scarcity, design, price, service and prestige. It is something that in addition to the tangible also involves the emotional.
In the premium sector all the standards or criteria are decided based on the tastes of the customers, but in luxury the brand or the Creative Director is the one who defines the criteria and not the other way around. The luxury product is created according to an inspiration, a challenge. Luxury is not for everyone's taste and pockets, for example, Alessandro Michele Creative Director Gucci, does not compare with Virgil Abloh from Louis Vuitton, they are totally different. Just as a Lamborghini is not comparable to a Bentley. The appearance of a luxury item must communicate status and uniqueness, and the aesthetics of a luxury brand must communicate the quality that underlies it.
the criteria
1 - THE TIME:
Luxury loves time and creating luxury takes time. With time I mean 4 forms of "time":
The Story: Luxury brands always value their past, it has to be inspiring. But the story by itself is not enough, it is necessary to create a legend, a story-telling that thrills the client. History can be 100 years as in the case of Bentley or more recent like Pagani, but there has to be a script that tells how we became what we are.
Landmarks: Proud of the glorious feats accomplished; for example the times that Bentley has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans or when in 2019 broke the lap record of The Pikes Peak, winning as the fastest production car in making it.
Creating a product of exquisite quality takes time and dedication: that is why brands highlight it in the sale process and help the client understand why it is something unique and special. For example, what it takes to make a Bentley Mulsanne that takes more than 500 hours of work makes it unique in the world.
The wait until what we want arrives: In addition to the manufacturing time, luxury products are not always available and their production is limited, so the customer sometimes has to be prepared to wait before receiving his desired "prize".
2 - THE MYTH OF THE BRAND:
Apart from History, the myth is needed. This myth can be based on the glory of the battles in the races of the 24 hours of Le Mans or Formula 1. The myth feeds on heroes like the Bentley Boys who were a group of Tycoons whose passion for racing took them to participate in epic races or James Dean who died at the age of 24 at the wheel of his Porsche; and the myth needs stories, true or legends and rumors.
In the same way that a high-end brand is pride of its technological advances, the luxury brand also prides itself on its lineage and tradition.
The word "tradition" does not mean being anchored in the past; it means respect for the values and forms that have led us to be what we are.
The Bentley Continental GT Number 9 Edition has incrusted the center console part of the seat of the Bentley Blower nº9 with which Tim Birkins competed Le Mans in 1930. This detail means that as soon as you get into the car there is one more storytelling to impress.
3 - THE INTANGIBLE:
It is the prestige associated with the brand, the feeling of exclusivity that makes the client participate and feel.
In this case, Bentley maximizes its social recognition:
Driving a Bentley sends a clear message to other drivers, which adds value; the value is in the eye of the viewer who watches with admiration. How many times when a super-luxury car is seen and besides admiring the car, has someone looked out with curiosity or with admiration to see who is the owner?
How the customer feels and how others see him: It is a feeling of belonging to a special "club", emotionally evoked by present and past events, legendary racing drivers... but also glamor and celebrities.
Intangibles inspire everyone's respect through consistency in their values, emotion, the ability to provoque certain type of strong feelings and create a recognizable unique style without losing the brand essence; the price is also a consequence of all this.
4 - LUXURY IS SUPERLATIVE, NOT COMPARATIVE:
Beyond symbolic value, which is purely social in nature, the value of an object derives from three sources:
Use-value
Selling-value
Labor-value
In luxury, the value of labor is operational while this is practically non-operational for most normal products, where on the contrary the work of a product seeks to minimize it (delocalization) or suppress it (automation).
The use-value relates the use with a group of functionalities; from this point of view a Hermès bag or a Bentley Flying Spur could be compared to a Coach bag and an Audi A8 respectively for their functionality. Yes, both objects perform the same function, but luxury is not simply bought or despite its functionalities, it goes further.
This comparative approach suits Premium, but not Luxury. Historically, Luxury indicates that its buyer has overcome the limitations of daily life and has entered a privileged world where the key to entry is no longer functional, but aesthetic, sensual, and hedonistic
5 - DESIGN:
Premium or High-end brands (each in its own style) follow the demands of customers and market trends. But the luxury brand is more a promoter of taste and design. Luxury is not "follower or follower", is creative, is bold ... does what the other brands will then try to emulate.
Design, high technology, details and craftmanship...building products that are works of art, which must be beautiful and unique, which when are parked on the street, passers-by stop to admire and dream of them for a moment.
The luxury brand takes the virtues that have made it famous to the extreme: it is the art of beauty, sensitivity, passion and always surprising creative talent. Luxury is also technological, but subordinate that technology to strict functionality because in luxury we are serving pleasure, an aesthetic of life, "art for art." Details like the Bentley headlights and taillights have a diamond-cut facet pattern that makes them shine like a gem even in the daytime
6 - PRICE:
IMPORTANT: To speak only about money or price on a luxury product is to admit that you have nothing better to say about your product and, therefore, to devalue it.
Luxury sets the price, price does not set luxury. The salesperson in a store helps the customer to understand, share the mystery, the spirit, the technique and the time spent on this creation... in this way the price can be justified when the time comes. The price is there and it should stay in the back while the customer is explained all the virtues and history of the product.
From this point of view, the price of luxury is on another level, it is dimensioned beyond quality and reveals the overcoming of money at the service of passion. Also, the myth of some brands is built on the criterion of the wealth of their owners, but beyond this wealth, it may be their symbolic power ... for example, for years Bentley earned the reputation of being the cars of aristocratic families most important and the most powerful magnates in the world.
7 - EXCLUSIVITY:
Besides, its price is not suitable for all economies, which is why it is difficult to see on a day-to-day basis, it is making even customers find it "a bit difficult" to immediately have what they want. It is like something that has to be earned, psychologically the greater the inaccessibility, the greater the desire.
Sometimes luxury has to know how to put "obstacles" to the tension of desire and maintain them without allowing that desire to diminish but rather to be enhanced, it is to play a bit with psychology. The pinnacle is finally reached enjoying luxury after going through a series of "obstacles". There are models that are limited editions to order that car, the brand must approve the customer's request, demonstrating its loyalty to the brand and proving what previous models they own.
"Obstacle" in the search, the wait, the longing ... so far removed from the traditional marketing logic, which does everything possible to facilitate quick access to the product through mass distribution. On the other hand, the distribution of luxury is different, it only occurs instead of meeting certain standards and in the most representative cities, for example in Spain there are only 3 Official Bentley Dealers: Barcelona, Madrid & Marbella. On the other hand, how many dealers of the same premium brand are there in Spain? more than 100.
There are brands whose production is deliberately kept below their demand; Because the customer understands the exceptional and unusual product and is prepared to wait. It is not about poor sales forecasts, but about a deliberate strategy of resisting demand to dominate it.
The Bentley Bakalar Mulliner only 15 units in the world, whose starting price is more than € 1.5 million before taxes, is considered a work of art, and not everyone who is willing to pay their price can be done with one.
8 - LUXURY IS HANDCRAFTED:
Opening the door of a Bentley we can see in the door frame a chrome plaque that proudly shows "Handcrafted in England".
It is not that it is entirely handmade, to reach the levels of perfection and finishes there are obviously processes that are carried out mechanically. It would rather be that luxury is not that it is artisanal, but is on the side of art, that part of its process and components are made by hand by technicians who are artists/craftsmen who give the product a human touch, plus added value to the final score.
The craftsmanship is appreciated above all in the interior, which has more than 350 pieces of the best Italian leather, each steering wheel takes up to 3.5 hours to be sewed, the Flying "B" embroidered on the seats has 5,103 stitches or 5,331 cuts in diamond to give texture to each of the components and buttons of the center console.
9 - CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE:
Selling luxury takes time, due to the sophistication of the product and in order to appreciate its value we can spend a lot of time with the client. This is why the person responsible for the sale must be a person who transmits a passion for the brand that immerses the customer in the history, with impeccable technical knowledge of the product... must act as a brand evangelist providing a total experience since the customers make a call or entry in the showroom.
For non-luxury brands, time efficiency prevails in closing the sales, but in luxury means the opposite: take the time necessary to offer the best according to the brand's own conception, a sale can take months to close, months in which the customer has been served impeccably.
Besides, luxury is bespoke and there is "almost" nothing impossible; our mission is materializing a dream. Sometimes a customer wants a personalized color that is the same as his wife's favorite lipstick, wants his initials embroidered on the seat headrest or gold plated buttons... for that cases, we have the Mulliner Bespoke Department.
Luxury is experience, and the factory tour, the Bentley Lodge in the Austrian Tirol or Private Paddock at the Races are offered to the clients as part of the experience of living the brand.
10 - THE CREATOR BEHIND THE BRAND:
Behind the luxury brand there is the creator whose idea, dream, legacy and name give soul to it; is more an enthusiast and a creative genius than a pure engineer, like O.W Bentley, may be the equivalents of the big names in fashion, art or architecture.
