As we know, the competition in the luxury market is so fierce that it requires each luxury brand has its characteristics and strengths to compete with. For apparels, its design, style, fabric, color, label, wearing occasions, product lines, and brand equity all play a vital role in deciding whether the brands can win consumers' favor.
1. Brand identity is a principle difference between them. Each brand has its own identification for being distinguished by consumers, which involves typical style, color, label, different visual etc. For example, Ralph Lauren is famous for its simple Polo design with different colors, classic American lifestyle; Burberry has its specific pattern-based, English style trench coat; Supreme is typical for its white-red, logo-based, American street culture design and it shows a strong interest in showing their apparels with distinct colors; Gucci is distinguished by a signature double-G symbol combined with prominent red and green bands and its wild and luxuriant animal elements.
2. Fabrics. Besides careful design, fabric is another element of luxury brands that show their quality. As a successful manufacturer of high-end leather clothing, Gucci used a lot pigskin, calf and fur in its clothing, while Gucci will stop using fur for its collections from 2018 for showing its social responsibility. The founder of Burberry invented gabardine in 1879 — the breathable, weatherproof and hardwearing fabric rainwear. But for Ralph Lauren, Tweed is the main material of Polo, which was originally used by Scottish farmers to keep warm in damp climate in Highlands .
Photo source: Brand official site
To gain more market share in luxury apparels, luxury brands nowadays have to connect with customers in more creative ways than ever, and there are several kinds of associations for brand managers to work on, such as emotional connection, access diversity, brand collaboration, customization offer, celebrities marketing etc.
1. Emotional connection: Sensory branding is one of the strategies that luxury brands pay attention to. Ralph Lauren’s stores create always a family atmosphere for their clients. When you walk in a Chanel or Gucci store, the first thing that attracts your senses is not only the uniquely designed clothing, but also the aromas and shop decoration that the brand wants to comfort you or stimulate your desire to consume. And in September this year, Gucci created an Instagram account named “Gucci Beauty” to increase its loyal clients. Furthermore, in 2014, Burberry brought a storm of “windbreaker art” with the theme of “city” among its iconic classic Trench coat enthusiasts by spreading its story-telling in the Chinese social media platform Weibo and Wechat, that is — putting its classic products in the urban environment while interconnecting cities and letting consumers tell their stories. This strategy to convey consumers’ emotion has undoubtedly made Burberry a great success in China.
2. Access diversity: It is undeniable that we are now in the era of e-commerce, consumers are more likely to visit luxury sites through mobile devices and more and more luxury brands have done their efforts to enter in the digital market. In addition to those stores across the world, Gucci, Chanel, Supreme and Burberry all have access to online shopping so that consumers can look at their category more flexibly and more visually. Meanwhile, Ralph Lauren has recently launched a mobile app, whose name is taken from the brand's classic polo shirt — POLO RALPH LAUREN, and its positioning is to build an online community around polo shirt sales, corporate branding, and second-hand deals.
3. Brand collaboration: Gosha Rubchinskiy x Burberry, Louis Vuitton x Supreme, Gucci xCoco Capitán, Chanel x Pharrell Williams, Ralph Lauren x Palace, etc.. To brand managers, co-branding strategy is an efficient way for both brands to increase attraction and brand equity in the market, on the other hand, it allows to enrich the style and image of the brand and to give consumers more incentives and choices.
4. Customisation offer: Uniqueness is one of the expectations that luxury brands’ consumers want to see. A Ralph Lauren store in London offers a service that if you want to embroider personalized patches or monogrammed blazers, a few taps on a tablet is all that’s required. In addition, the flagship store of Gucci in Milan offered in 2016 a DIY service to its jackets, where clients can personalize their leather jackets in emblems, studs or hand-painted iconography. And Gucci’s classic shirt can also be tailored and be decorated with embroidered snakes, blooms or various Gucci’s featuring patterns. A similar customization service has been available on Burberry's official website since 2011. Online customers have a wide range of options to choose the colors and styles of trench coats, as well as add unique detailing like initials and buttons with the options reaching almost 12 million in total.
5. Celebrities marketing: Since the wide spread of digital technology, social media is one the most important platform that brand managers focus on. And more and more luxury brands rely on celebrities or influencers to spread the brand image by posts, shares, retweets and entertainment news in social media. This strategy is also designed in part to cater to the tastes of consumers — to choose the most popular stars to speak for the brand, thus strengthening the connection with the consumers.
Yifei Huang
Sources:
1.https://uk.burberry.com/our-history/
6. https://www.vogue.com/article/best-fashion-collaborations-of-20177.
7. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/mens-style/guccis-new-diy-service-bespoke-for-the-maximalist-man/
8. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/design-a-custom-burberry-trench-coat-2130443.html
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