Tips in Luxury Content Marketing

Published in

Marketing And Growth Hacking

7 min readJul 20, 2017

Our modern era is increasingly characterized by global interaction. For this reason, many luxury brands now have to figure out marketing campaigns for a variety of different demographics. One of the most ingenious means of accomplishing such a feat is through the incorporation of a compelling story that creates a direct connection between buyers and the brand. This is where Luxury Content Marketing comes in.

In a 2015 study, Bain & Company concluded that global currency changes combined with purchases that are no longer constrained to a single regional demographic resulted in a €250 billion increase to the luxury goods market. Consequently, many luxury brands are exploring various methods of content marketing. The following advice and examples demonstrate how luxury brands can (and have) create content that appeals to a global market.

When Products Meet Art

When consumers purchase luxury products, the resulting experience is inherently ethereal, rather than materialistic. The products appeal directly to the phantasmic underpinnings of desire, resulting in an otherworldly allure that is essentially intangible. This experience is often incorporated into a luxury brand’s content, allowing them to build a recognizable persona that they can subsequently build on as their brand evolves.

One prominent example of the above is Dior. Throughout their history, the company has consistently blurred the lines between product development and artistry. Those who have seen their video “Lady Blue Shanghai”, helmed by the surrealistic filmmaker David Lynch and starring Marion Cotillard, are already familiar with how this formula plays out. Additionally, Dior’s website gives customers a wealth of insight into their universe.

Brand Promoters are Essential

Part of the appeal of luxury items is their exclusivity. Customers love it when their purchase power increases their sense of singularity. In terms of desire, this feeds the illusion that material possessions equate to social prominence. While this comes across as somewhat negative, some brands have concocted a means of balancing this sense of singularity with a reliable sensibility and conveying that image to potential customers.

A great example of the successful use of this strategy is Tesla Motors, a brand that appeals to luxury customers by way of a shared ecological concern. For an example of this, one need not look further than the testimonial section of Tesla’s website. Here, Tesla has successfully synthesized customer experiences into their marketing content, conveying a sense of reliable sensibility.

Expertise is Everything

With so many brands currently mulling over ways to encourage active engagement by means of simplified user interfaces and dazzling visuals, maintaining a distinctly understated visual output is an effective means of standing apart from the crowd. Patek Phillipe has used this strategy to great success. After quickly browsing their website, their understated digital marketing strategy becomes apparent. This is a brand that thrives on subtlety, utilizing minimalism to convey a simultaneous sense of sophistication and expertise while demonstrating an awareness of the importance of tradition. For example, consider their sleek black and white videos that effectively deploy the nuances of familial relationships. Each of these videos deploys minimalism, tradition, and Patek Phillipe’s products to great effect.

Mobile Interaction

Many luxury customers in all manner of regions are typically very busy. For this reason, they are constantly using mobile devices, like cellphones and tablets, to keep themselves entertained. For this reason, many brands have figured out that optimizing their content for mobile applications is an effective means of content marketing.

Consider Gucci’s 2015 launch of Gucci Style, a shopping app that appeals to an on-the-go lifestyle. Gucci Style includes photos, information, social feeds, and the ability to create wish lists. Users can also purchase products using the app’s built-in store locator. This is an effective means of engaging customers and promoting brand interaction while still mentioning the allure of a successful luxury brand.

Keep the Message Concise

Maintaining visual consistency across all content is a key aspect of attracting customers. This can get a bit tricky when attempting to appeal to customers across the globe, but it is far from impossible. One means of executing this strategy involves posting visual compilations on social media platforms, with Instagram being a particularly lucrative area.

Cartier has successfully implemented this strategy by sequentially deploying multiple images from a single campaign. Their strategy is to focus on one theme and orient all subsequent visual content around it. The result is a concise feed with a clear message that allows them to stand apart from other luxury brands with more inconsistent content. For example, one of their 2015 campaigns incorporated images of various celebrities wearing their jewelry at the Met Gala.

Direct Appeal

While many brands orient their marketing campaigns around their products, some have opted to move beyond this inclination and engage their customers through a direct appeal to their sense of identity. However, perpetrating such a feat requires extensive research and insight into the type of customer one desires to attract. Once this information is ascertained, one should then craft content appealing to the sensibilities that characterize that particular identity.

Rolex has made effective use of this strategy in their appeal to ambitious individualism, albeit with a distinctly modern flair. A quick gander at their visual content reveals a strategy that expertly engages this ambitious sensibility in order to subtly unite it with their products.

Follow the Audience

Marketing is often counterintuitive. One company who has utilized this to their advantage is Burberry. Rather than basing their image around the allure of exclusivity, Burberry has opted to locate their audience in places they regularly visit while still managing to maintain unique campaigns. For example, consider Burberry Kisses, a campaign launched in collaboration with Google.

Burberry Kisses primarily targeted millennials, persuading them to send kisses to others using the Burberry app. Nearly a week after the app’s launch, people were spending an average of three minutes using the app and kisses had been sent in over 200 countries.

One Size Fits All

While many luxury brand customers rely on publications for fashion advice, luxury brands would do well to heed a similar reliance. As mentioned above, successful marketing is often counterintuitive, and the upcoming methodology definitely falls into that category. Rather than promoting customer reliance on external publications, brands like STYLEBOP.com have issued their own publications. STYLEBOP’s magazine incorporates a board featuring the most recent styles, editor input, trending fashions, ideas for the upcoming season, tips from various stylists, and features with designers. This strategy has enabled them to simplify the purchase process. Rather than purchase through a third party, customers can simply click on the images inside the magazine and subsequently purchase the desired product.

Stories Attract an Audience

As most marketing experts will attest, an effective story is crucial to developing and maintaining a solid marketing campaign. A powerful narrative conveys a sense of nostalgia and reliability that promotes a sense of comfort. For an effective example of this strategy, one need not look any further than Chanel’s website.

Chanel’s site effectively unites a sense of legacy with their products. Rather than focusing on the customer’s sensibilities, the company has oriented their output around their own unique identity. Needless to say, this strategy has worked spectacularly. Though their proclivities are not appealed to directly, conveying small aspects of the brand’s history creates a sense of exclusiveness that keeps customers coming back.

Originally published at avexdesigns.com on July 20, 2017.