Luxury brands in misplaced focus

Marketing 12-Dec-07

European luxury brands will be hit hard by a recession as they have neglected their core consumers, according to social commentator Peter York.

Speaking at Mediaedge:cia's Thinking Space event last week, York argued
that major luxury brands are in a 'dangerous place' because they have
focused on the newly rich and relied too heavily on celebrity PR.

'Luxury brands think advertising agencies are crap and they don't

understand their design principles,' he said. 'People talk of a
luxury-goods lifestyle generated by celebrity. In fact we are seeing a
proxy of wealth created by luxury-goods marketers. Many celebrities are
broke.'

Trends analyst William Higham added that brands need to focus less on
status and more on creating a consumer experience if they are to beat a
recession.