| json_metadata | "{"app":"Musing","appTags":["Luxury"],"appCategory":"Luxury","appTitle":"What do you consider as a luxury?","appBody":"<p><br></p>\n<p><img src=\"http://marketingtochina.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/luxury3.jpg\" /></p>\n<p>It seems a very clear idea and a global concept, but it really is a diffuse, subjective and undefined term depending on the market, country or product. And even and, above all, of people. Before writing about this topic, regardless of working very close to this industry, I decided to ask clients, brands, people related to the sector and various consumers what luxury meant to them and graphic examples of it. And he confirmed what I have perceived throughout my professional life; and it is the disparity of opinions, definitions and examples that exist around this industry and how people perceive it.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Therefore, and given the success of my survey, I will give my version independently and unconditionally, simply with experiences, experiences and very personal and professional ideas.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>I have a very personal vision of luxury and although the rankings of brands, services and products seem to be very defined, I have my own vision of the sector and I differ a lot from many classifications and generic definitions that are made of it.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>For me, it is almost always accompanied by high purchasing power or exclusivity, but personally I think that luxury is much more related to good work, quality and, above all, to differentiation in production and service. This causes costs to rise and, as a consequence, the final price.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><img src=\"http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/5/2015/03/2015-Luxury-Compact-Crossovers-front-end-in-motion.jpg\" /></p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>When these four pillars disappear, there may already be a brand that is very well positioned in the luxury segment that I personally do not think so. The best of the luxuries for me lies in generating the feeling of differentiation and the real feeling of enjoyment through the high quality of the product or service.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>I do not conceive a luxury product outside the excellence of production, as a main pillar by concept; but if this keeps it and also makes its price competitive, personally as a consumer makes that brand much more attractive and accessible. The price does not define luxury for me, because I believe that this economic value must be accompanied by many more factors, such as pre-sale and post-sale, materials, qualities, differentiation and that when you buy it you feel good . Feel good, feel positive ...</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Foal shoes made by hand and sold by expert shoemakers of recognized prestige to 700 euros. Is it luxury? For me if. But are they expensive? It depends!</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>For the type consumer who buys shoes at 80 euros and looks for practicality and comfort vs design / quality / differentiation, but for high rents or a consumer who is looking for design and an excellent product, not because that shoe can last a lifetime and mark the differences in terms of design, molding and image, as well as compete in a competitive environment where that product depending on the brand that sells it would be worth double. And even triple that 700 euros.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><img src=\"http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Luxury-Bugatti-Veyron-Supercars-HD-Wallpaper.jpg\" /></p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>I do not mean that luxury is cheap, but it should be profitable for him who can afford it. And, in the end, with this example I try to show that buying a 700-pound pony-skin shoes becomes very profitable if you can afford them and a good price if compared to your peers. It would be luxury but not expensive ...</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>After attending many events, presentations, reports of luxury, meetings, negotiations, in addition to advising many of the brands that comprise this segment, I have realized that luxury is a way of seeing things and understanding the product, and not what it costs.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Most people who work in the luxury industry prefer to talk about brand differentiation, quality, excellence, experiences or service instead of prices. The pursuit of excellence is what makes something luxurious regardless of its value. And, above all, luxury must provide differentiation. And this not only occurs with brand or price, but with many other things mentioned before.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>In all this maremágnum of concepts, ideas, brands and meanings, I appreciate the incursion of the term high end and premium to classify brands, products and services that are close to luxury but that or quality, price or brand positioning do not have the luxury category.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>In my opinion, this segment is much broader than what people imagine and encompasses all that aspirational industry for the majority and it is much easier to access it than to luxury itself. It also makes its consumers feel like luxury buyers in some cases subjectively and above all that marks the distances with it and makes it more exclusive. I like to say that the premium is the blurred luxury of the usual mass market buyer and that fulfills a basic social and business function of bringing good qualities and brands of recognized prestige to the masses of consumers.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Luxury seeks to differentiate from the retail point of view. It does not need high public density and looks for spaces in an exclusive and elitist environment. He prefers to surround himself with his peers and clearly differentiate himself to maintain that air of exclusivity. The client looks for them and feels brand belonging. That is why quality, service and design are so important.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><img src=\"http://www.charterworld.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Luxury-motor-yacht-MARAYA.jpg\" /></p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Globally, the luxury segment is much larger than people can imagine and generates approximately 420,000 million euros a year and in Spain 2.2% of the total world volume, reaching more than 9,200 million euros. euros, far away for the moment from countries like France and Italy, which almost triples us, and from capitals such as London (she alone accumulates 14,000 million euros annually).</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>These are simply data that are closely related to the industry, the manufacture and the origin of the brands, but especially with two relevant aspects. Quality tourism and a strong cultural and </p>\n<p><img src=\"http://www.trbimg.com/img-5943ce57/turbine/ct-hoy-8439836-el-lujo-en-europa-sigue-caro-pese-a-la-caida-del-euro\" /></p>\n<p>social position when it comes to luxury. Hermes has a market capitalization equivalent to twice the Repsol or Telefónica itself and LVMH exceeds in terms of value banks such as Santander and BBVA. Luxury not only generates wealth, but produces wealth.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>This awakens two ideas, two aspects or two ways of seeing luxury from a social and cultural prism, which also call me powerfully attention and I want to underline</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>The first is that still in many places and, specifically in this country, what is associated with luxury sometimes has a bad and pejorative connotation. This surprises me and, above all, it shows me that there is part of the society that associates it, that is very subjective and conformist.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>I am not saying that everyone should aspire to luxury, much less, nor even feel attraction for this market, but should at least seem a positive sign of economic and social health.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><img src=\"http://4hdwallpapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Gucci-Store.jpg\" /></p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Having a strong luxury sector generates quality tourism, consumers with greater purchasing power, diversity and commercial alternatives, new firms and business bets, attraction of international investment and a clear sign of excellence. Luxury generates insecurity and envy in a weak society, but if this society is strong and secure, luxury does not generate any kind of pejorative adjective. On the contrary, luxury is a sign of a strong, prosperous, creative, diverse and hard-working society.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Another aspect that I do not quite understand and that I have been talking about it throughout this post is the association of some people of the term luxury to not be able to access a product for its price. Luxury is not for everyone and that we have clear, and therefore everything that we can not access as consumers for its price, we can not call luxury because that will depend on the purchasing power and wealth of each person. Therefore, some consumers confuse luxury with expensive and, in that sense, some 300 euros shoes, a 70,000 euros car or an 800,000 euros flat with luxury. And this is a huge mistake, because luxury is not measured by the subjective way of valuing a product economically. The expression \"that is a luxury, I can not afford it\" is used very easily and places the meaning of luxury at a point where it really should not be.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>I end with a great phrase from someone who set a stage in this wonderful industry: \"Luxury is a need that begins when the need ends.\" Coco Chanel</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p><br></p>","appDepth":2,"appParentPermlink":"p3m9sa4dx","appParentAuthor":"asiwajupe","musingAppId":"aU2p3C3a8N","musingAppVersion":"1.1","musingPostType":"answer"}" |
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