The "1Q - 1A" Series: Luca De Meo, CEO, Alfa Romeo, Turin

Marco Bevolo: In terms of innovation and leadership, you achieved a lot with the content and formats of marketing communication at Lancia and FIAT.  What do you think are the best steps to radically innovate the marketing communication practices of a brand that wants to position itself as high end in the next decade?

 

Luca De Meo: I do believe that in the context of luxury the difference will be in the ability to create a unique relationship with each individual customer/person. This is a completely different approach than the mass-media paradigm of post-war marketing. After WWII, “real economies” have been sharply growing for quite some time, therefore “pushing” the offer was a viable approach. The future of communication will require completely different tools indeed, tools that might still need to be invented, or that are being used today with a different purpose than communication. One might recall here how the internet was born…

New interview out on http://www.richandforts.com/blog/?p=57

I was invited by Maria Sokolova of Richandforts.com to perform a very broad discussion on current insights and future evolutions of luxury and high end. The questions were important and inspiring, I hope you will enjoy this conversation indeed:

http://www.richandforts.com/blog/?p=57

The "1Q - 1A" Series: Paul Nunes, Author of "Mass Affluence" with Harvard Business School Press, and Executive Research Fellow, Accenture, Boston

Paul will be one of the panelists of the "Luxury and Research" discussion at ESOMAR 61st Congress in Montreal, Canada, on the 24th of September. This is what he shared with me on communication, advertising and the creation of the luxury image of the future.

Marco Bevolo: The communication campaigns of luxury fashion brands seem pretty standardized: beautiful image, beautiful –or at least eye-catching- models, and the logo. On the other hand, media and communication are deeply changing, thanks to the viral diffusion of Web 2.0 applications, and luxury brands seem to be lagging behind this wave of cultural change. Do you see opportunities for mass luxury companies and high end brands to possibly leapfrog the actual top luxury makers thanks to a superior understanding of how communication is changing, and –if yes- what early case histories do you see as representative of this possible forthcoming “image revolution”?

Paul Nunes:

There is no question that traditional brands are threatened by today’s technologies, because social networking is changing. Fashion is a social construct; when a person’s society changes, so too does their understanding and perception of luxury and appropriate consumption behavior. Technologies like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Second Life give consumers new networks of associates and new understandings of socially acceptable and desirable behavior. This opens the door to “viral” concepts and preferences, those that spread among consumers in a rapid and uncontrolled way like a contagion. So the threat to established luxury brands is real and high, especially if they miss the opportunity and risks associated with the changing nature of community. 

And yet this threat can be easily overrated. Most people spend the majority of their waking hours the same way they have for decades, and there are new technologies and approaches that continue to make even the most traditional methods of advertising more powerful. For example, Captivate Network runs advertising in addition to other media content on the screens it places in elevators. Today, advertisers are getting their message across on coffee cups, pizza boxes and dry cleaning bags. These may not seem high end, but the point is that there is wider range of approaches to reaching consumers than ever, and every marketer needs to rethink how to cost effectively entice, capture and retain segments of loyal customers. Luxury makers will continue to need to create mystique, exclusivity, and desirability for their products in the minds of a range of customer, This often requires modeling the behavior desired in customers, and that means ensuring customers see the product having the desired effect in the desired environment. If there are new environments where target customers are residing, and new associates these customers want to impress, it makes sense that luxury marketers with want to evolve their marketing efforts appropriately.

New book title: sneak preview

My co-authors Howard, Alex and Stefano gave me the "green light" to anticipate and share what we will present to Wharton School Publishing as the final title for the book:

Title: "Premium by Design"

Subtitle: "Understanding Luxury to develop and market tomorrow's High End experience"

We believe this title is much more effective and actionable than our earlier working title - also based on feedback by many among our contributors. And we do hope you will all love it as we do.

As any writer will know, finalizing title and subtitle is a true labor of love. We are very excited with this option, and we are thankful to our editor, Jerry Wind, and publisher, Martha Cooley, for supporting our brainstorming. 

"1Q - 1A Series" with Simon Wilson, Director and Founder, The Hasley Group, UK

Marco: 

Simon, before starting up the Hasley Group with Karen, you have matured an important profile as a long term veteran in the luxury automotive sector. I recall John Travolta acting like the “cool shylock” of the movie “Be Cool” driving a small Honda hybrid, using the statement: “This is the Cadillac of hybrid cars”. Based on earlier research in the context of this editorial project, we concluded that there might be an opportunity for brands to “leapfrog into luxury” thanks to the convergence of new technologies and people’s cultural desires. The Toyota Prius and the Lexus hybrid propositions are an excellent example thereof. How far, in the light of both your past experience and your current Hasley Group work, do you expect technological innovation to enable potentially high end automotive brands to possibly leapfrog older luxury brands?

Simon: 

The usual six year product development cycle means it is extraordinarily difficult for any car brand to ‘leapfrog into Luxury’ on any context. 

The VW Phaeton is a good example of an excellent car that has tried and failed. ‘As a luxury car – as a machine for going quickly and comfortably in sepulchral silence – the Phaeton is better than any of its rivals from Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Jaguar and Maserati. Of course, you may think that £74,000 is a lot of money for a Volkswagen and you may be disinclined to spend that kind of money in a showroom full of men in donkey jackets buying Polo vans. But the main reason you stay away is because it looks so dreary’. Let me put it this way. You all want an Aston Martin, don’t you? You know it’s made up of Jag and Ford bits but you don’t care. You want one because it looks just so sleek and amazing. Jeremy Clarkson - The Sunday Times November 11, 2007

As Audi have found that even with the A8 - an understated, superbly built and impressively refined luxury car - progress up the Automotive Luxury ladder is inexorably slow. Audi’s move from mass to premium by consistent application of quality, design and attention to detail has taken three model generations. 

Hyper-functionality can enhance luxury status but it will not create luxury in a brand that lacks luxury to begin with. However, innovation is inextricably linked with Luxury and failure to deliver innovative technology will ensure that brand becomes out of touch and irrelevant as Jaguar found to their cost. I also think that while a single model or icon within a brand may show significant innovation this does not automatically confer that innovation halo on the brand as a whole.

"1Q - 1A Series" to launch soon

As promised, I will start to share some of the research insights behind the content of our book. For this purpose, tonight the "1Q - 1A Series" of this blog launches. It is simple: during the expert and thought leader interviews I performed as editorial research, I recorded a number of very triggering viewpoints. Some of them were not included in the final version of the manuscript, for reasons of editorial consistency. You can find a selection of these viewpoints here, as preview of the book but also as "bootleg" edition of our content.

And I am very happy to start with a question I made to Simon Wilson, Director and Founder of the Hasley Group, the UK based research and consultancy firm specialized in luxury and high net worth individuals. Simon will share with me the faculty of the ESOMAR Workshop on creative industry and market research oppositions and attractions in Istanbul, next November, and I am delighted to have him here today with his specific vision of what luxury means in the automotive sector.

Simon's "1Q - 1A" will be published shortly - just check this blog in the next days to find it. And then: more opinions from our experts and thought leaders will follow in the next days and weeks: stay tuned, stay sharp.

Back from Japan, Back to Work!

Just a quick post to share with you all that I am back from Japan, where I had the privilege to experience first hand an exquisite taste of top luxury: from the new Armani Tower in Ginza to the Kaede Spa of the Prince Hotel Resort in Hakone, from the fine restaurants of Akasaka and Aoyama to the shopping experience of Karuizawa's luxury outlet stores. I would like to particularly thank Rieko Shofu, Executive Manager of the Hakuhodo's brand strategy practice in Tokyo, for the fine conversations about luxury retail and the secrets of the tea ceremony. Part of my memories will go into an article commissioned by the Harvard School of Design, on invitation by Dingeman Kuilman, director of the future museum of design of Amsterdam. More to come on Japan on this blog.

In the meantime, while the editing of our Wharton School Publishing book is in the talented hands of our US senior author, Howard Moskowitz, and approaching its finalization, I will share with you all in the next weeks both the outcome of dialogues with the likes of Timothy Han and Jem Bendell on the topic of "authentic luxury", and a number of extracts from the interviews performed as part of the Wharton editorial research - by anticipating just one question and one answer from materials that might not be featured in the final edit of the book. It is my intention to share with you triggering insights, it is my hope to deserve your attention.

In other blogs and sites

A few links to early news and interviews about the Wharton School Publishing editorial research behind our forthcoming book:

Maria Vrachnos, Principal at Peep Insights, New York, performed an interview for trendsetting trend research website PSFK:

www.psfk.com/author/mariavrachnos/

Turin-based design and innovation boutique, Experientia, contributed to our selected expert review on the manuscript of the book, and honored our authors' efforts with an "early bird" review on their blog, "Putting People First":

www.experientia.com/blog/upcoming-book-on-the-high-en/

Thanks to Mark at Experientia, for his time and critical feedback (yes, it hurt. Yes, we liked it:-)

More posts to come, as soon as the dialogue unfolds.

Upcoming events to pre-empt Wharton School Publishing book on luxury and High End

A number of activities were planned -with the active support of Philips Design-, to promote the forthcoming publication of our Wharton book on luxury and High End. Because the book will not be launched in retail until the end of this year, the choice was made to initiate and / or to contribute to a number of qualified -and fun!- panels in the conference circuits.

After the first speaking engagement with Prof. Jem Bendell and NetImpact in Geneva, this is the current schedule of activities in planning:

September, the 24th, Montreal, Canada

ESOMAR 2008 Congress, Panel: "Luxury and Research"

Panelists: 

Paul Nunes, Executive Research Fellow, Accenture, and Author, Harvard Business School Press

Wolfgang Schaefer, Chief Strategy Officer, SelectNY, Berlin / London / Geneva / Dubai / NYC

Scott Williams, Chief Marketing Officer, Morgans Hotels, New York

Philip Verhagen, Director, Umbra / U+, Toronto

Moderator: Marco Bevolo

Second half of October, TBD, Parma, Italy

"Sense of Luxury" Fair, Panel: "Luxury and Culture

Panelist: Marco Bevolo

November, the 17th, Istanbul, Turkey

ESOMAR "Opposites Attract: Creative Industry and Research converge" workshop

Faculty: Simon Wilson, Director, The Hasley Group, UK, Marco Bevolo

This workshop might be replicated before the end of the year at the ESOMAR Brand Forum in Paris, France.

December, the 18th, Moscow, Russia

Eventica "Global Luxury Forum"

I will have the pleasure to join Lieran Stubbings, talented event director, in her Advisory Board, to contribute to the program and eventually join some of the sessions, TBD.

There will be more events and activities planned in the next weeks: check out this space regularly, if interested, and yes, I do hope you will be interested enough to join me on any of the above!

NetImpact "Sustainable Luxury" panel, 13 May

It was a great honor to join Jem Bendell, Founder of Lifeworth, Geneva, and co-author of WWF "Deeper Luxury" report, and Tim Han, founder of Timothy Han, London, upcoming brands of candles and body care good for the soul, on the "Luxury in a sustainable world" panel, at NetImpact 1st European conference, in Geneva. Prof. Bendell moderated the panel with wit and depth, illustrating the key trends that will lead luxury to re-think itself from a viewpoint of eco, social and longer term impact. Tim introduced the philosophy behind his trendsetting company, unveiling how the likes of Donatella Versace and British film celebrities go "green & soul" by choosing his candles and essentials. As a panelist, I presented some key highlights from the Wharton School Publishing research. Just one example: Did you expect China to go sustainable, when it comes to luxury? If your answer is "No", then think again: it will. Then, the floor was open for questions from the qualified audience, including business representatives from the likes of Lush, Edun and DHL, and a mix of bright MBA students from all over the world, for a triggering Q+A. This was the first time NetImpact organized a European event, and coincidentally also the first panel where the Wharton School Publishing work on luxury and High End was discussed. It was, ca ca sans dire, a great pleasure to be there!

Birth of a Blog

Et voila', this blog was born. And it was born with a purpose: to inform, to update and to trigger the discussions about the forthcoming Wharton School Publishing book by Parlin Prize recipient Howard Moskowitz, MJI CTO Alex Gofman, Philips Design CEO Stefano Marzano and myself. The book is due towards the end of this year, an early draft manuscript dated April 2008 was circulated with the temporary title: "Platinum by Design: Understanding Contemporary Luxury to Create Tomorrow's High End" to selected experts and friends in the last two months, and more is coming up. There is a new title on its way, however the one above describes pretty well what we are talking about. This blog is complementary to our current website:

www.futurehighend.com

administrated by Alex at the other side of the Ocean. There you can find all official information, including updated testimonials from thought leaders and opinion makers, here you are invited to read more the "behind the scenes" stories towards the book launch. Curios? Keep checking this page, for more info's.