While driving from Gurgaon to Delhi with a friend, we got discussing about the luxury brands and if online marketing and social media made sense for these brands… or was it detrimental to the brand image. During the conversation, we realized that while print has been impacting these brands positively, of late there have been serious doubts on its ROI. By the end of it we were convinced that online marketing and social media were the way forward.
In this article, I would like to share the various ways in which I thought that online media could be used by luxury brands without compromising on the image and exclusivity.
First, I personally am convinced that given the heavy usage of the online as a medium among the affluent consumers, it is imperative for brands to have their presence online. If they do not create their own presence the customers will be relying on whatever information is uploaded by others about the brand and its products. A brand must be able to control this image management whether directly or through an agency.
A brand may use the new media (include mobile) to be able to communicate and build aspiration, share the history of the brand, engage its young users (who will be future purchasers) and build exclusivity through interactivity and engagement.
Brands must build online communities. We find luxury brands sponsoring get-togethers and parties hosted by some of their clients who are socially recognizable as affluent and are considered trend setters. The same experience can be built online through closed user groups which we may even call online social clubs. A brand can intelligently create engagement within this group to create an experience among this closed “Only by Invite” kind of a group.
Luxury brands generally have rich stories about the brands history and legacy. Online media offers opportunity of projecting these stories through rich multimedia experience. Whether it is product demo, behind the scenes of the making of the product, the history behind the founders etc can be easily shared through animations and videos which can be accessed at the customer’s own convenience and comfort. Things like production processes, quality of material used and information about the celebrity customers will impact the brand image among the online users and will set the aspiration which will appear more credible than pure advertising.
Sharing video of the brand will help in positioning of the brand’s exclusivity among the internet users will make the brand desirable. High desirability will definitely increase the aspiration levels of customers which will result in a delightful and fulfilling experience among the affluent customers who actually purchase these products. Also, videos are known to create an emotional connect and bonding with the customers.
It may not be correct to say that online media could and should substitute the other traditional media. Online must be considered as a part of the larger marketing plan and in fact can be used to integrate the communication at large by building interaction among all media used that enhances the user engagement. Gucci has used Facebook to engage with users by sharing product information and new launches with the users who liked their page. It is a brilliant way to keep your fans updated on new products being launched, special promotions and events. In fact this page will help you monitor the pitch of the conversations happening among your fans to get real feedback.
Online media offers an opportunity to create social connect by show casing the brand association with specific people who are influencers, aspirations, role models, idols for the consumers that the brand is targeting. For example Tag Heurs association with Shahrukh Khan, if show cased online, will help connect with all the people who follow him online through twitter, facebook or any other social network. It may be worth the effort made and money spent to have the celebrity brand ambassador blog about the brand or tweet about it.
A brand can smartly create content that its customers can relate to. NDTV – Kingfisher partnership for NDTV Good Times channel is a classic case of creating content for a specific audience that relates to the Kingfisher as a brand. This not only helps in grabbing attention but also increases the longevity of the brand association.
Rich media games and contests can help in high level of targeted engagement with a particular audience that consider itself as overachievers and associate themselves with competitive spirit. Association of Volvo with Polo tournaments is a classic example of strong brand association with the royal and successful.
Mobile applications are a big opportunity as affluent users are using smart phones and are the ones who are connected through these devices all the time. Offering features like customizing your car and seeing how it looks with various colour options or being able to see virtual images of the various models of luxury products, at the users convenience, offers a lot of value to the user who is constraint with time and wants to access information while driving from one place to the other. This can create a satisfying, engaging and informative experience.
The only one word of caution for luxury brands is that the online activity has to be a well thought out / planned one and has to be monitored very closely.
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