Luxury Brands Don't Realize Their Customers Are Online
from the look-over-here dept
With all the focus these days on paid search marketing, various luxury brands are now being accused of not understanding the space at all. A study that looked at 23 luxury brands found that searches on those brands often pointed users to sites selling discount products. While some luxury brands have been “concerned” about ownership of their brand name, they’ve mostly just threatened to sue those using their trademarked names (which, as we’ve discussed may not make much sense) or have been too afraid of channel conflict to bother with any real online advertising strategy. The report concludes that it’s time these luxury brands realize that their affluent customers are online and that it’s time to take control of their brand through better search engine marketing… which might just make you wonder if it was sponsored by the search engine marketing folks (or even a search engine itself).
Comments on “Luxury Brands Don't Realize Their Customers Are Online”
Exclusion Effect
But that’s just it, luxury brands pride themselves on being sold only in exclusive boutiques, keeping out the common rabble who wear t-shirts or have dark skin. If soccer moms or negroes driving cars thumping rap music are wearing luxury brands they bought online, it’s bad for the brand’s image.
It's part of the marketing effort
After all, who wants a leather watchband / 2K mechanical watch that doesn’t keep good time when a rubber casio fits better and works fine even if you get it wet? Or a heavy leather Herm?s bag with handles of an impractical length?
Their “value” is their snob appeal. Not being online connotes “exclusiveness” as much as the impracticality of the products they sell.
Re: It's part of the marketing effort
Yeah, on my last trip to Japan, I was subjected to a form of torture where I had to accompany a professional dance instructor on a shopping trip to clothing boutiques in Ginza. Shiny black purses the size of cupcakes, fur boots with 7-inch spikes. They looked like cheap sex shop toys, but were selling for thousands of dollars. The stuff was probably designed by fat Italian guys snorting coke and smearing each other with brown stuff.