Fashion industry trends trickle down to influence all sorts of design inspirations across dozens of industries – from automotive interiors to toiletry packaging. Here, we reveal three tactics that leaders in luxury fashion are using to boost brand awareness among prospective audiences and loyalty within their customer base. These are lessons that can be applied to nearly any industry’s marketing initiatives.
1. Collaborate to Boost Profile
Over the past few years, we have seen more high-profile collaborations happening between luxury labels and mass retailers to offer mainstream capsule collections. Some retailers have been collaborating for decades, like Kohl’s department stores, with lower-priced versions of upscale fashion brands such as Vera Wang and Dana Buchman. Others are new to brand fraternizing. Whatever measures (collaboration, etc) that the most acclaimed brands take up, one simply shouldn’t ignore the ecommerce metrics of their websites that are to be constantly monitored. A recent example is the partnership between Louis Vuitton and Supreme. This advantageous collaboration drove a 23% increase in brand searches1 across a more diverse audience and has helped activate the next generation of luxury consumers.2
2. Bring Brand Value to Life via Social Media
Those fashion brands and online retailers ahead of the game are combining exquisitely-crafted social content and technology to deliver a more intimate shopping experience. Among the pioneers is Burberry, having put a heavy focus on digital marketing for more than a decade. In fact, over 60% of their marketing budget is now spent on digital media, a percentage that comfortably outdoes every other luxury fashion brand.3 Over the years, Burberry’s social channels have become the centerpiece of this digital strategy, with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram forming their main points of focus.
Tommy Hilfiger takes this social stance a step further. It employs chatbots to boost its online sales force and enhance their social media presence, talking to thousands of shoppers at once. Hilfiger bots drive conversations toward fashion advice, browsing the collection and even an intriguing behind the scenes look at its latest inspirations.4
This strategy makes more sense than ever when you consider that Gartner research says 85% of customer interactions will be managed without a human by 2020.5 As artificial intelligence becomes more and more sophisticated, so will chatbots, allowing brands to compete more aggressively and personalize their customer experiences.
3. Bonding with Customers via Data
Properly managing customer experiences in a world that’s moving faster and more efficiently than ever is key. High-end brand shoppers are seeking luxury experiences that are swift moving, convenient and offer a more discerning level of service and hospitality. Brands like Rebecca Minkoff believe that service needs to be flexible, adaptable, effortless and anticipatory in order to recognize the customer’s needs before they even know what they are.6
To achieve loyalty-building one-on-one interactions in the luxury space, customer relationship management (CRM) is a must-have tool to create consistency across all channels and touchpoints. The Minkoff brand has embraced CRM with the goal of better understanding the identity of its audiences and knowing their tastes, cultural affinities and aesthetics. In turn, its marketing talks to customers in the language they are already using and on the topics they are already interested in. 6
It’s easy to imagine how advantageous collaboration, supportive social media and customer data management could benefit nearly any organization’s marketing efforts.
1.https://luxe.digital/digital-luxury-trends/marketing-hype-millennials/#cite_note-2
2.https://luxe.digital/digital-luxury-trends/marketing-hype-millennials/
3.https://socialwall.me/en/burberry-social-media-use-luxury-brands/
4.https://www.channelsight.com/5-ways-brands-are-embracing-social-media/
5.https://www.blueswitch.com/2017/10/ai-and-the-future-of-e-commerce/
6.https://www.marketingweek.com/2018/07/12/rebecca-minkoff-luxury-retail/
