The art of creating and managing luxury fashion brands

Abstract

‘Brands’ and ‘branding’ are among the most abused and misunderstood terms in the business vocabulary. If you ask the average consumer of luxury goods to define a brand, they’d probably relate it to a ‘brand name’ like Versace or Dior, or to a product like the famous Hermès Kelly bag. But if you prod deeper, you’ll discover that consumers have different perceptions, feelings and attitudes towards different brands, simply because each brand is unique and customers understand the different messages that brands emit. This shows that consumers understand the branding concept.

‘Branding is not about getting your consumer to choose you over the competition. It’s about getting them to see you as the only solution.’

L. Aldisert, cited in Dennis and Harris (2002)