The Eagle vS The Moose

My scorpio trait of loyalty has always been evident in my choosing of the brands that I follow (Apple and not Windows or Android, Starbucks and not Pete’s Coffee). In high school this sharp decisiveness led me to always buy Abercrombie & Fitch, not even daring to enter an American Eagle store. However while walking through various subway stations this holiday season, American Eagle’s “We All Can” campaign caught my attention. 

As The Business of Fashion offers, American Eagle has “always been a very positive brand, very inclusive, very friendly and nice, but didn’t have an ownable image.” There has always been something timid, safe, and truthfully boring about the brand, never trying to attract too much attention like its counterpart Abercrombie & Fitch. That worked for the teens who in the early 2000s just wanted to conform. However teen-shoppers have changed. They won’t let you tell them what to say or what to do.

AE has caught on to this insight and arrived at the realization that diversity is not just skin deep, and has provided teens with an outlet to tell us what they think. As the global brand president of American Eagle, Chad Kessler, offers: "#WeAllCan is a new brand platform that celebrates Young America's unique voice and individuality. #WeAllCan is an invitation for Young America to follow their passions and share what they can do, be, and create.”

While I think AE’s strategy was a good start, it failed to use this insight to its true potential. When I glance at one of the #WeAllCan ads, part of me wants to tell these kids to sit down, that they are silly and naive. Yet part of me wants to go back to my childhood, and be as brave as they are. Therein lies the most significant insight. As Refinary 29 editor notes, the campaign “celebrates how powerful, opinionated, and generally badass millennials are.” This requires a lot of bravery. Bravery is something that I find more and more challenging to find within me as I get older and morph into a full-fledged adult. It is something that is hard to come by, and it is something that we need more of specially as we embark on a Trump presidency.

I would have liked for AE to be a little more real. Of course ‘we all can’, but it requires a lot courage. AE should have used their platform to recognize this truth, and encourage both young and old to never give up their bravery. 

Abercrombie & Fitch on the other hand has completely gone bonkers, and completely missed the mark with its latest spots. They seem to have little to no clue on who they are or who their target audience is, and it is safe to say that it has lost its soul. One spot claims “they think they’ve got us figured out” and “this is Abercrombie & Fitch,” but by the end of the spot you are still left wondering. The brand comes off as ashamed of its past, and wants to put forward a soft-sexy, timid, cutesy image; but all you are left with is an unauthentic taste in your mouth.

Another ad is completely cheesy. In the ad we are introduced to Ryder Evan Robinson, and illustrator who has collaborated with A&F to showcase his illustrations on t-shirts for the brand. While his life’s story is great, it has nothing to with the brand. Robinson notes that he knows what it is to“get back to their roots” but this guy has nothing to do with the brand’s roots. Furthermore, let us remember that A&F used to be an aspirational brand. Robinson doesn’t bring me confidence, nor does he make me want to wear A&F’s clothes. He doesn’t even seem to be wearing clothes befitting of the brands aesthetic. Once again the brand comes off as inauthentic, and beyond this, the heteronormative and patriarchal storyline is completely out of touch with the zeitgeist of our generation.

Abercrombie & Fitch was sexy, worry-less, ethereal, and controversial. It completely changed the way everyone wanted to dress. Furthermore, as Alex Frank writes in Why I’'m Somewhat Nostalgic For The Old Abercrombie & Fitch, “even if the old Abercrombie didn't always encourage the best impulses in my adolescent life, at least it incited something. To want to be somebody is at the very core of American capitalism. We shop to become the person we hope we are, dress for the job we want, and Abercrombie sparked those kinds of feelings in me, waking me up to the possibility of different ways to live and present myself.”

I think Abercrombie can still be all those things, with a positive brand image. Trust me, while the woods are cool, no young urban professional wants to look like the lumberjacks in A&F's latest spots. Abercrombie should embrace its sexy and controversial past in a way that is relevant to today’s consumer; and not in a way that will add to a negative brand image, as did the 2013 allegations that the brand didn’t want overweight people to wear its clothes. This only fueled the fire of negativity surrounding the brand, eventually leading its suicide. Had I been part of the Abercrombie & Fitch brand strategy team, I would have used the brand’s platform to discuss the real issue. Sure, not wanting overweight people to wear your brand might be a reason for not offering extended sizing, but so can not encouraging the lifestyle decisions that has led to the evident weight epidemic in our nation. I would have used this controversy to elevate the brand’s image, and propose initiatives that could help alleviate this epidemic. For example, the lack of fitness or healthy food in many communities in the U.S.. What if Abercrombie had used this opportunity to donate funds to build more parks for adolescents to partake in a more active lifestyle, or donate funds to schools in impoverished communities that lack the resources to provide healthy meals to students?  

Consumers now more than ever are interested in fitness, health, and image. Just ask Equinox. Abercrombie’s sexy past can still be relevant to today’s consumer, in a way that its current amorphous identity is not.

Dethroning the Client

The Customer is Always Wrong

    The customer is always wrong. They are indecisive, commitment phobic, unconfident and desperate for the the approval of their peers. However, luxury retailers have only exacerbated this behavior. After the financial crisis retailers welcomed anyone through their doors. Instead of focusing on their target audience, and how they would shape their behavior and develop them, stores focused on their competitor and keeping up. Well the client has taken notice, and is milking it for all that retailers have.     

    Walk into any store, and see how easy it will be to knock the shipping fee off your purchase. See what store is not willing to price match, or throw in major deal days like ‘Power Points’, and inundate us with ‘Triple Points’. The results? Neiman Marcus in store sales decreased 5.6% during the first quarter of 2016, Saks in store sales decreased 3.6% during the same period, and as the Business of Fashion notes, “even Nordstrom, which has consistently outperformed its peers on the stock market, only saw comparable store sales inch up by 0.9 percent in its last quarter.” Barneys New York was the only among the luxury retailers to report an increase from last year.

Exclusively Ours, is Exclusively Everywhere

    So what exactly are luxury retailers to do? To wow clients, a  retailer's unique take on the most exquisite pieces of the season must be matched by showcasing these pieces in a space that is just as unique. 

Robert Burke, chief executive of advisory firm Robert Burke Associates argues that for department stores to differentiate themselves and remain competitive they must assert their point of view. A point view that is depicted through a highly edited array of product and merchandising, and by controlling the experience. As CEO of Barneys Mark Lee offers, “customers are gravitating more and more toward rare, less distributed items. They want more exclusivity. There are too many points of [sale].” This sense of exclusivity is something that Barneys has always excelled in, having for example in 2010 launched the careers of creative geniuses Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, of Proenza Schouler.

    However as research shows, people are over things. Spending money on experiences provides us with longer lasting happiness than spending it on material goods, and nowhere does this apply more than the luxury retailer. You may have the most exclusive pieces in the world but even that won’t seal the deal. Department stores must control the atmosphere. One of the reasons why there is such a homogeneity that rules over luxury department stores is the tradition to lease space to brands like CHANEL, Dior, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. Once again Barneys has taken a stance by not following this strategy, exiting Prada from its offering in 2011 when the brand wanted to lease its own space. But as Lee offers “one of our defining characteristics is that we’ve resisted becoming a landlord.” Those who go to Barneys go there for the Barneys point of view.

And Now Brief Presentation on the Safety Features of this Aircraft

    This school of thought has definitely benefited Barneys, whose store interiors always stand out from the rest. But there is another key facet that impacts the atmosphere and feel of a store; and this is who and how they shop there. I am talking about the shopping behavior that is taking place in the selling floors, and how luxury stores should be molding this behavior and not the other way around. The consumer is not always right. Luxury department stores not only need to have a point of view when it comes to their merchandise, but also about who their customer is. Who is it that is welcome at store ‘X’ and how is it that we expect for them to carry themselves within these quarters?

    Think Abercrombie and Fitch in the early 2000s. In an interview with Salon Magazine then CEO of the brand, Mike Jeffries, was quoted saying “candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody, either.” 

    I am not suggesting to completely follow Jeffries' strategy, which was often criticized for being blatantly racist, sexist, and body shaming. However, luxury should never feel vanilla. In The Abercrombie Effect Lee Bailey and Jessica Pallay note that “not since Ralph Lauren's ascent in the 1980s has a single brand perfected a lifestyle-based look so often alluded to and imitated.” And while to many Abercrombie now may seem as the biggest train reck in the retail world, there was a time when it was unimaginable for A&F earnings to ever fall. At the time the Salon Magazine interview had taken place, A&F’s earnings had increased for 52 straight quarters excluding a one-time charge in 2004; leading A.G. Edwards analyst Roberts Buchanan to declare: “to me it’s the most amazing record that exists in U.S. retailing, period.”

    Jeffries had a point. He knew that Abercrombie wasn't for everyone, the brand needed not mold itself for shoppers, shoppers were to mold themselves and immerse themselves in Abercrombie’s culture. Luxury retailers must ask themselves what are the initiatives that must be implemented to alter consumer behavior? How are clients going to mold themselves to be part of store ‘X’? Luxury retailers need to implement strategies that take on the challenge of a consumer that is now less confident, less committed, less decisive, and more desperate for peer approval than ever before. This means re-thinking return policies, price adjustments and discounts, and the uncouth behaviors of window shopping and social media use in store.

The First Rule of Fight Club is…

    A stricter return policy not only shuns impulse purchases. It also asks for something that is slated to have the largest impact in molding consumer behavior and that is rarely asked of consumers—commitment. When discussing the fitness and wellness industry and the launch of their new campaign ‘Commit to Something,’ Equinox CMO Carlos Cecil shares their insight into the mindset of millennials, which he describes as an 'anti-commitment' culture. But as he continues, “the concept of commitment is bold, incredibly powerful, and it's real, especially in a world today where commitment is lacking.” Commitment, like in any other relationship strengthens the relationship between retailer and shopper. It ensures predictable business, allowing for long term strategy. 

    Clearance and price adjustments must also be revised. Extensive clearance is a sign that a store is buying too much of something, and should use this information to correct future buy. Furthermore, “when prices are slashed prematurely, profits shrink for both the retailer and the designer, and consumers become accustomed to buying things on sale.” Flagrant discounts delegitimizes the value of the goods you sell in the eye of the consumer. Clearance should be a rare phenomenon and retailers need to find a different strategy to lower inventory levels.

    Foremost, retailers need to reevaluate the role of a store, admit when technology becomes a hindrance to the shopping experience, and limit its use along with that of social media within their quarters. These two initiatives will target the indecisiveness and need of approval from others. There is no need to share your next potential purchase with your followers on Instagram or Snapchat, the only opinion that matters is that of the client and the sales advisor. Oversharing makes luxury lose its luster, and as Ana Andjelic offers in Luxury’s Emerging Identity Crisis, “a true luxury today is about experiences that fill us with pleasure with our own life, spiritually, mentally and physically enrich us, and which are best enjoyed in private or with a few selected others.” 

FOMO

    However, the reason why most stores aren’t taking this form of risks and setting new tones for the luxury experience is fear. Fear that clients will just go next door. But this just ain’t so, because they will be using the line of least expectation. In a recent Adage article Being Customer Oriented Isn't the Best Marketing Strategy, Al Ries offers that “focusing on customers in marketing is like focusing on territory in warfare. If your enemy knows your territorial objective in advance, it greatly simplifies its defensive strategy.” Instead, Ries argues that brands must take the line of least expectation, a strategy coined by the military thinker B.H Liddell Hart. 

Ries explains: 

“On June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler launched the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The objective: Moscow in the north. Six months and millions of casualties later, the German offensive was halted short of its objective. So Hitler changed his strategy and launch a second major offensive on July 17, 1942. The new objective: Stalingrad in the south. History repeated itself. Six months and millions of casualties later, the German offensive was halted short of its objective. What should Hitler have done? He should have launched his attack in the middle of the country so his ultimate objective was in doubt.”

The Line of Least Expectation: Experiences

    The line of least expectation within the realm of luxury is about experiences. But in order to provide a breathtaking experience, retailers need to deeply understand what it is that clients are looking to gain from an experience; and understand the nuances between customer satisfaction, sacrifice, surprise, and suspense. So, what is it that clients want from an experience? A memory? Sure. But beyond this customers want to transform themselves. In The Experience Economy B. Joseph Pine II and James H Gilmore note that while experiences may leave a long lasting memory, a transformation changes the client, by “realizing some aspiration and then help them sustain that change through time. There is no earthly value more concrete, more palpable, or more worthwhile than achieving an aspiration.” Customer satisfaction alone will not allow for these transformations.

    Customer satisfaction as Pine II and Gilmore offer, solely concerns itself with the variance between what a customer expected (not wanted) from an interaction or contact with the brand and what the customer perceives he received. However customer sacrifice concerns itself with the variance between what a customer accepted and what he really needed from that interaction, “even if the customer doesn’t know what that is or can’t articulate it.” And there lies the room for opportunity in offering an experience, by reducing customer sacrifice and offering a customer with a surprise that can change the client. Through customer surprise, brands “deliberately attempt to transcend expectations, to go off in new (and unexpected) directions entirely.” 

    Consider retail credit card loyalty programs which differ very little from one another. These card programs do not foster loyalty, as often clients are members to multiple card programs. But in addition as previously noted, people are over things! A retailer may give people points, notes, or gift cards to come back and shop, but so did the other store down the block. What do they or the client have to show for it? CRM databases have the potential to collect a plethora of data about the inner workings of client’s minds and their aspirations. So what if instead of offering in-store cash back, retailers used this opportunity to curate amazing experiences that can transform their patrons? What about getting them a reservation to their favorite restaurant with a four week waitlist? What about getting them tickets to their favorite band or music festival, that will surely sell out upon release? Or what about planning a trip to that country the client has been wanting to visit for the last year? The memories generated through these experience will linger in their minds forever, and will always connect them back to the brand. Furthermore the client will share these experiences with their friends and loved ones, or just brag about them to strangers. Word of mouth is always the best advertising. And finally think about all the social media exposure this will generate.  

    Customer surprises however are only special the first couple times before reaching fatigue, which is why for surprises to be successful they must be accompanied by customer suspense. Customer suspense is the variance between what a customer does not know and what a customer remembers from the past. And this is the reason why no matter how many rules you set, customers will not dare go to any other store. This sense of anticipation is what leads for customers to actively look forward to doing more business with a brand, just to find out what will happen next.

The Luxury Museum: Let Our Knowledge Transform You

    As one can imagine, using the elements of surprise and suspense will not be cheap. But as Pine and Gilmore note we are moving away from a goods and services economy; “customers now want experiences, and they are willing to pay admission for them.” Luxury retailers, like museums, transform their visitors by generating knowledge value (an economic offering resulting from accumulated wisdom), and as so they should charge entrance fees. In The Knowledge-Value Revolution, Taichi Sakaiya envisions that there will be a shift in the paradigm of consumerism, were approval and admiration from our peers will be earned through our display of products that manifest our level of wisdom. These products will affirm that we are ‘in the know’ by having access to best information and knowledge that money can buy. Think, your ivy league diploma but draped on your body. 

    The value attached to knowledge in my opinion is already a fortifier to our social fabric. Within the realm of luxury goods, this knowledge is acquired throughout the interactions with highly trained sales advisors in luxury stores. This knowledge is then shared on social media, at dinner with your friends, and through the clothes you wear. In between the time a client enters and leaves the luxury store, a client has been transformed. They are ‘in the know’ about the what’s going on in the world of luxury. 

    Transformations are the new source of profit for luxury retailers. Charging an entrance fee might seem a little far-fetch, and it should as it’s the line of least of expectation. But as we move away from a goods and services economy and into the experience economy, “much that which was previously obtained through non economic activity will increasingly be found in the domain of commerce. That represents a significant change. It means that to obtain what we once sought for free, we now pay a fee.” However this strategy must be anchored in once again taking control of the experience, setting the rules of shopping, understanding the client, surprising them, and transforming them.

You Want To Be on Top?

    So where and how will clients spend their hard earned money? Not a place that is vanilla. The’ll go to a place deserving of their time and money. A place where sales advisors understand them, will aid and guide them on a path to realize their their aspirations, and be transformed by the time they depart. A place where they can gain knowledge on the most exquisite assortment of product in the market, and a place where they can improve their image, and thus how others perceive them. A place that is civilized, and where people aren’t just chasing the deal. If you commit to them, they’ll commit to you.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the parties quoted

The Untapped Power of Luxury

The definition of luxury has never been under more scrutiny than today. And while Cream UK CEO Graham Painter seems not all too sure that this phenomenon is here to stay; during the research phase of a communication strategy for my client Kamoka Pearls, I realized that the definition of luxury had to change. 

    Our research for Kamoka revealed that our audience had high expectations from luxury good companies. Visiting a luxury shop should feel like stepping in through the gates of Nirvana. Like art and religion, as J N Kapferer and V Bastien offer in The Luxury Strategy, luxury aims at "elevating people, making them go beyond functionalities, needs and access intangible values, even transcendental ones." For our target audience however, these values or expectations did not include environmental consciousness or sustainability. It was as if these two ideologies could not co-exist. But as Kamoka offers in their mission statement “It seems only natural to respect the surrounding ocean that nourishes us, produces our livelihood and fills us constantly with wonder.”

    Luxury as Kamoka sees it is not about exclusivity, it is about respect. After all, true connoisseurs buy luxury as they share respect for quality, materials, and the savoir-faire that is only mastered by a small cadre of wondrous artisans. To Kamoka, it is this level of respect that is owed to environmental consciousness and sustainability for any company to sell products deemed luxury.

    As shown through the Kamoka case study, luxury as we know it today has to change. For what it represents, is out of touch with some the most pressing issues threatening our society’s well being. For example the rising level of income inequality in our country. While shifting the definition of luxury doesn’t automatically address the issue, scrutinizing it brings the issue to the forefront of American discourse. It provides for a platform to self-reflect on our society’s values, and layout a path towards addressing it.  

    Moreover as a strategist, I can only but see the wealth of opportunity for creative work this shift offers the advertising industry. In 2014 the luxury goods industry was a $929 billion industry. Despite this success however, the breadth of work seen on magazines and other communication outlets, is ruled by a level of homogeneity that fails to cut through the clutter and resonate with consumers. As the definition of luxury continues to evolve, it opens the door to advertising agencies and brands alike to rethink their communication strategies, reveal new truths, and impact the way they engage with consumers to ensure brand loyalty.

---

A Revelation

    My work for Kamoka was the first time I had been provided with an outlet to re-think the definition for luxury. Being a passionate purveyor of the American Dream, the definition of luxury as exclusivity had worked for me. I’ve always placed a connection with luxury goods to wealth, and thus success. They were a symbol that you were attaining something, that you had arrived. An award reserved for the driven few who had reached the leading class; a class that I so desired to partake in.

    As film producer Jen Doumanian offers in discussing the significance of the luxury emporium Bergdorf Goodman in Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s:

“stores like this are necessary… to make people want to aspire to bigger and better things. You need this for the American Dream. For people to actually reach it, they have to see it.”

— Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's

    However after a trip to the great land down under, I began to question this school of thought. While in Australia there didn’t seem to be a huge frenzy for the latest designer good. I asked myself why the irrelevance? If for Americans trading up to luxury was part of the American Dream, a symbol of success, did this mean that Australians didn’t care or hope for upward mobility? Or was it that most Australians were content with their status in society, and thus no need trade up?

---

Luxury is Bliss

    As it happens to be, when measuring equality the CIA's World Fact book measures Australia's GINI Index to be 30.3. The GINI Index ranges from 0 to 100, 0 representing perfect equality and 100 perfect inequality. Meaning, that Australia fairs relatively well in terms of equality (the United States' index for example was 45.0). 

    Now consider the GINI Indexes of some of the world's top luxury spenders like China (47.3, 2013), India (36.8, 2004), Mexico (48.3, 2008), Brazil (51.9, 2012), and Russia (42.0, 2012). According to Eurominotor the BRICs saw an increase of 104% in luxury spending between year 2008 and 2013. China alone now accounts for 30% of global luxury sales. And while Chinese consumption has slowed down, as an Economist article points out “new Chinese middle classes still see luxury goods as a way to show they have made it”. The same Euromonitor report, announced that in 2012, Mexico the fifth largest emerging market after the BRICs had over taken Brazil’s spot as the largest Latin American contributor to global luxury goods sales. 

    Beyond the fascination with all things bling, what all these countries have in common is their high GINI indexes. The inequality that these indexes represent are manifested in a diverse range of socio-economic and political shapes and forms. Mexico’s violence, Brazil’s corruption, and China’s human rights violations are all ramifications of societies deeply rooted in systematic inequality. When there is no path to upward mobility, individuals resort to an underground economy. In summarizing the work of researchers Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, authors of The Spirit Level, Bloomberg columnist Mark Buchanan offers that rising socioeconomic inequality is a recipe for crime and other measures of social dysfunction. And as Michael Johnson, a deacon at East Oakland's Allen Temple Baptist Church offers, violence is "the articulation of the inarticulate.”

    If we follow the adage that luxury must be exclusive, luxury goods are no longer a symbol of possibility, but a form to masquerade inequality and the fact that the American Dream is no longer attainable. While the United States is the second largest luxury goods market, our levels of inequality have only climbed to levels comparable those exhibited by developing nations.

    Consider the work of Harvard professor Michael I. Norton and behavioral economist Dan Ariely, which is summarized in the video below. The short video notes how distorted our perception of distribution of wealth is. According to their research:

• 1% of America has 40% of the nations wealth, 
• the bottom 80% hold 7% of the wealth,
• the top 1% own 50% percent of the countries stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, and 
• the bottom 50% own .5% [there is no money to invest]. 

    Now consider Sweden, with a GINI Index of 23.0 (2005) or Finland with a GINI Index of (26.8, 2008). These two countries are two of the most equitable countries to live in and two of the happiest, according to the World Happiness Report. These two countries pride modesty and equality and frown upon ostentation. As Suvi Lukkarinen and Xing Wei offer in their case study comparing China and Finland’s luxury markets, China’s higher power distance over Finland’s, means that they are more likely to be influenced by those who they worship (the upper class for example). Finland however, “supports equality and transparency and [that] everyone should have the same rights.”

---

To Be Continued

    And yet my affinity with luxury remains. Luxury doesn’t have to represent inequality. As a symbol of high taste and the highbrow, the definition can come to incorporate so much more. I find that our work for Kamoka in redefining luxury to represent respect, offers luxury companies with great scope and comprehensive framework for new branding strategies that can have a lasting impact on consumers. 

    The idea of respect is already exemplified by the pioneer of luxury, CHANEL. As the Business of Fashion offers, since 1985 CHANEL has been on a mission to secure the future of savior-faire craftsmanship, “Not long ago, many of these businesses, along with the vast repositories of knowledge they safeguard, were facing extinction.” Since then CHANEL has used the power of its brand to acquire and preserve 11 different ateliers, known as the leaders in their craft. Among these leaders includes Lesage known for its couture embroidery, who throughout the last 150 years has accumulated an archive over 70, 000 samples. CHANEL’s noble undertaking also included the 2013 acquisition of Barrie, which allowed for the Scottish cashmere manufacturer to retain 176 jobs. As noted in The Luxury Strategy, "because of the visibility of this sector and its high symbolic power as well as that of its well known clients," luxury brands can have a lot of impact in an array of issues in dire need of attention.

In Hitting the Sweet Spot, Lisa Forting-Campbell offers that “in case after case, the richest level of communication comes from combining a rational brand benefit with an emotional need.” For the luxury consumer this yearning lies in being admired for being a taste-maker, an influencer, and being “in the know.” 

    Altruism seems to be the new black. As Kapferer and Bastien offer, the cult of luxury among the youth has to do with the end of ideologies (Castrism, Maoism, Trotskyism, communism). According to the authors “ideologies used to be the stuff of the dreams of teenagers fond of ideals.” But as they note, none of these are left today; “none of them but the defence of the endangered planet or helping the poor by working in a non-governmental organization.”

    For millennials the emotional need Forting-Campbell argues for, is fulfilled by serving a purpose and having a positive impact on society through their purchase behavior. Think the ‘self-transcendence’ level in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. According to Omnicom “70 percent [of millenials] will spend more on brands that support causes,” and according to Cone Communications, they are “66 percent more likely to engage with brands on social media to discuss social responsibility issues.” Furthermore as the Luxury Society offers, millennials already account for 45% of luxury consumption.

---

Off to Nirvana

    Luxury as we know it has to change, as its current definition is completely irrelevant to the zeitgeist of this generation. If luxury is of the utmost level of perfection it should be innovative, thought and emotionally provoking. It should empower you as an influencer, wether it be through your latest CHANEL purchase and thus safeguarding thousands of jobs from extinction, or supporting sustainability efforts through your purchase of Kamoka pearls.  

    The time is ripe for advertising agencies and luxury brands to create work that induces conversation about what is relevant. It is time to self-reflect and to think about what we worship, our love affair with wealth and the mega-rich, and how this love affair guides our actions. I don’t know about you but when I think of Nirvana, I think of total perfection. I like to think that Nirvana is a sustainable place, full of equality, respect, and where everyone is wearing a vegan version of Alessandro Michele’s cozy re-interpretation of Gucci loafers.