Luxury brands are showing up in almost every industry. You can find them everywhere from clothing and accessories to home goods, fine dining, concierge services, cars, and more.
But what is it that makes these brands so irresistible? How do you start a luxury brand?
In this post, I’m going to share ten tips that will get you started in building your luxury brand. The first step is to define your brand’s core values and turn them into messages and imagery that resonate with high-paying customers and clients.
But it’s not just about creating beautiful images; it’s about the way people feel after interacting with your brand throughout multiple touchpoints. With core values in place, here are some major concepts to consider when building your luxury brand.
Consistently deliver on your brand’s promise
The customer’s experience has always been the most important aspect of a luxury brand. It’s natural for people to want an extraordinary product, but it requires that the company maintain commitment and consistency in order to live up to those expectations.
Whether you’re training staff to meet these expectations or improving systems to deliver your offer in the most pleasant and efficient way, make sure everyone on your team knows what excellence looks like so your clients never experience buyer’s remorse.
Not only does your luxury brand need to consistently deliver on the promise of high value, but it also needs to do this consistency in every possible touchpoint.
Louis Vuitton retail. Photo by Jannis Lucas
Create an air of exclusivity
Luxury brands thrive on how they make people feel. To increase the desire, even more, give the perception of exclusivity
You know what they say, “you can’t please all the people all of the time.” So don’t try to! Luxury brands are sought after because they appeal to a certain type of person that wants to have an extraordinary experience.
Luxury brands also create strong perceptions that come in the way of unattainable price, limited geographic availability, barriers to possession, or even limited supply.
These mechanisms are ways of creating demand and make people want it even more. If you’re a small business concerned about limiting your product in the early stages, consider offering a higher ticket version of your offer for those that want the VIP treatment.
Emphasizing symbolic value
One of the most important elements of creating a luxury brand is the brand’s ability to create and communicate symbolic value. Brands usually offer two types of value – functional value and symbolic value.
Functional value refers to the features and potential uses of the product or service. It’s the baseline value that customers expect when they buy a name brand over a commodity because of its underlying promise of quality, reliability, and trust.
Symbolic value on the other hand emanates from the social standing of the brand — the extent to which the brand is perceived as being an elite offering to an affluent clientele.
Even if you don’t sell jewelry, look for ways to customize your product or service. Photo by Laura Lucas
Add a touch of personalization
Take some time to evaluate your client’s journey with you and make it tailored just for them. This requires a high level of understanding about the type of experiences that your clientele wants. Having face-to-face conversations, sending surveys, and conducting qualitative market research will help you customize their journey.
After they become loyal to your brand, provide customer service that is fast, friendly, and knowledgeable about your offering. Give customers a convenient way to contact you with questions or concerns by providing a form on your website or by giving them an email address to respond to.
Differentiate from other brands
If you want to create a product or service that people truly desire, dig deep to find the differentiating factors from what others are offering. Whether you use superior craftsmanship, high-touch customer service, unique design, or something as simple as handwritten notes; customers love feeling as though they are getting something that very few people have. Special perks to existing customers can also go a long way.
Create a brand identity that looks the part
You know a luxury brand when you see it. In your promotions, use aspirational imagery showing an opulent lifestyle that forces people to imagine themselves living the same way. If your product has packaging, invest in packaging that gives a wow factor — something that people don’t even want to throw away.
Be visual and don’t skimp on the photography. And your logo doesn’t have to be intricate and explain everything that you do. A very simple design will convey elegance. Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” I agree.
Premium Liquor. Photo by Adam Jaime
Improve the quality of the product
When you invest in a premium brand, it’s not just about the product. It’s also about the consistency and craftsmanship that speak for themselves. Quality speaks volumes when attracting high-paying clients and customers; so strive to maintain excellence through attention to detail at every level.
Identifying your niche
Luxury brands are built on the premise of offering high value to a very selective segment of people that are more focused on status than price. So, the first step for companies looking to build their luxury brand is identifying this niche and creating offerings they’ll appreciate and become loyal to.
Embrace your brand’s heritage
The best way to use your brand legacy is by telling the stories behind it. It will help make people relate with you and more importantly, give them a sense of exclusivity that they can’t get anywhere else. If you’re a startup, talk about why you started the company and why it’s important that you serve the people you serve.
Photo by Raul Varzar
Position your brand as the premium option
Some companies may believe that they can succeed by simply outproducing their competition. Others might go for differentiation in a more traditional sense, making features of the product stand out from others on the market through quality or aesthetic appeal.
But when it comes to luxury goods and services, this is not enough; customers are looking for an experience and your brand should be able to provide one if you want them to continue coming back for more.
As we’ve seen, it takes time to build a luxury brand identity that sets you apart from others and positions your brand as the premium option, but even as a small business, it’s possible.
For more branding tips, download our free e-book “Secrets to Designing a Luxury Brand.”
