I came home this evening a very disappointed consumer. I had just seen “Man of Steel” and “The Wolverine“. I know it seems so off-message to start my post on luxury with talk of comic book heroes, but read on to see where this leads. Continue reading
luxury brands
I Love The Business of Luxury Like A Fish Loves Water
So, the HBS Retail and Luxury Goods Conference is over and I’m wondering why I go to this conference every year.
Well, its simple.
The Dream Team (and yours truly) – Members of the LuxRe Club from The College of William and Mary at the HBS Retail and Luxury Goods Conference
I like to listen to the array of views on what’s going on in the luxury industry. I also enjoy meeting new minds, and reuniting with old friends. However, the real reason I go to the conference is simply because it makes me feel good. It fires up my creative neurons and allows me to think about things in different ways. The best way to describe it is that I feel comfortable – like a fish in water.
Re-imagining the In-Store Experience: One of the panels at the HBS Retail and Luxury Goods Conference
Key Idea: Find those environments and business cultures that make you feel good about who you are. Find the people and places that excite your true passions. You won’t go far if you fail to be honest with yourself about who you are and what you believe in. Act like a luxury brand and stand for something.
My View: The main reason I joined the industry is because it stands for something that is important to me. Though there are opposing opinions out there, I believe that the luxury segment benefits a vast array of stakeholders in different geographic, cultural, and socio-economic segments – governments, companies, the environment, and of course, consumers. The industry doesn’t just provide beautiful products and valuable services for consumers – it also provides jobs and supports economic development.
Finally…. Luxury Car Brands are Taking Tips from the Kings of Customer Service
Key Takeaway from The Luxury Doctrine (a new resource in development):
If you want to be successful, especially in luxury, you have to think of, and act like the customer, at all steps in the value chain… you have to manage the customer’s experience
– Edmund Amoye, Lessons in Luxury
For those who have been following my posts on the different luxury segments, you’ll notice that the key catalyst for success in today’s environment is innovation in managing the customer experience. If you are new to this customer-centric theme, I have a list of related posts at the bottom, to get you up to speed.
In every business there are seasons and cycles – ups and downs. At their rollout to end-users, luxury goods and services are sometimes heralded as innovative novelties and “must haves”. However, as brands permeate, manufacturers innovate, and marketing teams penetrate (I had to use that rhyme… too easy to pass up), commoditization sets in. Luckily, the Ford Motor Co. is doing something about that with its Lincoln automotive brand.
– Top View of the 2013 Lincoln MKZ Continue reading
A Gathering of Luxury
One of the substantial influences that prompted me to start Lessons in Luxury was an industry conference I attended in April, 2011. The event was the Retail & Luxury Goods Conference hosted by the student-run Retail & Luxury Goods Club at Harvard Business School (HBS). Meeting business luminaries such as Tommy Hilfiger, William Lauder, and Stephen Sadove did a lot to help me develop my career ambitions.
This year, you can join me and my cohorts in the Luxury and Retail Club from The College of William and Mary, in Boston, MA. HBS will host the 2012 iteration of its annual conference from April 14, 2012 to April 15, 2012. For more information on registration, keynote speakers, and logistics, go to http://www.hbsrlgconference.com.
Previous speakers at the conference have included:
- Stephen Sadove – Chairman and CEO, Saks Incorporated
- William Lauder – Executive Chairman, The Estee Lauder Companies
- Tommy Hilfiger – Principal Designer and Visionary of the Tommy Hilfiger Brand
- Bernd Beetz – CEO, Coty Inc.
- Terry J. Lundgren – CEO, Macy’s Inc.
- Patrizio di Marco – CEO, Gucci
I look forward to seeing you there.
Rant on How Your Crazy Ideas Define You
As we end the first month of 2012, thoughts of the progress I have made with blog and my other luxe pursuits baffle me. Here’s my summary of it all…
Sometimes you never know what will come of your crazy ideas. Before you know it, you have a brand. The brand isn’t really yours. It belongs to those who identify and personalize it in their hearts and minds.
Your brand is the befitting proxy for your beliefs, tastes, vision, and passions, whether or not you are physically present in the many conversations, transactions, and encounters people have with it.
Beyond all material success, the pursuit of an identity is the single most indomitable challenge some of us will ever undertake.
Here’s to pursuing the weird ideas that make us who we are. The worst that can happen is that you fail. Failures are necessary transit points to success. Even if you fail at something, you are closer to finding out just who you are.
Keep thinking, stay hungry, and embrace the beautiful struggle.
– Edmund Amoye Continue reading
Lessons in Luxury 