Claudia Chiari speaks about the future of Luxury

MILAN, Italy — Claudia Chiari speaks about her book  “Everlasting Luxury – The future of inaccessibility”, the result of studies and experiences in the Luxury sector where she tries to take a snapshot of the world-wide new luxury scenario and its players.

How and when did you get started as a writer?

I’ve always very much enjoyed writing and even more during the last three years. When I moved my professional base to Milan I got more involved in this field working as an editor for both web and hardcopy publications. I have been part of the editorial office of the Le Fonti publishing house since last year, and I write for their main 3 monthly magazine. I work with university professors, drawing up papers, mainly on marketing and luxury, and my first book “Everlasting Luxury” was published in July 2009. I hope to come out with a new edition soon.

What are the future major challenges of the luxury market?

I think the major challenges of the luxury market are linked to the radical changes that are taking place within the sector.

One of these is the segmentation of luxury, to be honest this is a challenge that is already underway. It is a natural consequence of the process of democratization and consumerism of this century, meaning that traditional luxury is currently running alongside accessible luxury, and the result is an increasingly competitive battle between the sector’s players. Inaccessible luxury therefore has to be able to produce superior quality on both a tangible and intangible level, highlighting the separation of the intermediate and accessible segments, without putting itself at risk of shifting towards them. Vulnerability increases greatly when luxury is more accessible, because the development of mass luxury depends on highly competitive advertising, communications and new products constantly coming onto the market to maintain

The game now plays on emotions and the ability to realize your passions

diversification from competition. In the words of writers much more famous and articulate than I am, I’d say that inaccessible luxury has to navigate a “blue ocean”, even though in the end it often creates a utopic world of its own which ends up clashing with “the red ocean” of the competition.

The other challenge on the horizon is the importance of experiential factors. Traditional luxury has always focused on attributes like quality, rarity, high cost or a link with the past. Attributes which are still valued, but which no longer suffice. The game now plays on emotions and the ability to realize your passions, the ability to get customer loyalty to your own brand, not just for its symbolic value, but by establishing a relationship step by step, a long “journey” that needs time. The more emotional the purchase the higher the added value, and so the premium price which one is willing to pay. The other extreme embodies a rationale where price is dictated essentially by the quality/price ratio or by its function. A purchase could then be luxury if, for example, we were dealing with high value jewelry, but not inaccessible luxury, as there is no emotional involvement on the part of the customer.

What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs today?

See the human being in every customer; their needs, their hopes, and their desires. The rules have changed, you don’t impose a product on the market, you produce what the market demands, having observed and listened to it. Success is the fruit of satisfying the customer’s needs, through a product combined with good service, and every business unit inside the structure has to keep in mind the ultimate goal for which they all operate. Implement an impeccable CRM, and therefore the base to establish a lasting relationship with their customers.

Nowadays the consumer is prepared, they are informed, travelled, they compare prices and products, they don’t always believe that high prices are necessarily synonymous with luxury. The new luxury consumer often comes from the middle classes and is always in search of a good deal, even in highly elite sectors such as luxury.

I’ll finish by saying that to create a brand means to keep a promise. When the brand is new to the market then the promise is also the starting point, and the fact that the customer will have experienced whatever is offered must not be forgotten. You therefore have to be able to occupy a very precise position in their minds, one which is as far as possible from competitors.

What do you define as new luxury goods and new needs?

The main attribute new luxury products has is being able to evoke the consumer’s emotions, helping them achieve their hopes for a better life, regardless of the sector. New luxury goods are able to generate a high volume of exchange, despite relatively high prices, a characteristic that is revealingly in contrast with old luxury goods. For example they could be expensive products for their category however the middle market can afford them, or even the cheaper lines of brands traditionally positioned in the inaccessible band. New luxury products generate the so called phenomenon of trading up, for which you tend to save on other purchases to be able to concentrate on them, a tangible sign of the psychological satisfaction the consumer is looking for.

New needs are of an emotional type, both for the masses and for inaccessible luxury. So, looking after yourself, for example spending a day at a Spa, spending time on yourself, is probably the luxury of a society ruled by a hectic urban rhythm. In the same way the need to connect with others increases, as well as the desire for new experiences, for example travel, and to build your own style from everything which surrounds you. It all says who we are.

Claudia  Chiari
press@claudiachiari.com