In a world where consumers make split-second decisions, the manner in which companies are able to portray themselves to the public will hugely impact their decisions. In some cases, a company’s brand and image are equally, if not more, important than the product. Branding is the perception that a consumer has when they hear or think of a company’s name, service, or product. An effective branding creates loyal customers and hence, brand management becomes highly important for a brand to become successful.
Brand management is an element of marketing that uses special techniques to enhance the perceived value of a product. It is the art of crafting and making a brand sustain in the market. Both the noticeable and intangible characteristics are addressed in brand management.
What is luxury brand management?
The luxury landscape in India is on an impressive growth spree holding a share of 1 to 2 percent of the global luxury market. Since luxury is a niche segment, it is very important to build a robust brand which will differentiate it from the competitors and increase sales and business growth. Luxury brand management is the blending of the right marketing campaigns to create and reinforce and retain the brand identity. An effective luxury brand management is one that develops a promise with a consumer, convey the message of the promise, and lives up to it. Luxury brand management requires an understanding of how to market a luxury brand to attract a specific clientele.
What role does a luxury brand manager play?
Luxury brand management is all about analysis and planning of how to increase the perceived value of a luxury product and a luxury brand manager is the one who puts this plan into action.
A luxury brand manager is responsible for conducting market research for luxury products, overseeing and organising marketing campaigns, product and distribution planning, managing brand budgeting and resources, collaborating with luxury designers, and supervising marketing assignments. Apart from an understanding of luxury brands, a luxury brand manager should be creative, possess leadership skills, dedicated, passionate, innovative, and possess a natural flair for networking.
Luxury brand management is emerging as a lucrative career option and if you’re aspiring to become a luxury brand manager, here are some tips on how you can succeed in this field.
Tips on how to become a successful luxury brand manager
1.Attain a professional degree
Equip yourself with basic management, marketing, and business skills that will help you to effectively manage a brand. A professional bachelor or master degree in luxury brand management is preferable as it will help you understand how the luxury market works and employ strategies accordingly.
2. Be passionate about the brand
Unless you are passionate about your brand, you cannot influence your consumer’s buying decision. You also need to have a deep understanding about your product and the target group to attract potential customers. Along with passion for the brand, you also need to be passionate about the work that you do as a luxury brand manager. Your passion and enthusiasm can be infectious and motivate your team to get involved.
3. Build on your leadership skills
A successful brand manager is one with strong leadership skills. A leader is someone who leads by example rather than someone who only gives orders. Effective leaders are strong communicators with the ability to speak effectively and persuasively. As luxury brand management is about building a relationship with your consumer, communication plays a very important role. Great leaders have a vision and know how to execute it. In the words of Jack Welch, “Great leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to its completion.”
4. Mix strategy with creativity
To succeed as a brand manager, you must be creative and analytical at the same time. You should be able to come up with a smart and creative strategy to convince people to choose your brand by making good use of analytical research.
5. Have a focussed but simple marketing strategy
A focussed approach is necessary in luxury management because the industry can sometimes get overwhelming. The approach should also be kept simple so that sanity is maintained in the complex and competitive world of luxury.
6. Keep adapting and evolving
In a world where people are always online through smart phones, tablets, laptops and updated with what’s hot and trendy, it’s very essential for brand managers to themselves stay updated. Be informed about the latest happenings around and modify your strategy whenever necessary. Take advantage of digital as a marketing tool for your luxury brand.
7. Be consistently innovative
Most successful brand managers are innovative and constantly ask themselves “what else can be done?” and “how can we do better than our competition?” They do not just follow what others are doing but come up with their own ideas and plans its execution. Their innovative strategies always sets a trend in the luxury market.
Getting a professional degree in luxury brand management is the first step towards becoming a luxury brand manager. MBA ESG offers an MBA in Luxury Brand Management to elevate your career to new heights and expose you to the world of luxury!
