The question of the meaning of ‘luxury’ looms large over every use of it these days, and it is alas a much abused term fast losing any meaning or value. Adding word’s like ‘true’ and ‘real’ go some way towards redefinition but the word already means too many different things to too many people: so my ambition on these pages is to illustrate a particular and personal definition of luxury. And I chose Coco Chanel’s wonderful definition of what luxury means as my benchmark:
Having spent much of 2011 and 2012 developing and then presenting the GREAT Britain campaign on behalf of the then Prime Minister’s team at No.10 Downing Street to ministers, civil servants and businesses I’ve been much mulling the perception of the hallowed status of Great Britain around the world post BREXIT and the Coronavirus.
The GREAT Campaign was (and still is) the award-winning platform that represents Britain around the world with the aim of driving foreign direct investment, trade and tourism into the country. And as with all strong brand messaging it relies on the authenticity of the product: in this case Britain, being what we claimed it to be – GREAT.
The perception of the country as an international hub, the world’s leading creative centre, a place of innovation, a beacon of decency, fairness, openness and democracy has sadly taken two monumental blows since 2016 – BREXIT, and now the way in which through incompetence and cynicism we have failed to manage the coronavirus outbreak has added to our troubles.
Suddenly these once hallowed shores, whose symbol – the Union flag was so proudly worn all over the world, are seen as nationalistic, closed, backward looking, disorganized, incompetent, divided, beholden to disinformation and out of step.
We are a shadow of our former selves and our damaged brand is in dire need of resuscitation: and frankly with a looming deep global recession and a likely No Deal over BREXIT we need a shot in the arm like never before. But as any private equity firm will tell you – damaged brands take years to repair, whilst management teams can be replaced in months.
So what now? Back in 2011 under David Cameron we had a PM who felt more like a custodian PM – a public servant, as such the country and the great things about it spoke for themselves and weren’t overshadowed by a ‘personality PM’. Our current incumbent is a very different story and the analogy to any brand is clear.
Where Gerald Ratner killed his career and the brands he led by jokingly denigrating them as ‘crap’ and where John Galliano nearly killed Christian Dior of which he was the face by showing his true colours in his ‘I love Hitler’ outburst, in Boris Johnson we have a public face who has undermined much of the most powerful elements that made Britain’s brand perception so great around the world. Every country in the developed world can claim greatness in innovation, education, investment opportunity, industry etc, but Britain had a unique place in people’s hearts. That place was forged by intangible values such as fairness, decency, creativity and openness, and these were values hard-earned since the second world war. And in the eyes of much of the world it is these values that have been so thoroughly eroded since 2016.
We clearly aren’t alone of course – Trump has made the world seriously reconsider the role and sensibilities of the US as a whole, but the US is big enough, powerful enough and smart enough to recover, and its voices of reason are far more resonant and powerful than those mustered by the UK.
We are having a serious ‘Ratner moment’ at a time of immense global uncertainty, and a likely No Deal Brexit; and because of the parlous state of Brand Britain our opportunity to get out of this quickly is massively hindered.
The Union Jack, long the symbol of openness, creativity, dependability and decency proudly emblazoned on a million T shirts bags and cars, and carried as a badge of honour by our great brands has lost its lustre.
Those values that gave the GREAT Campaign its visceral power, its engagement and it’s goodwill-driven ability to cut through and be shared lie as dust in the wake of populist politics, the post-truth/fake news agenda of our current ruling class. If we were simply a brand our shareholders would have insisted on a change to the ‘face of the brand’ and his ‘management team’, but the UK’s shareholders (the people) don’t have the luxury of an annual general meeting or a monthly board meeting to excise the cancer that is killing our nation’s position and role in the world.
We are stuck on a precipice, our very future in the hands of a man once aptly described as a ‘greased piglet’ – our brand which for so long gave us protection, influence, a unique role in the world, and a unique place in the hearts of the world is in tatters.
Personally for the first time in my life and it pains me deeply to say this: I feel ashamed to be British.
…I do not envy the team tasked with creating the GREAT Campaign of tomorrow – the job in 2011 was by comparison mere childs play.
Over the coming months I will be digging into this definition, exploring the meaning of vulgarity, using this definition to explore various luxury sectors, and consider how the world today affects and impacts on the concept and value of luxury, and how the world of luxury impacts on the world today. From poverty to sustainability, from the importance of craftsmanship and design to the responsibility of the individual luxury consumer to ensure that consumption and expenditure are measured and considered.
…if something is bereft of meaning it is little more than matter.
A few years ago my grandfather passed away and I was left a leather sponge bag full of miscellanea cleared from his dressing table. Cufflinks, dress studs, a Dunhill cigarette holder, a battered silver ‘jumbo’ Dunhill table lighter, monogrammed pocket squares and more. Nothing of any real monetary value but a wonderful lot to have. At the bottom of the collection sat a nondescript wristwatch; strapless, tired, broken-faced and in need of repair it carried no manufacturers marks on its face. I always intended to get it going again but I didn’t get around to it until recently when I stumbled on it again whilst searching for a collar stud: some Googling identified it as an ATP (Army Timepiece) meaning it was likely to have been the watch issued to my Grandfather during WW2. To the local watch shop it went.
The watch, fully repaired and with a new glass, now takes pride of place on my wrist, its smooth Omega movement almost imperceptibly ticking away. And it got me thinking about the value of meaning in something: this small mass-produced watch with its faded brown face and no financial value has become one of my most treasured possessions. It is undoubtedly a charming item in itself but it’s the watch’s meaning that makes it cherished. And before you think ‘he’s talking about sentimental value’, I’m not, this feels fundamentally different – it’s a heady mix of empowerment, pride and elevation. Sentimental value is about clinging to something past, almost a regret, when in contrast ‘meaning’ is somehow stronger, empowering even.
My experience forced me to question a few things and I drew a stark conclusion that if something doesn’t have meaning then it is in effect little more than ‘matter’ – a collection of atoms shaped to form something.
Every guardian of a luxury brand knows that truly discerning consumers are looking for something different, something with value over and above the base metal or the price tag – something with meaning. Brand soul, and spirit are of course important but I feel that meaning has to be the single most important attribute any item has – it is meaning that engenders an item with soul, it is what makes it truly emotionally engaging.
Craftsmanship, heritage, legacy, materiality, design, scarcity, narrative and sustainability and more are all elements that play a part in establishing ‘meaning’ in a brand or a product.
Establishing meaning at brand level takes a long time (think Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermés) and needs constant attention, and there are myriad brands which in their constant striving for newness have lost this vital asset.
And I would argue that meaning can be embedded at product level relatively easily if the right mix of elements are injected into the product and the range in which they sit. And increasingly products are ‘the brand’. That said this is a careful balance, and there are many brands that have forced meaning into a product too heavy handedly and this has compromised the value of the brand overall and therefore their products going forward.
All too often luxury brands focus on products that empower their customers by simply showcasing wealth or rank but ignore that that status derived endorphin hit will only ever be transient. By making something more meaningful and therefore more emotionally complex and engaging, the perceived value of that item grows and so too does the perception of the brand itself. And basing a relationship on something so skin deep means that relationship building and loyalty are almost impossible to keep – add real meaning and you’re building a different kind of deeper relationship with your customers: one that engenders loyalty and enhanced respect and value.
As discerning luxury consumers become more selective, as the scarce and different become easier to discover, the meaning of a product and the brand behind it is becoming more and more important. Of course it is impossible for a brand to exactly emulate my relationship with my little watch, however if they can bottle even a scintilla of it they will be achieving a more valued place in their customer’s hearts.