9 Awesome Content Marketing Examples By Luxury Brands
Luxury brands have these words and the emotions derived by them at the heart of their positioning. But what does that translate to, for present day marketing where purchase boundaries are no longer limited by geography? We bring you 9 content marketing examples by luxury brands that use their unique storytelling techniques to create riveting stories.
As per research by management consultant Bain & Company, “aided by global currency fluctuations and continued purchases by “borderless consumers”, the personal luxury goods market—the “core of the core” of luxury —ballooned to more than €250 billion in 2015.”
For the first time ever, luxury brands across industries are experimenting when it comes to marketing. These content marketing examples show how luxury brands are using content to reach a burgeoning class of global consumers that are no longer confined to the physical limits of a building or a country.
Hermes: Translate a product to an experience
Over the 179 years of its existence, Hermes (Brand value in 2016: $11.7 Billion) has become synonymous with a commitment to design and impeccable taste. This extends to their content as well. La Maison des Carrés or House of Scarves is an online destination dedicated to their most iconic accessory, the scarf. The website is a delight to browse through as every click brings you closer to each creation and leads to a seamless purchase experience.
Explore the world of Hermes on their blog that showcases events, collections, videos and other content pieces under specific categories.
One of their most striking productions, is this 2 minute video that captures their Flora and Fauna collection. With sounds that make you feel like you are in the heart of a thriving jungle and visuals that cajole you to reach out and touch the smooth fabric, it is a visceral delight to say the least.
Tiffany: Showcase your legacy
Brands strive to be equated to a feeling that goes beyond the product. Especially for luxury brands, purchase is so much more about emotion than about immediate utility. Tiffany & Co. is a brand that has successfully managed to monopolize the idea of romance. After all, nothing says happily-ever-after like a perfect little Tiffany box.
Tiffany’s tumblr page manages to capture the essence of the brand in its entirety. Content on the page communicates the emotion behind a Tiffany purchase along with the allure of its rich legacy. Each post is crafted to express the sense of exclusivity that comes with owning a Tiffany trinket. Tiffany & Co. has crafted a place for itself in the modern fairytale. Their content subliminally translates the same message.
Chanel: Tell your story
Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel started her first store at 21, Rue Cambon in Paris in 1910. Since then, brand Chanel has been associated with class and sophistication. With a brand value of $7.2 Billion in 2016, Chanel is one of the World’s most valuable luxury brands.
The Chanel website is all about storytelling. It is a content marketing spectacle that takes viewers into the world of Chanel through distinct chapters. The chapter on ‘No.5’ demystifies the most famous fragrance of all time, ‘Coco’ gives viewers a glimpse into Mademoiselle’s world and chapters like ‘The Lion’ or ‘The Jacket’ reveal secrets behind quintessential Chanel staples.
Chanel uses content to essay its rich legacy to the audience. None of their stories are about the user or the customer. Rather, they’re about the elusive charm that Coco Chanel translated to all her products. By revealing slivers of the brand, it makes users believe that they’re part of an exclusive club where limited, veiled access itself is a privilege.
Though Chanel was late to join the digital brouhaha in comparison with other luxury brands, it’s one of the few brands that has made the most progress in the recent past. Burberry still holds the coveted top spot for digital customer experience proficiency, as per a report published by Contactlabs earlier this year, but brands like Fendi, Hugo Boss and Chanel have significantly climbed the charts as well.
With a number of impressive social campaigns to boast of as well, Chanel is well on its way to becoming one of the top luxury brands with a strong digital focus.
Burberry: Go where your audience is
When it comes to marketing 2.0, there’s barely another brand that can hold a candle to Burberry. In fact, Burberry often finds a prominent mention in articles that cite unique content marketing examples. Burberry’s campaigns are imaginative, original and never fail to grab eyeballs.
If Chanel is all about snooty exclusivity, Burberry believes in just the opposite. They are quick to adopt newer platforms and find their audience in the places that they frequent. A stellar example in this regard was the Burberry kisses campaign that they launched in collaboration with Google. The campaign was a pioneer in combining two previously unconnected elements- ease of communication of the web with the universal relatability of a real kiss.
Targeted primarily at Millennials, the campaign urged Burberry users to send kisses to loved ones across the globe using the Burberry app. The numbers speak for themselves- within a week of its launch, people had sent kisses to over 200 countries and were spending over 3 minutes engaging with the app.
Burberry’s latest digital venture is the fashion chatbot they launched at the London Fashion Week last month. It complements their entry into the “see-now-buy-now” trend made popular earlier this year by Tommy Hilfiger. The Facebook Messenger based chatbot lets the company sell their latest collection as soon as it hits the runway. Viewers can watch shows real-time, interact with the bot to inspect a collection more closely and even request a connection to a real human to help with the purchase.
Dior: Translate product to art
A luxury purchase is so much more incorporeal than it is physical. Its allure is other-worldly and is more metaphysical than actual. Often, that gets translated to their content as well. Luxury brands take pride in their distinct identity, something that they spend decades mastering.
Dior uses content to make product creation an artistic experience. The website exposes users to the world of Dior’s crafts. Right from watch making to haute couture, each piece of content bears witness to their commitment to perfection and understated elegance.
Rolex: Extend the brand philosophy
Brands that go beyond the product to identify the wearer’s persona are able to create content that directly appeals to their audience. This involves detailed consumer profiling and an in depth of understanding of your ‘ideal customer’. Rolex caters to the aggressive, adventurous go-getting spirit of the modern consumer. With content that perfectly embodies all these virtues, they cater to an audience characterised by cavernous ambition.
World of Rolex’s Science and Exploration page on the Rolex website appeals to this unique sense of adventure. It showcases expeditions to unexplored depths of the ocean and to the highest mountain ranges. Each piece of content manages to subtly tie the philosophy of adventure to the empirical practicality of the product.
Louis Vuitton: Become a publisher
The LV website displays a knack for well thought out storyboarding and high-quality imagery. Previously, their website focussed a lot on content but failed to connect it to any real outcome. This has changed in recent times as there is an obvious shift towards enabling easy sharing and quick consumption of information. Almost like an online fashion portal.
LV Now is almost like a news feed that broadcasts happenings from the world of Louis Vuitton. It covers latest events, product updates and behind the scenes coverage of their recent campaigns. Each article has easy sharing options that cajole readers to spread the word on their own social networks. The more traditional World of Louis Vuitton webpage, pays homage to the LV heritage and their unique savoir-faire.
Patek Philippe: Showcase your expertise
In a digital world where brands are brainstorming how to further simplify navigation and create more spellbinding imagery, Patek Philippe’s understated website stands out in defiance. You’re intrigued to find a hidden element of modernity, a spark of technological compliance that will help you place it better among other digital marketing greats. But black and white videos showcasing delicate nuances of father-son camaraderie after a cricket match or the reverential admiration between a mother and a daughter, show that Philippe is all about honoring rich tradition.
The website makes you realise that content has been part of their story since forever. Insider, takes you into the world of Patek Philippe translating every bit of their classic legacy on screen. It immerses you into the world of watchmaking, breaking down the process into what it entails. If there ever was a Holy Grail of timekeeping, this would be it.
Tesla Motors: Have real brand advocates
Luxury brands are largely about selling the idea of exclusivity. Their appeal lies in the illusory idea of superiority that comes from possession. However, some brands manage to communicate a feeling of exclusivity but also extend a pragmatic relatability in the minds of their audience. Tesla Motors has carved a niche for itself in the minds of the ecologically aware luxury customer. It caters to a growing class of urban and suburban rich who don’t mind a steep price tag as long as it justifies their commitment towards the environment.
The Tesla website has a section dedicated to customer testimonials where existing users share their own Tesla story. Probably the only luxury brand that is bold enough to weave customer stories into their own content, this aspirational relatability is part of their charm.
Summary
The ubiquity of the internet has made it easy for luxury brands to reach a new class of customers. But at the same time, these brands have a lot more at stake when they expose themselves to the limitless expanse of the world wide web.
In order to carefully toe the line between maintaining sophistication and reaching their audience, luxury brands need to:
- Use their rich legacy as a focal point around which they weave their content
- Keep emotion at the centre of their story when the product has traversed physical boundaries to become synonymous with a feeling
- Identify new potential customer groups and connect with them in the places they frequent
- Balance the idea of exclusivity with aspirational value
- Create quality content that equals their commitment in product creation
- Showcase expertise in their field through content
- Make content that goes beyond the product to cater to the psyche of their target audience
- Create a content vision that is in line with their unique heritage and use every piece to add to that broader plan
Are there other luxury brands that have created stellar content marketing examples and deserve a mention on this list? If you’ve encountered any, fork them over to us and we’ll add them in the comments!