In China, one of the fastest-growing global markets, especially regarding luxury products, a recent advertisement for the brand Louis Vuitton has emerged. The super-popular Chinese actress Fan Bingbing was chosen as the face of the campaign, photographed elegantly sipping tea while a beautiful pastel handbag from the new collection of the fashion company sits on the table beside her.
At first glance, it seems to be a completely ordinary advertisement like those we are used to seeing on the colorful, glossy pages of fashion magazines, but it is actually a precedent, a significant and important decision by the company to advertise in the Chinese market without a visible logo.
This is, according to Marketing Magazine, the final confirmation that a new era of subtle and discreet luxury has indeed arrived. Until recently, fashion companies, especially those operating in emerging markets like China, Brazil, or Russia, launched campaigns and products with prominent logos so that ‘new’ wealthy individuals could easily showcase their social status. Unlike in the West, where logo mania began to be perceived a few years ago as a symbol of vulgarity and kitsch, it was accepted as a common behavior in those markets. Why would one buy branded items if it is not visible anywhere, thought Russian and Chinese consumers. As they slowly realize that there is something wrong with this, the question arises as to what brands can do and how they must position themselves to satisfy consumers yearning for discreet luxury.
Without Extravagance
As Marketing Magazine writes, the economic crisis is one of the key factors that have influenced the perception and consumption of luxury. Consumers around the globe have felt the full force of the global recession on their household budgets due to job reductions and ‘freezing’ of salaries, as well as higher bills. As James Murphy, director of the Future Foundation, stated for the magazine, Western economies have not yet returned to the growth rates of 1993 to 2008, and interestingly, discussions are also being held about what it means to live decently. In other words, in today’s conditions, young wealthy individuals will not attract envy but contempt if they flaunt and boast about the amount of money they possess.
In the early nineties, this was completely normal, so, for example, a group of brokers known as Flaming Ferrari could publicly burn fifty-pound notes without much condemnation; today, they would likely be publicly lynched. ‘In France or Spain, where the unemployment rate among young people is rising, few would dare to attract attention by driving a Lamborghini with their hand on the horn,’ Murphy vividly explained.
Economic circumstances have also changed the nature of luxury, which has become more accessible and less exclusive. To avoid public condemnation, companies are focusing their marketing communication on experience rather than showcasing social status. With new rhetoric, they are trying to convey to consumers from the upper and middle classes that they should invest in their products and services because they deserve it in these tough times: this way, they will relieve stress and finally indulge themselves. This is also one way to avoid the negative image that some brands have acquired after a series of corruption scandals in both the economic and political arenas (let’s just remember Sanader’s watches).
