5 Luxury Brands That Are Doing Digital Marketing Right

The most expensive, non-customized version of the Apple Watch costs $17,000. When its makers released the smartwatch that was touted as the next big must-have in the world of technology, they weren’t just competing with Samsung or Sony anymore. With the introduction of the iWatch, Apple became a competitor to the Rolex’s and Tag Heuer’s of the world.

Apple’s ability to demand that kind of excitement and anticipation for a product that it is yet to establish any credibility for, rests solely on the power it wields as a brand.

A huge part of creating that brand relevance, comes from being present in the right places and generating engagement by saying the right things. Digital marketing enables brands to be in the centre of relevant conversations, as and when they are happening.

We bring you five luxury brands that have used digital marketing to make themselves more relevant in their own unique way.

Bentley

One of the most high end cars around the world, Bentley has always been associated with class and premium luxury. Their cars are for the discerning customer who doesn’t mind shelling out big bucks to own a vehicle that exudes sophistication. Bentley introduced highly stylised road trips on their website to target the aspirational quality associated with its brand.

The Bentley website coaxes viewers to take virtual trips across the globe right from the gorgeous castles of Spain to the spellbinding sand dunes of Oman.

There are 7 such locations that a user can choose from by clicking the desired location denoted by white circles marked on a world map. The user is then taken on a virtual journey, in one of Bentley’s many variants, with detailed descriptions about the various attractions that the route takes them through. Users can even opt to know more about a place by clicking on the different pit-stops along the way.

The application takes you on a virtual journey, experiencing the beauty of the places in a Bentley. At the end of the journey, you’re given three options- finding the route on google maps, sharing the experience with your friends or downloading the route as a PDF.

They also launched Bentley Inspirator, a first-of-its-kind personalization app, available only on iOS, that uses emotion recognition software to suggest the perfect Bentley car (currently limited to the Bentayga) for you. The application analyzes your facial and emotional reactions, as captured by your camera, to point you to the right colours, interiors and other specifications that are suited just to you. Read more about Bentley’s Inspirator, here.

Bentley’s recent campaign takes their dedication towards attention to detail to a whole new level. They recently unveiled the “Look Closer” campaign that uses NASA’s space exploration technology to create an image that can be zoomed in to a crazy degree of precision. The image is 4,425 times larger than a regular smartphone image and is made up of approximately 53 billion pixels.  What starts as a wide panoramic shot of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, can be zoomed in to reveal the new Mulsanne in rose gold. Go a little deeper and you can even see the signature Bentley motif stitched on the passenger’s headrest.

The image was created using technology developed by NASA to enable Mars rovers to take exploratory panoramic photographs.

Look closer to see more. Explore the world's most extraordinary car photograph at https://t.co/zJ3ikDBRp0https://t.co/ipX4SrgyH2

— Bentley Motors (@BentleyMotors) August 15, 2016

Quoting Bentley’s sales and marketing board director Kevin Rose,

“Nowhere is Bentley’s famed attention to detail better demonstrated than with our new Mulsanne. We wanted to commission this shot to capture both the exquisite detailing of the Mulsanne and the epic scale of our brand’s ambitions. We believe the result is truly extraordinary.”

Burberry

One of the first luxury brands to jump on the digital bandwagon, Burberry’s digital strategy is nothing short of stupendous. With a number of creative digital projects and a website that’s without flaw, it isn’t surprising that Burberry’s brand value is reported to be $5,722 million as per Millward Brown’s latest BrandZ Top 100 Global Brands Report.

Digital campaigns like the Art of Trench microsite that turn the streets of the world to runways by getting users to submit pictures in their favorite Burberry trench coats, or Burberry Bespoke that enable the heights of personalization, integrate the essence of the brand with the ease of technology.

The website itself is well laid out, highly interactive and easy to navigate. An additional section to check out is Burberry Acoustic, featuring fairly undiscovered musical talent from across UK. The well directed and highly stylised videos on the channel feature the artists wearing clothing from Burberry’s latest collection.

Burberry is also one of the few luxury brands that is big on Snapchat. They were the first brand to utilise Snapchat’s Discover to promote Mr. Burberry, their men’s fragrance and grooming collection. Read more about the campaign here. While quite a few luxury brands have a presence on Pinterest, Burberry was the first to collaborate with the visual platform. They promoted the ‘Cat Lashes Mascara’ range with a unique promotional campaign that allowed users to create customized boards on Pinterest. Their Pinterest page currently has over a million subscribers and is regularly updated with the brand specific content.

Louis Vuitton

Last year, Interbrand published its Best Global Brands list and the luxury brand that figured right on top was legendary fashion brand Louis Vuitton. With a brand value of $27.3 billion this year, it isn’t surprising that LV is one of the leading luxury fashion brands with a strong digital presence.

They have the usual avenues covered- with state of the art mobile apps that allow users to browse through their latest collections, to faithful followers on all social networking sites. Their website is beautifully designed and easy to navigate, but the one aspect that stands out is the ‘World of Louis Vuitton’.

The section takes you through a detailed narrative of the history of LV, their dedication to design and their love for art. It’s almost as if you’re immersed into a digital library of sorts, moving through stories about how the iconic brand came to be, to descriptions of their detailed production process.

Tiffany & Co.

The iconic opening scene from Breakfast At Tiffany’s where an immaculately dressed Holly Golightly gazes at a Tiffany’s display window, is one of Audrey Hepburn’s most remembered scenes. Over the decades, Tiffany has established itself as a brand that is the epitome of romance. So much so that the idea of romance and an engagement ring has come to associate itself with a little pale blue Tiffany box.

But diamonds and precious jewellery aren’t something you’d buy everyday. So how did Tiffany & Co embrace digital marketing? By capturing the power of user generated content.

“What makes love true” is a mobile app that builds a world of romance for the user- with Tiffany right at the centre of it. Right from romantic movies and music, inspirations for weddings and beautifully captured photographs- it has it all. Another interesting app is the “Engagement ring finder” which allows users to browse through the entire range of Tiffany rings, share images with their friends and even schedule an appointment for purchase.

An interesting feature addition on their website (close on the heels of Valentine’s Day) is the ‘Drop A Hint’ button that allows users to send personalized emails to loved ones with a link to the Tiffany product they’ve been lusting after.

Chanel

One of the most elusive luxury brands, Chanel was comparatively late to start their digital marketing strategy. Yet that hasn’t stopped it from becoming one of the most desired luxury brands across the world and becoming China’s most recognizable luxury brand.

With over a 100 million viewers on YouTube, Chanel’s digital campaigns are one of the most successful among luxury brands. The famous ‘The one that I want” video starring Gisele Bundchen which launched Chanel into the digital universe is one of the most watched commercials of all time with over 11 million views on YouTube. Their website is another design spectacle with a beautifully flowing narrative.

Chanel’s brand valuation is currently at $7.2 billion.

Quoting Duke Greenhill, CEO of Greenhill+Partners, “Luxury brands must embrace the fact that their primary products are actually elusive and ephemeral feelings, and that their physical products are mere mediums through which consumers achieve those feelings.”

For luxury brands to connect and engage with their audience, they need to go above the apparent features of their products to extract the real emotion they translate to. Digital marketing ensures that they remain true to the essence of the brand but also reach a whole new generation of customers who are more accessible today, than ever before.

Luxury brands are embracing content to reach a growing audience that is scattered across the globe. Click here to find out more about top luxury brands that are winning big with content marketing.

Interested in knowing more about what’s happening in the world of luxury digital marketing? Click here to find the latest content, trends and themes that are currently ruling the industry.