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Saturday, June 19, 2010

3:10 pm edt 

2010.06.01 | 2009.10.01

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Group42, a design + marketing collective dedicated to redefining the boundaries of the modern kitchen. 
Group42 specializes in training, organizational development, and coaching services that are tailored to your business, your challenges, and your people.
Our work is grounded in real business issues to produce tangible, bottom line outcomes. We use the context of your business to develop the strategies and behaviors necessary for success in today's market driven climate.
Group42 is lead by industry leader, designer, writer and speaker, Kevin Henry.  A “thought-leaders” to the luxury kitchen industry, Kevin's veiws and observations regarding market trends and direction has been sought after by leading manufacturers, designers and media leaders for over 25 years. His blog, The Essential Kitchen (www.theessentialkitchen.blogspot.com), is followed world-wide by consumers as well as industry and media leaders.  Kevin is invited to speak internationally on a wide range of topics, including luxury branding, sustainable kitchen design and market trends.   Mr Henry has been behind the success of such iconic brands as SnaideroUSA, Poliform/VarennaUSA, KüppersbuschUSA, ALNO USA as well as his own brand Bazzèo, Earth Friendly Kitchens. 

Group42 Services:

  • Brand Development
  • Product Development
  • Market Research 
  • Media Planning + Purchasing  
  • Editorial + Public Relations  

LUXURY BRAND MARKETING

For the first time in the history of mankind there has been a fundamental change in our core nature, we are no longer driven by basic survival needs such as food, shelter, and sex, but in the last few decades there has been a change from need to desire.  I don’t just need a car, I want a Mercedes. My children don’t just need an education; they need to go to Hillsdale Academy. I don’t need a home…I want the right zip code.  This collective evolution affects everything from tennis shoes to kitchen cabinets.   So what is this Cultural Revolution that has the power to get us up and out of bed in the morning, to the power of topple governments and overturn centuries of tradition.  The need to “survive” has been replaced by the need to “have”.  The survival of the “fittest” has been replaced by “I am what I own”.  As Tiffany has shown us…We live in a time where the package can be more important than the contents.   There was a time in the not to distant past when we were categorized by our accents, education, class, pigmentation, nationality, religion or heritage, now replaced by our product choice.  Aspirational or Affluent, we are now “judged by the companies we keep” or wear or drive or shop.   Brand allegiance has become almost tribal, letting others around us know who we are and where we fit in the food chain.  In other words we have become a “brotherhood of brands”.   
WHAT IS A BRAND
Great brands have great promise and a great promise is made up of value, service, substance, history and an objective for the future. A brand is made up of many parts and sometimes many products, it can have local recognition or be spread-out over six continents, and it is the brand that binds it all together.   A good brand is perceived and recognized in Berlin as it is in Los Angeles.  It is as readily accepted in London as it is in Hong Kong or Mexico City.   The brand supersedes the product. The value of the brand is that it provides credibility, history, continuity and trust in an ever-changing world. 
Brand Charteristics

·         A brand pre-qualifies your client as to the position and value of the products you sale.   

·         A brand protects the sale. 

Products can be copied, but never the brand.   

But branding is more than just putting a logo on a product.  The brand is more than a badge or emblem; it is our promise to the consumer of quality and value.   Branding must be constantly managed, maintained and cultivated.  Just like a garden it must be watered, weeded, pruned and feed.  Add just the right amount of exposure to keep it fresh and vibrant,
 to much or to little, it will lose its bloom, welt and die.  A brand must be maintained internally and promoted and embraced externally. 
 Brand Facts:
According to a recent consumer study, brand outweighs price in a high-end purchase decision. The 3 reasons most given are: 
  1. Confidence:  The ability to buy something with out risk
  2. Convenience: The ability to buy without thinking. 
  3. Image: The brand makes a personal statement about the consumer.  
The Influence of BrandToday out of our $10 trillion economy, $6 trillion is consumer spending. About 40% of that is spending on discretionary products and consumers today spend less on basic necessities, such as food, clothing and shelter, than they did fifty years ago. But they spend more and more money on discretionary purchases that are motivated by emotion and desire," In other words “They are buying things they want, not what they need”. A successful brand must speak to the consumer on an emotional level.As more products enter the market place and more information is needed to make an educated decision, brands will become more important in the decision making process. 
  • Consumers will pay higher prices for a brand as they eliminate risk and expedite action.
  • Brand recognition helps to identify products faster and increases the convenience factor in meeting consumer needs.
  • Brand as a personal image enhancer.  You are what you buy.
 

The Brand as Justifier

At the core of affluent marketing is “Justification”.  Justification such as pleasure, safety and self-fulfillment are the underlying motivation of affluent purchasing.  These justifiers are used as rational excuses to give ones-self permission to buy. The overriding justifier behind all-discretionary spending is to improve the quality of life. The affluent consumer wants a better, more satisfying, fulfilling life and they buy things to fulfill that need.   Branding is the driving point, as this group believes that traditional indicators of luxury are most important.  To our target consumer, products must be sold through a trusted name, be made well and be prestigious as well as exclusive. 

EMOTIONAL LUXURY

So what is the new luxury?  It’s still about lifestyle.  But it is not about owning, it’s more about living.  If stress and anxiety are the by products of the modern world, then nothing is more coveted than relaxation and contentment.So what does this mean for us, in the luxury kitchen market?  First we have to understand that our consumer has evolved.  What he wants out of the purchase has changed.  We have gone from “keeping up with the Jones” to “does this purchase make me feel good”.   Today’s luxury consumer offers no apology for their desires; they’re entitled to it.  They have earned it.  They work hard for it.  They deserve it, and they have nothing to be ashamed of. So what is the luxury consumer looking for?  They are looking for something that is uniquely them, something that no one else has or can have.  They believe that luxury is something that isn’t too available or too accessible.  It isn’t too common or to widespread.   If the hallmarks of luxury in the past were loud and excessive, then today it is subtle and refined.  Luxury can be found in the details.   Luxury has gone from “ubiquity” to “exclusivity”, from something very public to something very private.  What others may think doesn’t matter as much as “What do I think”. When we talk about luxury, it’s important to talk about the intangible aspects of luxury.  We must address happiness and comfort, taste and beauty, exclusivity and uniqueness.  The purchase must be viewed as a reward for hard work, a symbol of accomplishment. In closing, luxury has become a private matter and it is open to individual interpretation.  It’s not found, flaunted, or touted everywhere; it’s not aimed at the masses.  It’s about the pleasure of owning an original.  It’s about exclusivity.  And ultimately, it’s about self-expression.



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