What is Luxury Brand Consulting?

Constant evolution is inevitable. This applies to the multiverse of luxury as well. Varying consumer behaviour, brand relevance, market demand, and economic fluctuations majorly require brands to grow and adapt to the changes taking place around them. Gaining multi-disciplinary excellence in all verticals of the business is somewhat difficult for brands to attain. They must strike a balance between what they are good at and what they are not. This is where hiring a luxury brand consultant can be a compelling choice.

Who is a Luxury Brand Consultant?

Luxury brand consultants offer comprehensive business solutions for the efficient launch, establishment, and growth of luxury brands. They create unique business models, analyze future trends, and reimagine the business of tomorrow. They offer a 360 view of where brands are, what their potential is, and where they could reach. By conceiving and operationalizing mold-breaking approaches they help brands define and deliver how brands are valuable to their customers and vary from their competitors. Through their in-depth knowledge of brand building, they make brands stand out and become memorable.

To accelerate business strategy luxury consultants, build their strategies through a basic five-step process:

Step 1: Understand brand essence

This helps consultants gain insight into the foundation of the brand and what it stands for allowing them to protect and represent the brand.

Step 2: Understand the rationale of the brand

This step permits consultants to analyze the needs of the brands and rethink organization. It opens avenues to fully know the tangible attributes of the brand.

Step 3: Understand emotional and intangible attributes

Luxury brands are different from normal brands. Their intangible attributes like their stories are most crucial. Along with their tangibles, consultants need to comprehend the intangibles as well. 

Step 4: Understand the market environment and consumer behaviour

The market and the consumer are the two most central factors determining the success of a brand. Obtaining sound knowledge about the market they operate in, helps in increasing relevance and becoming more profitable. Understanding the consumers' brands want to reach and interact with aids in realizing consumer needs, refining personalized client relationship, and craft unique client experiences.

Step 5: Build the right approach for the brand

By carrying out all the above steps and building a thorough knowledge base of the brand and other operating factors, consultants help build short-term and long-term strategies for them. Apart from tactical planning and strategy building, luxury brand consultants may also help in the execution of the same.

• Branding
• Sourcing
• Retail planning
• Selection of retail space
• Recruitment
• Creative marketing
• Digital marketing
• Social Media management
• PR support
• Entry management
• Mergers and acquisition management

What are the qualities of a good Luxury Brand Consultant?

Some of the vital qualities of a good luxury brand consultant would be:

Passion:

Passion and enthusiasm are somewhat infectious. Only when you are passionate about something, you can influence others about the same. Passion to learn more and do more in the luxury sector is an added advantage. This is what constantly motivates one to do better.

Research:  

As a luxury brand consultant, it is extremely essential to be aware and well informed about the market. With an all-access internet, people know what’s hot and trendy, and to keep up with the consumer the brand needs someone who knows exactly what the consumer needs. Being up to date with the trends of the luxury market and modifying strategies as per requirement is a much-needed quality in a good luxury brand consultant.

Attention to Details:  

Luxury is all about the details. An eye for detail will go a long way in the luxury sector. Being observant of things around can add value to the role you are put in.

Communication Skills: 

Irrespective of the industry you work in, good communication skills come in handy wherever you go. This helps to liaise with brands, colleagues, and helps in conflict resolution. 

Quick Thinking:  

To be able to resolve problems quickly and think on your feet, particularly when under pressure can help your career grow rapidly.

Project management skills: 

The ability to mix strategy with creativity and make use of your analytical research to draw an effective brand building and business strategies is crucial for a luxury brand consultant. Along with this, the skill to manage these strategies and successfully execute them for the brand is equally significant. This helps improve the quality of work.&

Constantly Innovate: 

Innovative strategies are always trendsetters in the luxury sector. Consultants need to keep asking themselves, “What else can be done?”. Instead of just following the same strategies as everyone else, they need to come up with new ideas and better ways of executing them. It is important to keep adapting and evolving. Making use of digital tools will prove to be beneficial as well. 

Simple yet well-focused strategies: As important as innovation is, simplicity may also be the need of the hour. In the complex and over-whelming industry such as this one, sometimes simplicity and focus emerges as the winner.

How to become a Luxury Brand Consultant?

A basic undergraduate degree is extremely essential. One may earn brownie points if the degree specializes in business management. Some undergraduate degrees also provide luxury brand management as an elective course. If not, one can move forward to take up a luxury brand management course for their master’s education. This course is the perfect blend of business and creativity for luxury brands. It teaches the business skills to manage luxury brands with the much-required professionalism and soft skills. It equips the student with the knowledge and versatility needed to work in the luxury sector. This kind of education shows how branding is a mix of science, logic, art, emotion, creativity, knowledge, and strategy. Having an understanding of the luxury world helps build a foundation for one’s career in the industry. Further specializations in particular verticals of branding or business can help accelerate growth in the industry.

A luxury brand consultant is like a brand doctor, directing luxury brands to take necessary precautions, prescribing them the right strategies, treating them when needed and, helping them expand their horizons.