Content Marketing Today

Luxury Branding Secrets: When You Want to be the Top

A history of trustworthiness and innovation is key.  Social responsibility, not so much.

BMW is perhaps the icon for effective branding when it comes to its reputation as ‘the ultimate driving machine’.  When you think of BMW, you think of its reputation for continuous innovation that leads to superb drivability.  Of course, this reinforces the trust that current and future customers place in the brand.

In an era of sustainability and the greening of practically everything, you might suppose that an image of social responsibility would be equally powerful for a luxury brand.  Not so, according to the Get to the Point eNewsletter from MarketingProfs.

They cite research that suggests:

Companies with images of being innovative and/or trustworthy get better results. People tend to “like” the new pricey brands better, and see them in a more positive light.

Companies with images of being socially responsible see virtually no impact of their image on customers’ evaluations of an expensive new brand.

Thus, the Prius (or pious is a socially responsible northern California friend of mine calls his vehicle; it emits ’smug’ rather than smog.) does brilliantly in this relatively affordable niche.  But it would not likely to do nearly as well as a luxury marque. Owning a Prius says that you care about the planet and that you probably don’t care how fast you can take the next corner.

On the other hand, a BMW 750I with its stratosphere price tag is an easy and obvious purchase for those luxury buyers with the wherewithal.  He trusts the brand and assume that the latest version will incorporate numerous innovative features that make it even better than that of the previous year. 

In other words, although being socially responsible is a good thing, it is much less important for your luxury brand and a reputation for trustworthiness and innovation. 

BMW’s new 400 hp V-8 engine will appeal to those who want to kick butt–and not to those who want to be kind to the planet.  

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