Hakan Ozel Area General Manager, Operations of Shangri-La Dubai DIFFERENTIATION: KEY TO SUCCESS IN LUXURY BUSINESS Introduction Luxury brands are facing a challenge of differentiation in markets that are saturated with similar products and services. Customers are becoming more discerning and demanding as they travel and experience a lot, and they expect more than just quality and exclusivity from luxury brands. They want to connect with the brand's story, values, and purpose, and they want to have a personalized and memorable experience. To be successful in luxury business, brands must retain loyal customers, which is the base of business, and bring new customers to support overall success and grow further. If one of them is missing, the enterprise will suffer. How can luxury brands create differentiation in this context and retain their loyal customers while attracting new ones? Differentiation is one of the important strategic elements to consider. Differentiation strategies for luxury brands Differentiation is the process of creating a distinctive and attractive position for a luxury brand in the minds of the customers relative to the competitors. This differentiation can be based on various factors, such as product features, design, innovation, service, price, distribution, communication, or social responsibility. Differentiation must envelope all these factors in luxury business at the same time. For any reason, if an organization focuses on only one or couple factor, such as service without considering the other factors, it is high likely that the strategy, subsequently business will fail.
01
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker