Self-complacency in Luxury : a silent trap and how to escape it

In the world of luxury, a brand's success can paradoxically prove to be its Achilles heel.
Sometimes prestigious brands, backed by decades of undisputed success and flattering figures, fall into the trap of self-complacency.
This phenomenon, often imperceptible at first, gradually leads to a disconnect between the brand and its audiences, with long-term consequences that can be complex to deal with.

Success thanks to a vision in tune with the times

Some brands have succeeded in making their mark; their creators have been able to keep up with the times and bring out a creativity that has found a growing audience.
In the luxury sector, a brand like Chanel springs spontaneously to mind. It has been able to move from haute couture for a selective public to cosmetics and perfumes with high brand awareness, reaching very large audiences worldwide through mass distribution networks

The inertia phase: when success masks the cracks


But, at the height of their glory, some brands develop excessive confidence in their model and strategy. This confidence, while beneficial during periods of growth and stability, can turn into complacency.
Marketing and product development teams, once vigilant and innovative to continue capturing, exploiting or creating trends, can lose their acuity by locking themselves into a routine that values the repetition of past success.
And for a few more years, the force of inertia will continue to play a positive role for the brand, masking certain cracks in its foundations.

Warning signs

The first signs of this shift are often not evident in the immediate financial results, as the strength of the brand can, as we said, continue to drive sales despite declining relevance.
However, other more subtle indicators, such as falling consideration and re-purchase rates, declining interactions on digital platforms, or growing criticism in influential forums, can serve as warning signs. Certain indicators should therefore alert decision-makers before these trends are reflected in the bottom line.
Here again, however, internal teams sometimes see it as nothing more than a passing episode, which in some cases could be seen as a form of denial.

The need for a strategic reorientation

Even when significant listening "channels" exist, teams can remain deaf to certain signals, as long as sales seem to follow.
But by the time the signs of a disconnect with the market become really visible, it's often already late to hope for action with short-term results.
At this point, the brand needs to undertake a critical review of its marketing strategy.
This means re-engaging in the process of listening to and analyzing the market, moving away from a posture that has remained overbearing towards its audiences for too long.

Reconstructing market sensitivity

Revitalizing our connection with the market requires us to mobilize our teams around new values: curiosity, agility and innovation.
Marketers and product managers therefore need to rekindle their curiosity about changing market dynamics, adopt advanced technologies and methodologies to gather and analyze customer data, and be ready to experiment with new ideas.
All in all, we need to be open to realistic examination.

Implementation and follow-up
 

This transformation cannot be achieved overnight. It requires sustained strategic planning and the gradual implementation of profound changes (tools, attitudes, etc.). 

Self-awareness


Here we will highlight the internal mechanics of the necessary mobilization.
The first step requires awareness across all teams.
This is never easy in terms of internal communication, as it involves sending clear messages about the substantial work that needs to be done without discouraging or damaging the pride of serving such a brand. 

Be precise and impactful about the brand's original success


A successful luxury brand managed to capture and maintain a certain magic that resonated with its audiences for a while. It is critical to document and effectively communicate how this brand changed the game in its time.
This task is challenging because today's teams may only have known the brand when it was well-established and familiar.
They need to feel the disruption the brand caused in its time.

Identify the signs of trouble and explain their origins


Next, it is essential to provide a clear vision of the alarming signals: categories that are starting to lag, certain lines of handbags, certain segments of ready-to-wear, new products that are failing to seduce, slow down of the traffic in the store, anything explaining a loss of desirability that could have damaged the brand Equity.
This should be done tactfully, but without compromise, as it is important to understand the mechanics of the self-complacency that has set in.

Specify the action plan and their owners 

It is generally necessary to stimulate a new capacity for listening to the market. Luxury brands have internal resources regarding consumers Insight.
Sometimes, however, the lessons learned from market research have not been fully exploited, especially those that pointed to weak signals that were difficult to communicate internally while success was still apparent.
Teams often mix up strategic planning—from communication agencies whose role is to support creative convictions with strategic and rational arguments, and market research, which is much more dedicated to consumer truth and often more political to communicate (sometimes challenging a Strategic Planning conviction).
There is often a need for a new attitude towards the ability to understand the market and to really get the entire benefits of its feedbacks (either you want to follow or not the consumers input).

We have the conviction that interactions between consumers, brand insight teams and category or product managers are critical.
It will enable strategic or operational decisions, backed up with the reality of the market. Of course, it doesn’t mean toning down creativity, but high lightening strategic decisions with consumers truth.
The strategy and subsequent actions must be aligned towards the same objective, supporting the same strategy:
•in Corporate communications,
•in product inspiration,
•in product communication,
•in the experience at touchpoints (especially digital) and at points of sale (including sales teams).
The goal is to create consistency that fuels the mental short cuts in consumers minds to support the brand top of mind and desirability.

Mobilize change agents 

This point is essential, as the goal is to create a new capacity among the teams to rediscover their brand and to stop imitating past successes.
The key point is to designate and mobilize leaders. Either the brand has introduced a new cast of managers, or the existing managers are fully re-engaged.
In fact, if the leaders initiate the impulse but do not embody the exemplary nature of this renewal, the teams will struggle to deliver the needed new impulse.
Only an exemplary and inspiring attitude of the leaders will make real mobilization possible. 

And this may be a point of difficulty, because it is not uncommon to observe that leaders initiate an impulse and then are hardly present in the follow-up of the implementation (considered an operational detail).
It should not be forgotten that the loss of momentum of a brand that had previously seemed invulnerable will have a disorientating effect on the teams.
Thus, leaders (new or re-engaged ones) must devote the necessary time to the operational aspects of the new strategy during the remobilization phase.