(This post “ Luxury, Wine & Marketing : To be timeless is to be timed out! ” was written by Guillaume Jourdan. You can reach him at info@vitabella.fr or via Linkedin.)
In the world of wine, tradition runs deep, sometimes very deep indeed. But it can be an incredibly strong point if you know how to adapt to buyers who have changed their way of consuming luxury goods in the last few years. Where they used to concentrate on the object itself, luxury product consumers are now looking for a complete experience. The fact is, in 2017 they will be much more interested in recreating a lifestyle in its entirety than purchasing a particular object. Brands must take that on board, or risk going into decline.
It is undoubtedly the arrival of new technology in the luxury business that has created this rupture by shaking up the way people buy and use items, and the wine business is no exception. But how can this world that has always cultivated patience over time – the time necessary for the product to come to fruition – evolve in the face of clients in search of an all-embracing experience with the emphasis on constant renewal.
Emulating the lifestyle of the influencers they follow on Instagram has become the norm for consumers, attracted to this approach in ever greater numbers. Everything has speeded up, not just for consumer but for brands too who, having only just got to grips with yesterday’s Storytelling, must now move on to tomorrow’s Storyliving. This evolution towards new forms of luxury challenges numerous facets of the wine sector which, up to now, had been moving forward nice and gently. CRM and personalisation, plus staff training etc, are the order of the day, and key elements to the success of a luxury strategy.
Technology now forms an integral part of the luxury industry. A few years ago, saving time by using 3D printing would have been synonymous with the immediate loss of status of a luxury item – that’s no longer the case. There are numerous examples which demonstrate how advanced technology and craftsmanship can be combined very effectively to create intricate work. Connectivity is now the way forward. So is it really so complicated to bring together the essential perception of “timelessness” of a luxury item with this desire for experience, immediacy and renewal? Yes, particularly in Europe where the greatest wines, centred on their tradition and their roots, have founded their value on an immutable relationship with time. The New World, on the other hand, has built its values on questioning the established order. The Europe of fine wines could therefore suffer from this heritage which could slow down its ability to adapt to the new forms of luxury. In 2017, to be “timeless” is to be timed out. So it is up to the brand, depending on its identity, to adjust its position on the Temporal/Timeless scale to define the degree of “temporality” that it wishes to express in its actions and its communications. That is the very art of a good marketing strategy: capitalising on the past, with both feet very much on the ground, and with one’s sights firmly focussed on the future.
