Not so long ago, one had to be as discreet as possible, exclusive, elitist, even unreachable, to preserve one’s standing as untouchable. Since then, things have changed, and the new generations have a great deal to do with it.
In luxury, according to McKinsey, 66% of American customers consider challenger brands (those smaller, independent houses with no century of history to wave about) to be more exclusive than the established maisons. Exclusive. The word that for two hundred years belonged by right to the great historic names now slips from their grasp, passing to those who had neither rankings, nor legendary vintages, nor an ancestor’s portrait hanging in the tasting room. Certain grower champagnes have made this plain, cracking the monopoly once held by the great négociant houses. Each time, the same mechanism is at work: legitimacy migrates from heritage to proof.
In truth, three forces are converging, and it is their conjunction that makes the present moment a tipping point:
– a generation that takes no rank for granted;
– a market that is contracting and reinventing itself;
– a climate that is reshuffling the cards of terroir.
And so one must move, as our clients at VitaBella have been doing for many years.
To move is to stop believing that prestige is capital to be kept safely under lock and key, when it is in fact a debt that falls due anew each year. The luxury of the challenger era is no longer an annuity but a conversation, and whoever stays silent leaves the floor to others.
To move is also to accept being shaken. The historic houses long treated criticism as background noise. It has become the signal, and the signal says one simple thing: trust must be earned anew, no longer presumed.
How? By rebuilding it through transparency and the quality of the product. Nothing more, nothing less, yet nothing more demanding. This is also why experience is becoming a competitive differentiator, for the luxury of tomorrow is told from within. And then, there is the much-discussed “accessible luxury.” For yes, the challenge compels. The task is to meet this demand without diminishing the prestige or the desirability of one’s brand, as Vega Sicilia has just done this week with the launch of DEIVA, Spain’s first great white wine, at €40 including tax. It takes the right strategy and the right timing. It is no easy feat, and that is why we at VitaBella are here: to help our clients navigate this new order with composure, governed by a single rule: Logos matter less, meaning matters more.
Contact Guillaume Jourdan via LinkedIn
