By Marco Passoni
Branding is going to be one of the big words for 2024, in both luxury and travel retail. The term has been increasingly important in recent years, as authenticity and engagement have come to the fore in the retail space, but in 2024, we are going to see the demand for legitimate brand stories delivered properly go to the next level.
Indeed, this has already begun: last week, Business of Fashion declared 2024 the ‘Year of the Brand’ with effective brand marketing strategies top of the list for most companies. On top of that, Daniel Langer’s Jing Daily Future of Luxury Column put core brand values at the heart of creating success this year. In fact, I borrowed the instruction “be excellent or die” from him on this very topic.
That phrase shows clearly how important this is in the market today. Brands must bring their values and experience to life for shoppers across every platform in a cohesive and truly omnichannel manner. This is not a tick-box exercise. Successful brands will be those who deliver the experience that shoppers know and love in new and exciting ways, tailored to their setting.
Brands who can bank on their heritage and storytelling will do well here, while those such as Burberry, who are undergoing a revamp, will have to work to make sue their messaging and story are clear for consumers.
Only a space created and curated by the brand can deliver what shoppers want – and a failure to deliver this means space is wasted.
Delivering branding in a new and exciting way is especially central in travel retail, where shoppers are seeking excitement and newness. Brands must be able to leverage their established story and experience, but deliver it in a way which is perfectly suited to travel retail.
To achieve this, in any setting, means that brands must be very clear about who they are, what they stand for, and what they mean to shoppers.
This fact underlines the vital importance of directly operated stores for the strongest brands in travel retail. Only a space created and curated by the brand can deliver what shoppers want – and a failure to deliver this means space is wasted.
And it is this point which takes me to the next challenge facing travel retail – this market as a whole must deliver on the values and story which shoppers are expecting. But there is a problem: travel retail today has a branding problem.
This point was clearly underlined in an interesting blog by Peter Marshall on TRUnblocked, where he told of a journey with a companion who was underwhelmed by what they found in the sector. If travel retail must explain what it stands for in an attempt to win over underwhelmed customers in stores then our whole branding effort is currently failing.
If travel retail wants to be excellent, then we must understand our own brand and story and then deliver it for customers.
At the heart of this is an unwillingness for much of travel retail to admit to every aspect of our story. Travel retail is about exclusivity, discovery and experience – but it is also about a price advantage. The TRUnblokced blog showed clearly that non-travel retail people expect to find a price benefit. It is not the only important part of our market, but it is a part we overlook too often.
If travel retail wants to be excellent, then we must understand our own brand and story and then deliver it for customers.
Trying to be all things to all shoppers, or even worse to follow others and be something we are not is a recipe for disaster. Brands and industries must evolve and adapt, both to time and location, but to throw away or ignore the core aspects of your brand leads only one way – and the results are not good.
