Dear Visionary,
As an independent brand founder, you have a luxury that conglomerate luxury has sacrificed in the pursuit of growth and cultural dominance; risk.
Traditional luxury’s marketing standards prioritize risk aversion because it subverts the golden rule–control at all costs.
Conversely, independent upstarts exist in a perpetual cycle of risk; you risk the precious resources of time, energy, and personal finances into a vision of care, craftsmanship, and innovation.
But there is a diamond of truth forged beneath the pressure of entrepreneurship; risk taking is the prerequisite of success.
The founders of the legacy brands we know and love are pillars of example; Christian Dior boldly redefining the feminine silhouette in a a sober post-war world, Chanel orchestrating revival in her brands legacy in the U.S. market, Louis Vuitton travelling from his village of birth to Paris with nothing but skill to his name.
However, as these founders have been replaced with conglomerates and rigid corporate structures, the model has shifted from innovation to preservation.
The Old Model
This strategy flourished when the means of media exposure were controlled by the brands themselves; multi-million dollar ad runs peppered your week-night Grey’s Anatomy session. “Must-have” celebrity accessories glistened on magazine pages…
That era of celebrity promotion is dead. Charlize Theron sliding down a chandelier is now Alix Earle partying on a yacht.
Though legacy luxury brands begrudgingly accommodated social campaigns in their abundant marketing budgets, they have failed to fully evolve their approach–it’s too risky.
There are buzz words that the luxury industry clings onto as the key to maintaining relevance in the digital age. In the mid 2010s, it was “community”. Now, the “mot-du-jour” is “storytelling.”
While these concepts are rooted in the “social” component of social media, the absence of risk through authenticity (buzz word alert) strips them of their substance; they become nothing but bandaids on the cracks on a mega yacht sailing in the wrong direction.
Aspirational consumers are tired of the unfulfilled promises of mass luxury. Why would they buy into a dream with no clear destination?
Yet, in the distance, there are a flotilla of sloops–the independent luxury brands carving their paths on this vast sea of consumerism. How? Because building a community and telling a story through products that captivate is an inherently risky endeavor. It requires humility, transparency, and a unifying goal for consumers to be inspired by (and buy into).
Ushering In A New Era
In the era of founder-driven marketing your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength.
Independent brand founders have intimate knowledge of their business that make content authentic; product development, operations, and particularly brand identity and direction.
How can a founder scale their story and community without being the brand’s bottleneck?
By building what makes risks calculated–systems.
Next week,
I’ll share how independent brands can turn their story into a system that scales, empowering their teams. Collaborators, and network of creators to scale their vision.
Stay Visionary,
Anngelica-Marie Eshesimua
A.k.a AMOE
