Unlike other consumer segments, luxury goods are sold based solely on evoking a certain emotion within consumers. Take for instance luxury watch brand IWC, which retails the Portugieser Grande Complication for €171,000.00 (approximately $215,000.00). Certainly, selling such a timepiece demands a very firsthand and personal approach with clients that no Twitter or Facebook feed is able to replace.
The essence of luxury brands is embodied through exclusivity and quality. Consumers pay a premium for products as a means to create a unique fashion presence and to garner acknowledgment from peers. It takes a fine balance from a marketing perspective to cultivate such reactions from customers.
The internet represents the opposite of these values; it is completely open, transparent, co-creative, affords little control, and is constantly changing. The digital realm offers a slew of opportunities and new avenues to communicate a brand; however, the frustration and protectiveness of luxury brands within this space has been a concern for the community.
We at Fashion’s Collective thought it was appropriate to shed light from the perspective of a luxury brand on this issue. We chose Verdura, a high-end jewelry brand. Verdura is a company of stealth, an under the radar sort of brand that rarely advertises and has barely any online presence. Yet, it continues to be worn by half of Hollywood and used by designers such as Oscar De La Renta, Carolina Hererra, Peter Som and Maggie Norris.
High-end jewelry is probably one of the most emotional purchases one can make, as it is a lavish exercise linked to expressing special occasions such as birthdays, engagements and anniversaries. Fashion’s Collective had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Ward Landrigan, the passionate Chairman and Owner of Verdura, on the importance of cultivating personal relationships with clients and what this means in terms of operations for a luxury brand.
Q. For an atelier like Verdura, what are the most important aspects when it comes to connecting with customers?
Connecting with clients means a lot of personal attention. It is essential to understand that all people crave personal attention. Client acknowledgement is integral to how we at Verdura operate. Each representative of Verdura maintains close ties with customers, as we create life long relationships as opposed to one-time transactions. Due to this firsthand approach, the majority of our brand marketing is carried out through word of mouth by our consumers, and the bulk of our new business is through referrals.
Mr. Landrigan expressed how today we live in such an impersonal world and how being personal is the core of Verdura’s business. For Verdura as a brand, where retail prices for pieces start around $3,500, every sensory point a consumer comes into contact with needs to be personal, with the idea of customer acknowledgment at the center of the brand’s value system.
Verdura’s core consumer base falls between the ages of 40 and 50, and is constituted of loyal customers who understand the company’s brand values. As Verdura reaches out to a younger subset of customers, it faces several challenges. Jewelry itself is no longer passed down in families, and neither is the education of brand heritage.
Q. What differences does Verdura experience between its customers that have been loyal to the brand for generations and new customers? How does the brand align itself to adjust to these different subsets?
Most people know very little about jewelry. Women understand design, but not to the extent of the essentials of stones, such as cuts, origins and rarity. There is so much information that can be given on any one stone. We find that no matter what client comes through our door, communicating these aspects is an opportunity for Verdura to create an emotional engagement with our customer. We find that with our emerging set of newer customers, there is a whole educational process that needs to be put into place. We do not just lecture to the customer, but find ways to connect on a personal level. Some clients come in with no idea of what their first purchase should be, and we help them build unique collections and upgrade them according to their lifestyle and needs. For Verdura, the education of jewelry is fun and adds to those special experiences that create relationships. This process helps a client connect with the piece and make that bond between brand, customer and product that is so integral to the core of our business.
Listening to Mr. Landrigan talk about Verdura reveals the extent to which personal brand communication contributes to the tradition of luxury brands. As digital marketers, it is important to keep in mind the intimacy with which these brands operate. Verdura is currently in the process of building an online e-commerce site and we at Fashion’s Collective look forward to seeing how Verdura translates their approach to the online marketplace.
Photo Credits: Fulco di Verdura with Coco Chanel, Copyright Roger Viollet
Written by: Agata Seidel
All articles are copy-edited by Gina Conforti
