Lifestyle Brands: A Guide To Aspirational Marketing; Landor.com

In an article I read from Landor.com about the book, Lifestyle Brands, A Guide To Aspirational Marketing. Article written by co. author, Antonio Marazza, who is general manager of Landor, Milan. In this article, he talks about his book and how some brands can  achieve obsessive following from consumers.
This is one of the articles which my presentation took inspiration from. Marazza talks about brand loyalty and brands ambassadors who permit no substitutions.

In this book Antonio Marazza and Stefania Saviolo, discuss the characteristics of three types of brand, cult, iconic, and lifestyle. In my presentation I only talk about lifestyle branding.
They explore how brands use these characteristics to gain devoted ambassadors who serve as status symbols, allowing consumers to feel they belong to a special group.
Brands try to ‘friend’ their consumers in different ways. I talk about these in my presentation, ‘Customer Relationship Marketing’.

Drawing on both research and observations, the book characterises qualities typical of brands with high symbolic value. they propose a method for understanding and creating a brand that enhances customers lifestyles and inspires obsession.
I found out through reading this book that the process is complex, and long term success is never guaranteed. This is where brands need to gain trust with there consumers and to keep all the promises which they make to the consumer.

A Survival Guide For Symbolic And Lifestyle Brands

In an article on the Forbes website, written by Antonia Marazza, (co-author of the book, Lifestyle Brands: A Guide To Aspirational Marketing). In this article he tells us about the five main categories that symbol-intensive brands fall into.

• Authority Brands – brands that typically fall within a narrow market segment and generally auto-directed emotional responses, making people feel a certain way. They are often based on technology patents or processes or highly distinctive styles, for example Illy; BlackBerry; Dr Hauschka cosmetics.
• Solution Brands – the territory that most well-known brands occupy. Like authority brands, these often make people feel a certain way, but unlike them, they cover a wide range of consumer segments. Often, these brands were formally authority brands that started as highly respected products in a defined area, for example Microsoft, Honda and Sony.
• Icon Brands – These brands carry with them powerful universal values or stories that are instantly recognisable. They prompt hetero-directed responses, making people perceive they have “become” something more than their usual status.
  
• Cult Brands – those that are orientated toward symbolic excellence. They are usually specialists tied to a single customer segment or product category. They often deliver “social” benefits making people feel part of a group; think bikers, golfers, musicians. Harley-Davidson is of course a classic example. A product that is not necessarily the most advanced, but encapsulates the spirit of the open road.
• Lifestyle Brands – those that truly represent the word by associating themselves firmly with a particular way of life. They deliver strong social benefits through which a consumer will be able to subconsciously answer the question, “when I buy this brand, the type of people I relate to are…” they create a sense of belonging or disrupt the status quo. So, Nike aligns people who want to push their limits. Club Med connects those who wish to communicate; The Body Shop, those who value nature.

Lifestyle Brands: A Guide To Aspirational Marketing – Introduction and Chapter 1

In the book, Lifestyle Brands: A Guide To Aspirational Marketing, written by Stefania Saviolo (professor of management in fashion, luxury and creative industries at Bocconi University, Italy) and Antonio Marazza (the general manager of Landor Milan). I have been able to find out a lot more about lifestyle branding within fashion and how and why is works.

What are lifestyle brands? 

A lifestyle brand is a brand that attempts to embody the interests, attitudes and opinions of a group or a culture.
– Definition taken from Wiki

In Chapter One, Brands and Social Identities: An Increasingly Strong Connection.

They talk about social identity and

• ‘The independent ‘self” – this is the search for true autonomy and uniqueness with respect to others.
• ‘The interdependent ‘self” – who looks for consent and approval, from those reference groups they repute to be important.

“Products are a symbol of status, signalling and possibly helping to improve on individuals social status.” [Chapter 1, page 7]

• Times/places/situations of consumption
• Various ‘experts’ try to guide our choices in directions (from journalists to architects, from chefs to ecologists)

“Consumer sociologists in turn explained that individuals do not make purchasing choices using rational logic of economic convenience.” [Chapter 1, page 7]

“This category of brands is adopted not only for its functional characteristics, but above all, for the symbolism and significance it transmits, allowing a consumer to express his or her identity, to signal status or manifest a sense of belonging to a group. In this text, we have defined this category of as brands as symbol intensive.” [introduction, page 1]

Rifkin an economic and social theorist said “Consumer is defined as a creative interpreter, reciting the various scripts staged by the cultural market.”

Brands must understand the chaotic context in which people live and use their product.
‘The brand can also take on a social role, they help consumers to orient themselves and guide their choices, especially within poorly differentiated product categories, such as detergents and food products.’ [chapter 1, page 11]
“Brands have also responded in recent years by reinforcing the ethical dimension and dialogue with the customer through a reversal of information flow logic – from push to pull – and a new focus  on customer relationship marketing systems.” [Chapter 1, Page 11]

‘Identity represents contemporary obsession’
“Clients become ambassadors, fans, brand champions, who declare that if the brand were to cease to exist, it would have a negative impact on their lives. They find the brand irreplaceable.” [Introduction, page 2]
This shows that consumers are becoming obsessed with the brand, or the experience they get from the brand? They gain customers like this through their ‘lack of’ sales and traditional advertising, for years, brands like Abercrombie and Fitch have been absent from end of season sales, and no one can ever remember when Apple held a sale? Other brands such as Volcom and Patagonia never used traditional advertising, but who are they?

Abraham Maslow, psychologist of  the heirarchy of needs said “man, is a perpetually wanting animal” [Maslow, chapter 1, page 12] ‘An animal wants things, which will never cease to follow its desire for gratification and expression through brands’ [chapter 1, page 12]

New digital media – blogs, social networks – consumers use these to express themselves.
“The phase of establishing a dialogue between the brand and its customer is evolving as well. The generic ‘talk with your customer’ is not enough if the dialogue is not aimed a result. In a society  that demands authenticity and value through innovation, the brand must have its own vision of the future and set out to achieve a positive impact on the lives of it’s customers.”[chapter 1, page 12]