The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands

This book is a must read if you are in business in general. Ai suggested it and I m glad I followed the recommendation

Di solito i libri di marketing si limitano a ripetere, per centinaia di pagine, lo stesso concetto. Non è questo il caso. Kapferer è Bastien hanno messo insieme un ottimo lavoro, frutto della loro esperienza diretta in questo settore. Il libro ha un'impostazione logica ed elegante, intreccia teorie e dati reali, riporta aneddoti di clamorosi successi ed errori madornali, e riesce a mantenere sempre alto l'interesse del lettore. Le regole del lusso sono fatte di disobbedienza, coraggio, intuizione, coerenza e fedeltà ai principi di marca. Mi sento di suggerirlo a chiunque sia interessato, nel suo lavoro, ad approfondire le strategie inaspettate che regolano questo mondo, sconosciuto alla maggior parte di noi. Questo è un testo che non prenderà mai polvere sul vostro scaffale e vi ritroverete spesso a consultarlo. Pensatelo come a un Kotler tempestato di diamanti. Buona lettura!

This book is a must have if you work or are interested in the luxury sector. It covers all the issues (from the definition of luxury, marketing, brand management, business models, luxury and the internet, etc) and is very practical. The authors are well known within the luxury sector and they poured their experience in this book. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the anti-laws of luxury marketing (in itself worth the price of the entire book). The book is packed full with examples taken from real luxury brands and flows amazingly: very well written, clear and straight to the point. The examples are still current as the book was published in 2012. Such a shame it contains some minor errors (Ferre' was a designer for Dior and not for Chanel as the authors stated) and several spelling mistakes. Additionally the chapter on brand stretching and brand extension is a little bit messy as the authors keep on jumping from one concept to the other without any clear logic behind it - it starts talking about brand extension then in the next paragraph is brand stretching and then back to brand extension.

As you read along, you'll find yourself in those "Aha-moments," confirming things you'd previously observed but couldn't quite explain the "How and Why". This book is full of structured information and the pages are solid enough to soak up my multicoloured art of reading :) Not only for retailers, but for all who intend to transform their business, regardless of what you sell, whether it is a product or a service, this book is a must-have. It is full of applicable wisdom that you may need to adjust depending on your industry and location. I will be using it as a compass, to steer my luxury strategy in a tested and trusted direction. Whether you wanna sell cupcakes or you wanna sell stand-up comedy tickets, or serve patients of a hospital in grand style, this book will guide you on what luxury is and isn't, and suggest a great deal of to-dos and not to-dos. However, it's dense and will take you time and dedication to read it. If you're determined to succeed and you're looking for profound stuff, this is it!

I have used this book in the classroom as the primary 'text' as well as recommended this book for use in business real-world practice. It is very good for either purpose. The students enjoyed the 'text' as it is comprehensive, easy-to-read for the international student who is ESL, and provocative in thought as it challenges the reader to think outside the typical marketing 4P's structure. For practice, it provides enough theory to answer the 'why' while giving good examples that provide the application. I will - and am - definitely using this book again as well as continuing to recommend it. I have looked at a number of books that could be used in a classroom setting and this one is, by far, the best. This book is a keeper that will stay on a marketer's shelf - for future reference - for a long time.