In this exclusive interview, Alexander Chetchikov, President of the World Luxury Chamber of Commerce, sits down with renowned branding strategist and author JP Kuehlwein to explore the shifting landscape of luxury. As premium challengers rise and legacy brands navigate the delicate balance of exclusivity and scale, JP shares his insights on what truly defines a luxury brand, how digital platforms are reshaping the high-end experience and the essential principles of Brand Elevation. From the power of storytelling to the role of personalization, this conversation reveals the secrets behind the world’s most aspirational brands.
Alexander Chetchikov: JP, the world’s top 100 luxury brands generates over $250 billion annually, yet we’re also witnessing a rise in premium challengers across industries. What do you believe is driving this shift, and how should legacy brands respond?
JP Kuehlwein: Luxury purchases are entirely discretionary. They are not about utility, material, or even price. Objects or services are acquired at premium prices because they hold meaning to the acquirer. In the case of Luxury this meaning is often associated with a perception that the good conveys social status, signals wealth, success or sophistication, a masculine or feminine ideal – or a combination thereof.
When a new brand succeeds to acquire such meaning or an established brand loses it; then the business fortunes shift and a new brand can rise or an established one fall.
The fact that large luxury brands are now multi-billion global operations actually represents a challenge to their ongoing success. If they start to be perceived as becoming omnipresent and thus, no more symbolic of exclusive access, their business fortunes are put at risk.
AC: Many high-end brands maintain exclusivity while expanding their reach. How can a brand scale without diluting its luxury appeal?
JP K: The short answer is by applying the principles of “Brand Elevation.” This approach puts the focus on the acquisition of meaning by creating a brand mission and myth that resonates with clients, by doing rather than talking at clients, and by daring to be different. We outline these principles and how to implement them in detail in our book by the same name – which you have reviewed on this site.
The important part, here, is that being ‘meaning-filled’ as a brand allows this brand to elevate itself above the material and tie to a certain product, category, or even industry. Think about how we would not hesitate to slip on a sweater made by Brunello Cucinelli, eat at his restaurant, or stay at his village retreat. The brand has a meaning that helps us live and ‘style or life’ – far beyond any one item. That allows for significant business growth without diluting your brand. Brunello Cucinelli will remain rare and precious to those who can and want to afford it, even as the brand keeps increasing its offerings.
My co-author Wolf Schaefer and I laid out how the best Luxury brands “grow without losing the glow” in our book “Rethinking Prestige Branding” in 2015 – and they still do!
AC: In your experience, what is the biggest misconception about luxury branding that marketers continue to get wrong?
JP K: That luxury is about claiming that word or that it is connected to precious materials, products, provenance, or price. It is not. Yes, those can all be helpful ingredients in creating the aura of a luxury brand but the core lies in creating the meaning I have talked about before.
AC: How do you see digital platforms reshaping the luxury experience, particularly when traditional high-touch service is a key differentiator?
JP K: As we all know, Luxury brands were initially skeptical and laggards in adopting social media. Today, they are leading the pack, embracing visual social media, in particular. Why is that?
As I stated above, Luxury and Lifestyle brands are about making us dream about an ideal self – one of sophistication, beauty, power, and so forth – and about promising to get us closer to such ideals by consuming them. Well, if you look at Instagram through this lens, for example, then you realize it largely is a reflection of those dreams and ideals. Things are just perfect, beautiful, inspiring. In other words, it’s an ideal stage for Luxury brands to show the socially uplifting role they can play in our lives.
But nothing is more powerful than a dream manifested and brought to life. Few things are more memorable than a personal, sensorial experience. Getting to see, maybe even touch, feel, let alone show off “the real thing” can’t be beaten. That is when the ‘aura’ of a brand truly develops. You feel in awe. That’s why the most powerful experience is one that leverages each touchpoint – products, customer service, communications, media, stores, events… for what it can best convey about the magic of the brand and how.
AC: Your book, Brand Elevation: Lessons in Ueber-Branding, co-authored by Wolf Schaefer, explores how brands become aspirational powerhouses. If there’s one universal principle that every brand—luxury or not—should apply, what would it be?
JP K: Elevate your brand far beyond the material – above being a product or service – to becoming a dream that people who are important to you. And manifest that dream from the inside (ie the organization) – out.
I guess I cheated by talking about the two most important dimensions of Brand Elevation [smiles]
AC: You emphasize the move from standardization to personalization. Can you share an example of a brand that has successfully made this transition and the impact it had?
JP K: Personalization or “making it mine” as we talk about it in “Rethinking Prestige Branding” is a powerful way for brands to endear themselves to customers and create a bond. There are two long-term, socio-economic developments that drive this desire for individualized products and services: One is the distance that industrialization has put between us and anything we own. Karl Marx talked about how industrialization “alienates” humans from what they create, but also from nature and each other. And that was in the middle of the 19th century when much fewer things we consumed were mass-produced by sources unknown to us. Two, the Enlightenment, successive revolutions, and the evolution of Western societies, in particular, have increasingly focused on the “individual” – i.e. ourselves – becoming the center of our world. But creating that “individual self” is hard work! Luxury and Lifestyle brands are standing by to help us with this never-ending project.
At the highest level, Hermès is a classic example of a Luxury brand that has, in fact, defined itself as creating ‘joyful’ but also ‘personal’ objects for its most devoted (read: richest) customers. Remember: the original Birkin bag was actually created for Jean Birking, so she could more comfortably and elegantly carry and stow away the many things she liked to take on her many trips. But that is just one of the custom products that have become popular and iconic. Less famously, there is the ‘apple cup bag’ made for a customer who desired a neat way to take along her fresh apple and consume it in the park and hundreds of other such objects that Hermès will be happy to fill you in on, as you get more intimate with the brand.
On the other, the Lifestyle end of the spectrum, there are the canvas shoes by Golden Goose which you can have someone hand-scribble with a Sharpie to personalize them for you – or you can do it by yourself with customization materials sold extra. It makes the sneakers “yours” just like that apple bag.
Even if the price points differ substantially, the percentage-premium being paid over the identical product without the personalized “touch” is substantial. Why? Because making a product personal helps us shape and display our individuality – and that is highly prized in our society.
AC: Many brands struggle with authenticity versus aspiration. How can companies strike the right balance between storytelling and genuine brand substance?
JP K: Authenticity and aspirations are two different things. They can relate to each other but are not alternatives.
Being “authentic” means “being true to ourselves and felt to be so.” That requires a brand to go beyond the talking and showing and to actually be and do. Saying you are a “luxury apartment” is not being one. You have to be experienced to be one through the materials used, the services provided, the breathtaking location and view, etc…
Aspiration is about the “hope or ambition of achieving something.” Luxury brands should always keep an energizing gap between them and the hopes of their customers to fully enter the dream and achieve the ideal. That is what keeps them longing. Once you have achieved it, things can lose energy and get boring fast. That’s why it’s so hard to get your hands on a Birkin bag – even if you have the money – and there is always one even more breathtaking model Ferrari has up its sleeve after they finally let you have that first or last one. Patek Phillippe literally tells you that you never truly own the watch…
Luxury brands lose their lustre when anyone with the means can own the piece they desire immediately or – worse – if they embrace the popular idea of “democratizing Luxury.” Then they stop to play a key role many expect of them: to help a society stratify a democratic society in which a ‘divine right’ and other means to do so have been abolished.
AC: You discuss “Ueber-Brands” as those that transcend mere products. What’s the first step for a brand aspiring to reach that level?
JP K: See my answer above: Step back and think about who you are and why you exist as a brand – beyond the product.
AC: Looking ahead, how do you see the concept of luxury evolving in the next decade, and what will brands need to do to stay relevant in this shifting landscape?
JP K: Our need to be acknowledged by others is vital and our quest for meaning is never-ending. Thus, Luxury brands have a secure future as long as they understand how to evolve their role in identity creation and their meaning to stay relevant.
The “alienation” I talked about above – of the individuals from others, from nature, from the world – is only accelerating. Yes, we can interact with more people and see more things than we ever did. But these interactions and experiences seem ever more remote, artificial, hasty, and ephemeral. I think some Luxury brands have a unique opportunity to offer not only an alternative experience – personal, sensorial, timeless – but an alternative philosophy to how to live a good life.
As Hermès artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas said in a recent interview on CBS News*: “Are we going to be so obsessed with speed and immediate satisfaction? Maybe not? Maybe there is another form of relation to the world, which is linked to patience, to taking the time to make things right.”
*CBS 60-Minutes interview, Dec 15, 2024
As the luxury landscape continues to evolve, one truth remains constant: the most successful brands transcend mere products, offering meaning, aspiration, and a connection to something greater. In this insightful discussion, JP Kuehlwein reminds us that true luxury isn’t just about materials or price—it’s about creating a world that people long to be part of. With the rise of digital engagement, personalization, and the quest for authenticity, brands that master the art of Brand Elevation will not only survive but thrive in the years to come.
Thank you, JP! Follow JP’s journey on LinkedIn, and you can buy his inspiring books on Amazon.
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