Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Art, Culture and Experience Shopping

Creating shopping environments, fully developed experiences and personalized services for consumers is a global trend that has come to Japan (Howard 2006). The expectations that affluent consumers have for their retail environments are increasing. The loyalty of customers is depend on the efforts made by brands to create variety and creative ways to set themselves apart from competitors. Consumers will easily switch to other retailers and brands, if they fail to invest in the creation of meaningful relationships with them (Allen and Rigby 2005; Japan Times, October 15th, 2007: Upscale saloons pamper rich: 20).
Many foreign luxury companies still have problems in adapting to the high service requirements demanded
by the Japanese and to express luxury at all levels of the product purchase process, including the aftersales experience. A brand is not only shaped by its products but also by the staff, location and promotional campaigns (Japan Times, June 23rd, 2007: Handbag entrepreneur owes success to quality, celebrities), and these are becoming more diversified in Japan. There are a lot of examples for creative ways in which both foreign and domestic brands are trying to lure consumers into their stores by refining their premium offerings and the surrounding in which to present them.

One example is an increasing translation of culture into consumer products. Cultural and intellectual engagement becomes the benchmark for consumers as displays of knowledge, connoisseurship, and education. The new consumer has an increasing interest in
arts, book purchases, and cultural consumption as these activities indicate the individual's high IQ and social consciousness. Such products appeal primarily to a rising class of affluent culture chasers, “[...] people who are very focused on having those hip luxury signifies. Owning such products signifies informed consumption.” (Currid 2007: 36; see also Scott 2000; Anterior Insight 2008; Nikkei Weekly, October 15th, 2007: 26)
Artists' unions with luxury brands are becoming increasingly common and profitable, using a different kind of celebrity, an art star, to be perceived as cutting edge. Yves Cartelle, president of Louis Vuitton remarks: “If you look at the world of art, people interested in contemporary art, they are usually interested in luxury. The bridge between the two worlds is more and more obvious.” (New York Times, November 8th, 2007, The Artist's Fall Collection)

Diesel Denim Gallery in Tokyo, Aoyama mixes avant-garde art with a selection of premium Diesel clothes. “Instead of going to sign a deal with a famous artist [...] we think that if we start from scratch and build a relationship with new upcoming talent, we can gain status.” (Japan Times, August 23rd, 2007, Staying casual in Minami-Aoyama) Other fashion luxury brands to co-opt the art world include Paul Smith (http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/personal/space-gallery/, accessed 20.01.2008. The shop is spread over 4 floors with a gallery set on the 4th Floor. In the ‘Space’ Gallery, a varied line up of British and European artist, photographers, and product designers are exhibited. See SuperFuture Online, http://www.superfuture.com/city/reviews/review.cfm?ID=309, accessed 20.01.2008), Gucci and Louis Vuitton, with its famous “The Culture of Branding” show in collaboration with the artist Murakami Takashi. Currid (2007) considers these cooperations built on the fact: “[...] underneath the glamour and frivolity of art and culture are real social and economic mechanisms [...]” (Currid 2007: xi)
Other concepts include to move a whole brand upscale, as seen in the case of Isetan, a department store targeting male customers. By lining up high-end items on the top-floor of their store in Shinjuku as though they were museum pieces, they want to attract customers. The idea proved extremely successful by adjusting the product portfolio to the middle-aged male customer who seeks to make a fashion statement (The Nikkei Weekly, November 5th, 2007, Retailer finds way into men's wallets: 20). Ace Gene started in February 2007 to polish its luxury image and achieved a big increase in its profit margins by equally moving upscale (The Nikkei Weekly, September 3rd, 2007, Sales gains of 10% are for sissies, p. 21. After opening its Hibiya flagship store, Ace Gene discontinued internet sales and stopped marketing through general merchandise stores, increasing the luxury image. Prices were raised by 25%. Domestic sales from February to June were 80% higher). Baccarat Pacific K.K., a subsidiary of a major crystal ware maker from France, has been showing rapid growth after changing its brand strategy from a producer of dish wares to a luxury brand. The brand created an environment which made the buying process more of a lifestyle experience (The branches in Marunochi and Roppongi are examples where this has been implemented. See The Nikkei Weekly, Baccarat Pacific K.K., March 26th, 2007, p. 20. Baccarat experienced a 300% sales gain from 1996 to 2006. The new strategy tried to nurture Baccarat as a luxury brand that serves many aspects of the customers' lifestyles. Some stores are now equipped with trendy bars where visitors have the opportunity to enjoy drinking with the glasses they choose. The bartenders are trained with product specific information and in the history of the brand).

The creation of flagship stores of European luxury brands started in 2001 with the $138-million La Maison Hermes and since then other luxury brands have followed the trend of engaging top architects to create spectacular shopping palaces. “Japanese refinement of the retail experience plus a general lack of attachment to old structures drives a style of shop development that has produced some of the new architectural temples of the century.” (Superfuture superguide Tokyo, online, http://supertalk.superfuture.com/supershop/superguides/superguides-tokyo.php, accessed 20.10.2008) The latest overseas brands to appear in the upscale shopping district of Ginza were Bulgari and Armani, both in November 2007. Having a presence in Tokyo is considered an important part in the image-creation and also a jumping point to other Asian luxury markets (Japan Times, October 15th, 2007, Upscale saloons pamper rich: 52).
Luxury brand online stores have created services for customers that are beyond the scope of the average shopping site on the internet. It becomes more important for luxury brands and fashion houses to improve their presence known online, leading to the emergence of a new generation of virtual Japanese shopping towns (Examples are megaseek for men/mfm, select square, zozoresort, and 109 men's net, see “Virtual Luxury”, Anterior Insight 2008. Fendi launched on September 2006 a 15 seconds Video Ad exclusively on style.com, making a step away from print advertising on billboards and in magazines. Virtual shopping itself to become the new retail medium for many high fashion and luxury brands).
Luxury companies should devise creative ways in which they can take shopping out of the usual context, giving consumers the opportunity to discover new things and experiences. In this way luxury brands are connected with emotional values of diverse consumer lifestyles by connecting with the specific 'triggers' that make a consumer's brand experience enriching and unique (The Financial Times, September 9th, 2007, What luxury means now; “Convenience Luxury”, Anterior Insight 2008; Danziger 2005: 30; Graham and Matthews 2004).

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