沉默是金

克劳迪娅•德-阿尔皮泽(Claudia D’Arpizio)、马克-安德烈•卡默尔(Marc-Andre Kamel)和西鲁斯•吉拉(Cyrus Jilla)报道
2005年06月1日 星期三

几十年来，奢侈品行业有一条黄金法则，这条法则傲然挺立、始终如一并且行之有效，那就是：永远不要问顾客想要什么，告诉他们应该拥有什么。但是根据贝恩管理咨询公司(Bain Company)最近对奢侈品行业中十几家顶尖企业的执行总裁的采访，我们发现，时代在变。


一些领先的高端时装、食品、皮具、香水和珠宝企业相信，它们能否获得发展，关键要看它们能否扭转这条古老的法则，能否把消费者需求摆到第一位，作为战略决策的重点，而不是产品。

这种重新定位非常及时。尽管上几个月奢侈品的销售有所回升，但从过去三年来看，很多著名的奢侈品牌销售显著下滑，影响因素包括美元的走弱，9•11后旅游业的疲软，以及来自H&M、Zara等“大众市场设计师”的冲击。

然而在这样的大环境下，仍然有一些以消费者为导向的领军企业在扩大市场份额，其业绩超过了行业平均水平。在2001年至2003年期间，这些企业年收入的增长每年超过15%，而其它大型奢侈品企业的增长率甚至连5%都不到。

在得出这些数据之前，贝恩管理咨询公司分析了1999年至2003年的收入增长水平，以得出参照标准。接着，研究人员对近50家著名奢侈品牌的高层主管进行了调查，以认定什么样的品牌战略是有效的，并勾勒出一幅行业发展前景。

这项研究和采访侧重于探讨最佳实践、品牌战略和执行、新趋势及行业挑战。

研究结果另人乐观。奢侈品行业仍具备其诱人之处：它向相对富裕的消费者出售梦想和情感收益。但是很多厂商的利润率则让人捉摸不透：一些最大的奢侈品企业共拥有60至70个品牌，但80%至90%的利润控制在不到10家企业手中。

尽管并不是每家优秀企业都准备改变，但很多被调查的著名企业都认为，它们再也无法沿用从前的商业模式了。

因此，它们紧随一些迅速发展起来的企业，用4条新的客户规则取代旧有的产品法则：

首先，努力了解客户，而不仅仅是被客户了解。过去，奢侈品消费者是冲设计师品牌和流行款式而来的。虽然他们现在依然看重这些，但消费者也希望产品能够创新，能够提供实实在在的价值，并希望通过一个总体的体验来强化这些价值。他们期待产品的性能、服务，以及正如一位高管所说的“一种华贵的眼界，一种态度”。美国著名的配饰品牌Coach就是走价值导向型之路的典范。该品牌已有60多年的历史，至今仍以满足客户需求为重点，它的一句口号就是“性能至上”。

Coach做了大量消费者研究，每年花在有关产品使用方面的调研和产品测试上的费用超过300万美元。该公司80%的产品在进入市场之前会经过测试，而且它们是在有实际需求的情况下才进入市场的。

对于潜在需求的评估，Coach通过挖掘自己的销售数据库来了解消费者的偏好。这类数据曾帮助它调整产品，以适应更年轻的客户。1996年至2001年期间，该公司针对18-24岁年龄段消费者的销售额增加了一倍。

对现今高端价值定位认识最深的企业或许当属奢侈品汽车生产商，如保时捷公司(Porsche AG)。该公司从跑车到SUV等各车型，都于细微处见功夫，力争赢得消费者的青睐。

其次，除了创意，还要考虑产品销售。奢侈品新的商业模式需要靠日渐精细的市场细分来发现新客户群、识别未曾满足的需求、找到未曾开发的商机，并根据经常性的客户反馈，开发出个性化或地方化的产品。

在奢侈品行业，创意依旧扮演着至关重要的角色，但不能光为了创意而创意。相反，新的业界领袖以创意为工具，力求满足市场的需求，比如意大利服装设计企业Dolce Gabbana。该公司并不只在单纯的创意上下功夫：它告诉一家意大利报纸说，它每季的时装发布会只是为了娱乐。多米尼科•多尔斯(Domenico Dolce)表示，其产品早在两个多月前就已在“预演”展示会上卖给了公司最好的零售客户；如今他的“豪华版”展示会所创造的业务，只占公司业务总量的20%。

Dolce Gabbana强调满足广泛的客户愿望，这使它创造了骄人的时尚业绩：在2004财政年度，Dolce Gabbana集团公布的销售额为5.851亿欧元，增幅达23%。

与之相似，巴宝莉(Burberry)也在创意的同时不忘重视客户。这位前“战壕雨衣生产商”改造了女装成衣部门，扩展并进入了一些选定的产品子类，如皮鞋、手袋和香水等。它还推出了一些针对特定细分市场的附属品牌，如针对时尚型消费者的高端品牌Prorsum。

同样， 路易•维登(Louis Vuitton)也在努力了解本地品味和爱好，以实现自己的竞争优势。几年前，该公司利用欧美消费者对日本流行文化的热衷，设计出带有笑笑花图案的手袋，瞬间走红。

第三，除了专卖店外，提供量身定做的客户体验。近日成功的后起之秀在零售环节中，侧重提供独特的客户体验。例如，新的奢侈品领军企业正投资建立客户关系管理系统(CRM)，发掘客户偏好和购物模式。这些企业不循旧路，提供定制的产品和服务，如量身定做的西服、鞋子、手袋，甚至独一无二的活动、个人购物助理及其它个性化产品和服务。比如一家在上海、纽约和莫斯科都有分店的高端男装零售商就大量使用客户关系管理技术，对消费者进行细分和跟踪，从而在它服务的许多地方都走在时尚的前沿。

对传统法则来说，这是一个重要的转折。过去，人们把黄金地段和店面的华美看成主要的吸引手段。但在今天，这些外部特征虽然仍很重要，但它们已无法转化成今日奢侈品消费者所要求的个性化服务。

第四，更新，更新，再更新！奢侈品的上架时间每季都在缩短，这正是成功的挑战者所乐见的。

这促使奢侈品生产商和零售商必须以更快的速度更新其产品。“快速时尚”成为新的法则，每一季，店堂都要以整个系列的新款布置多次。一些奢侈品的平均上市时间已经缩短至4到6周，而过去的上市时间可长达12个月。

很多奢侈品公司都已注意到上述动向，并在努力提高每季产品的数量和种类。时装企业迪奥(Dior)开发了所谓的“胶囊”系列，以刺激产品轮换。先锋公司(Vanguard)的零售店也在更换其非常规设计产品，希望每季都能多吸引消费者几次。

西班牙服装企业Zara在挑战高级女装业，走向高档服装大众市场，其做法就是上述规则的一个明证。该公司一年平均能让消费者光顾其商店17次，而行业平均水平仅为3到4次。其方法主要是推出新款式，每周有两次新货上架。事实上，除非是常规产品，Zara的存货周期不会超过一个月。

一位奢侈类食品公司的高层营销主管在贝恩管理咨询公司的访谈中总结说，该行业已经明显偏离了以产品为主的导向。“过去，创意人员在推出某种新口味时，不会调查这种口味是否符合某种客户需求”她说，“但新的趋势正迫使奢侈品品牌遵从更为系统的客户导向。”

一位高档成衣企业的首席执行官补充说：“创意和商业目标之间的平衡非常微妙。这就是为什么，最成功的企业是那些创意人才同时是具备市场文化的创业者的公司。”

所有这些变化都对企业的营销能力产生了重要影响，虽然这些影响经常被人疏忽。

过去，营销的责任和决策通常是分散的，散布于产品部门、沟通部门和分销渠道。但按照奢侈行业的新规则，企业必须提升营销能力，组建跨职能团队，从而在与客户接触的任何时候，都能为其提供正确的体验。

许多奢侈品市场的未来领袖通过把客户价值、商业吸引力、个性化和多样性作为其战略中心，正在实现一种全新的独一无二性。在此过程中，他们困惑地发现高端时尚业的一条新法则：回应客户的愿望，即是在引领时尚潮流

The New Rules of Luxury
By Claudia D’Arpizio, Marc-Andre Kamel Cyrus Jilla
Published: May 31 2005 22:38 | Last updated: May 31 2005 22:38

For decades, the golden rule of the luxury business was elegant, consistent and highly effective: don’t ask consumers what they want - tell them what they should have. But according to recent Bain Company interviews with chief executives at a score of luxury’s top performers, times are changing.

A number of pioneering companies in high-end fashion, food, leather goods, fragrances and jewellery believe their growth will depend on reversing the age-old equation, making consumer needs rather than products the focal point of their strategies.

Such a reorientation could not be more timely.

Although sales of luxury goods have picked up in the past few months, sales growth for many luxury brands has slowed markedly in the past three years, affected by factors such as the weakening dollar, the drop in tourist travel after September 11 2001, and the rise of competition from “mass-market designers”, such as H&M and Zara.

Even in the face of these trends, some consumer-oriented pioneers appear to be gaining market share and outperforming the rest of the industry, with revenue growth of more than 15 per cent a year between 2001 and 2003, compared with growth of less than 5 per cent for other large luxury players.

To arrive at these findings, Bain Company analysed revenue growth from 1999 to 2003 in order to benchmark performance. Researchers then surveyed senior executives of nearly 50 leading luxury brands to identify effective brand strategies and to determine the industry’s outlook.

The research and interviews focused on best practices, brand strategy and execution, and emerging trends and industry challenges.

The findings give reason for optimism: luxury continues to have the elements of an attractive sector, selling dreams and well-crafted emotional benefits to relatively affluent consumers. Yet profitability for many manufacturers has been elusive: the leading luxury goods businesses, which together own 60-70 brands, find fewer than 10 of them account for 80-90 per cent of their profits.

Although not all premium players are ready to change, many top performers in the study believe they can no longer afford the luxury of maintaining yesterday’s business model.

They are therefore following the lead of the upstarts and replacing the old product rules with four new customer rules.

BLOB First, strive to know your consumer - not just be known by them.

Luxury consumers were once lured just by the cachet of designer labels and fashionable styling. Today they want that - but they also want products that offer innovation and solid value, and an overall experience that reinforces that value. They expect functionality, service, and what one executive called “a vision of luxury, an attitude”.

An exemplar of the value-driven approach is Coach, a leading US luxury accessories brand. After more than 60 years in business, it continues to place an emphasis on meeting customer needs: for example, it declares that “function is paramount”.

Coach pursues extensive consumer research, spending more than $3m annually on surveys relating to product use, and on merchandise testing. Eighty per cent of its products come to the market pre-tested - and with genuine demand.Coach also assesses potential demand by mining its sales databases, seeking insights into consumer preferences. Such data helped Coach adapt products for younger consumers, doubling its sales to the 18-24 year old segment between 1996 and 2001.

Perhaps the companies that most deeply understand today’s high-end value proposition are the luxury carmakers, such as Porsche AG. Throughout all models, ranging from sports cars to sports utility vehicles, Porsche pays attention to customer-pleasing details.

BLOB Second: think merchandising, not just creativity.

The new business model for luxury relies on ever-finer segmentation to find new groups of consumers, identify unmet needs, locate unexploited sales opportunities, and develop offerings for customised or localised appetites based on frequent consumer feedback.

Creativity is still critical in this sector, but not creativity for its own sake. Rather, the new leaders are harnessing creativity in the service of meeting market needs.

Consider the Italian couture house Dolce Gabbana. The company isn’t betting only on raw creativity: it told an Italian newspaper that its seasonal “catwalk” shows were only for fun.

Domenico Dolce said the product had been sold at least two months beforehand to the firm’s best retail customers at “pre-collection” showings. Dolce said his “exaggerated” show creations today accounted for only 20 per cent of business.

Dolce Gabbana’s emphasis on meeting broad consumer wants has helped the company create fashion-forward results: in the 2004 financial year, the Dolce Gabbana Group reported revenue of €585.1m, up 23 per cent.

Burberry, too, is combining creativity with customer focus. No longer just a “trenchcoat maker”, the apparel company revamped its women’s ready-to-wear segment, expanded or entered select subcategories, such as shoes, handbags, and perfume, and created sub-brands aimed at specific market segments, such as Prorsum, a high-end line for fashion-conscious consumers.

Similarly, Louis Vuitton has honed its understanding of local tastes to achieve a competitive edge. A few years ago the company capitalised on European and American consumers’ fascination with Japanese pop culture. The result: handbags with smiling-blossom designs, which were a hit.

BLOB The third rule: offer a tailored customer experience, not just exclusive stores.

Today’s successful challengers have focused their retail operations on delivering an exclusive customer experience.

For example, the new luxury leaders are investing in customer relationship management (CRM) systems to uncover customer preferences and purchasing patterns. And they go out of their way to offer customised products and services, such as made-to-measure suits, shoes, and bags, along with exclusive events, personal shopping assistants and other personalised offerings.

One high-end men’s wear retailer, with stores from Shanghai to New York via Moscow, uses extensive CRM technology to segment and track consumers, enabling it to stay in fashion in the many locales it serves.

This is a significant step away from the old rules, which saw a beautiful store in a great location as the primary draw. Those physical attributes - while still essential - no longer translate into the kind of individual service that today’s luxury consumers demand.

BLOB The fourth rule: refresh, refresh, refresh.

The shelf life of luxury items is shortening each season, to the delight of successful challengers.

This has spurred luxury goods makers and retailers to rotate assortments more rapidly. The new rule is “fast fashion”, dressing up stores with full collections of new designs several times during the season. On average, time-to-market for some luxury goods has shrunk to between four and eight weeks from as much as 12 months.

Many luxury companies are taking note and working to increase the number and breadth of their in-season offerings. Fashion house Dior has developed so-called “capsule” collections to stimulate rotation.

Vanguard retailers are also changing non-staple designs to bring consumers back to their stores several times each season.

Spanish clothier Zara, which is challenging haute couture by taking upscale apparel mass market, is a case in point. It manages to lure a customer into its store an average of 17 times a year, compared with an industry average of just three or four times, largely by featuring new designs, which arrive twice a week. Indeed, unless it’s a clothing staple, Zara keeps no design in its store longer than one month.

The top marketing executive of one luxury food company interviewed by Bain summarised the industry’s sharp shift away from product focus: “Creative people want to launch new blends without investigating whether these blends correspond to any kind of customer needs,” she said. “But new trends are forcing luxury brands to take a more systematic customer orientation.”

A chief executive in luxury ready-to-wear added: “The balance between creativity and commercial objective is very delicate. That’s why the most successful results are generated by companies where big creative talents are also entrepreneurs with a market culture.”

All these changes have serious - and often unrecognised - implications for companies’ marketing capabilities.

In the past, marketing responsibilities and decisions have been fragmented among product departments, communications departments, and distribution channels.

Under the new rules of luxury, companies need to upgrade marketing capabilities and assemble cross-functional teams so they can deliver the right experience wherever they come into contact with customers.

Many of tomorrow’s leaders in the luxury market are achieving a new and different kind of exclusivity by putting customer value, commercial appeal, individualisation, and variety at the centre of their strategies. As they do, they are paradoxically discovering high-end fashion’s new dictate: that by responding to what consumers want, they are fashioning superior products, as well