Why luxury ads must touch the heart to open the wallet

September 27, 2024

Dara Nasr is vice president of global sales at WeTransfer

It is no secret that the luxury fashion industry is, to put it lightly, fighting to be back on top. Sales are down as consumer’s pockets are pinched.

As a result, luxury fashion marketers are looking for new ways to engage new and existing audiences. Consumers want to feel more from advertisements, especially in luxury fashion.

Alongside a focus on premium advertising, the future of luxury fashion advertising is emotional – it’s fun and captures all of your attention. This emotional connection is what people demand and crave from brands nowadays, and luxury fashion, an industry that is known for being idolized and respected, is in a prime position to deliver on this.

The rise of "emotioneering"
It’s time to get unconventional, and let’s agree to bring more fun to luxury advertising. The advertisement should be the experience, rather than a distraction or an obstacle.

We heard from Rebecca Hobbs, senior retail and brand comms trends editor at Stylus, that there is a rise in ‘emotioneering,’ as 61 percent of consumers increasingly want brands to help them tap into intense emotions.

While we certainly consider how our consumers react to commercials, this lies outside the realms of traditional advertising and ventures into brand experience. It’s always been the responsibility of marketers to think outside of the box, but in luxury, it’s crucial to go beyond one thirty-second spot or a static image.

These alone will not elicit the emotional response needed to revive luxury.

Strategizing emotional responses digitally
When creating campaigns and considering meaningful results, marketers need to shift their focus to attention metrics.

Attention is the true marker if someone will absorb an ad’s message and there are benefits to treating an advertisement like an activation and considering what emotions it elicits. When we optimize for attention rather than viewability, PwC found that ads drive higher engagement and conversion.

In a study with Lumen Research, when we showcased ads with interactive elements (surveys, in-ad games, etc.), there was up to a 50 percent increase in attention and ad recall when the respondents participated. The study showed positive emotional responses to the ad, such as feeling happy or surprised, had stronger outcomes across the whole funnel.

Most strikingly, positive emotions were associated with a 211 percent increase in relatability. So what happens when you combine interactive elements and emotioneering for a brand in real life?

A whole new level of engagement blooms.

Strategizing emotional responses IRL
The luxury fashion market has always innovated in advertising and is now investing more time and energy in creating real-life and augmented reality experiences in addition to engaging audiences through digital and more traditional print and TV campaigns.

With more and more businesses increasing the number of ads we see daily, it’s luxury fashion that is bucking the trend and saying, "we’re going for bigger, better, great quality campaigns and advertising rather than pushing ads across every inch of the internet."

It's about quality, not quantity. Tactics like branded exhibitions, intricate festivals, and even metaverse or gaming activations have driven success for many luxury brands.

Diptyque, to celebrate a new collection launch, brought stunning floral displays, both real and sculpted, to a pop-up at Nordstrom’s in New York City. The event was picturesque, but the decor made even more sense when you learned it supported four limited-edition candles that were floral scented.

It not only had a visual impact with rich colors, but it also became a sensory experience that could evoke emotions and memories, allowing Diptyuqe to connect with audiences on a deeper level. The user-generated content from attendees and influencers resulted in an even higher reach for the pop-up in both impressions and purchases.

When developing these activations, be sure to consider a breadth of generations. While historically the price tags of luxury items have been a roadblock for teens and young adults, Christie’s reported that spending by Gen Z and Gen Alpha will make up one-third of spending in the luxury goods market by 2030.

If you’re not including them, you’ll be missing out on your chance to connect with them for a longer lifecycle.

Now that luxury fashion is leveling up these methods, with a clear direction on eliciting emotion and fun whilst prioritizing premium and quality advertising spaces there is no doubt that a bounce-back for luxury is just around the corner.

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