When I was a teenager, I hated to be the girl excessively fanatic about luxury brands. "Excessively fanatic" here means the exclusive affinity toward only the brands in the category of luxury sector. There were girls blessed with luxury brand merchandises that they carry and wear everyday, but they were never whom I wanted to become. Instead, I wanted to grow up to become someone who luxury brands would look good on. I did not like to stick to the fashion value of it but something deeper than that. I never thought it was unusual, indeed, good stuff chooses people to possess them, and I never wanted it to be easy. The path to everyday luxury for me was not something I wanted to be manifested instantly, beyond the economical reasons, but was something I was longing to witness and to experience the trial of. This is an example of one's deep aspiration for the world of luxury. For those who sees the reality that the luxury is not too close to them as daily use products first, it has to make sense that even though they are equivalently valuable in the society as other girls are, whose material possessions all have the brand logos and expensive price tags, they have a longer distance to the world of luxury, especially because the value of money, not the value of the currency, and how significant it is held by each civilian for their quality of lives, varies depending on where and how they live. Amazing brands have the capacity to answer these different types of luxury appetite, and I believe brand communications takes ones of the most important parts to make that happen.
Humans in the modern world with overflowing money, tends to believe that purchase activities will solve their problems. Money indeed gets them a lot. Money works between conflicting people or friending peers, with no problem. It is a great invention humans have been constantly, and quite passionately, working things out for. Because it drives the industrial revolutions hence the global economy as a whole, it should be the right answer to try to use the power of money to do whatever they want. When money does not work to solve their issues immediately, humans try something else. Or for those money is not within their easy access, they first try out something that never costs them their money that they could use for other purposes otherwise. In both cases, they re-recognize the value of the traditional sources of power, such as human connections, friendships, wisdom, and own effort. Balancing all these are important. But if we come to really think about it, purchasing is a very momentary one time action. Not much is guaranteed despite the depth of human mind and heart at the time of purchasing, even if it was an impulsive shopping. It can fulfill the demand popped up on the surface for sure. With little thinking for the money to be spent on the good to buy, this gap of the "deliverance" by the brand through the product and service offered in return of the volume of money to be paid, and the super deep "other world" of human miracle; brain, heart, mind, sensation, soul and body, etc., can create the frustration for the mismatched need and want. With enough intelligence and emotion put into the purchase, or not to be so dramatic about purchasing per se, one may also receive something other than the product and servicing of purchasing that can only be sensible to them. And that's priceless, and indeed, intelligent.
To gain the certain level of intelligence, humans try to know things, expand their knowledge and increase their intangible possession. Skills, know-hows, information are valued at this stage. After that is the style, "to be" and "that one can be" are the gems. With the world of luxury, they become and can be someone beyond their aspiration or imagination. The style will be given, but no equally to everyone who have bought the same product. I think this is the limit of all the humans now at this timing in terms of how they relate to the world of luxury. The ultimate indulgence above the level of experiencing, is the fruit of consumer engagement with the brand and the exclusive personalisation of the transformative brand world expression. It cannot be so obvious and too easy to get, as it shapes itself for them at the time of co-manifestation. And this is one of the very few elements that the commercial products can keep alluring everybody in the market with. The tease has to touch the heart of everyone, then it has to lead the rest of the world with its "being".
If it is allowed to compare that with that of athletic superstars like NFL or NBA start for example, not to be offensive to one or the other, it is clear that the great aspiration for humans still limits the power of it in pure comparison with that of the brands. We love super plays, and adore stars, but we do so in the way that we admire them as such that we wish we were similar to. We would find some beauty in their character but that they are superb in their field means far more than them as personal brands. They are Godly and saint, but humans. Brands are not humans. Brands lead them not in the same way that the stars do.
It is a good sign for all the brands that are changing today's world for the better that brands are lifting up the market with their desirability and yet they are not the same as those of stars and athletes, for instance. This information flood era is revealing the hidden world with such generosity, and giving back the brand some sort of personality beyond the human conscious often involves hostility toward others and themselves. With the retail innovation and digitization, the pie of the fan market gets bigger and bigger. The trend of collaboration and events related to their social responsibility, tend to do the same. While possessing all does not appear to be the likable goals anymore, the resale and the sustainability actions open the door to the new brand touch-point experiences. To some extent they are seemingly valuable and for convenience, too, but there is always something higher and greater than that. The clients' and fans' perceived image about the brands and the further co-creation are very diverse, and not always reachable. That it surpasses human level and beyond time and possibilities everyone gets to indulge themselves with the brands that come to them in their desirable shape, is extremely mysterious and dreamable. So what roles do they play? Teachers? Mentors? Boosters? Partners? Even that should be beyond our thinking.
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