The European Business Review - July-August 2019

64 The European Business Review July - August 2019

Leadership style and strategy that luxury

brands should keep an eye on in order for

them to ensure that their business philoso-

phies and brand proposition are effectively

conveyedandtheirbrandiswellpresentedto

theirtargetmarket.InthisarticleProf.Ashok

Som weighs up the changes andchallenges

ahead for the luxury industry as it moves

intoa globalmodeandsetsouttheskillsets

luxury brands will require of its employees

bothonboardandonboarding.

Luxuryhaschanged:bringontheHydra

There was once a time when luxury had a

singlehead.The headbelonged toa creator-de-

signer-craftsman all rolled into one, initially

producing excellencethatwascommissionedby

local monarchs and local aristocracy. In France

and Italy names were made and shops opened,

stilllocal,sometimesregional.Andthen,withthe

industrialrevolution, legendsgrew.Withgreater

wealthamonggreaternumbers of people,those

seekingtheuniqueandrare andwillingtopaya

highpriceforexceptionalqualitytravelledtothe

outlets to buy on site. This all belonged to the

pre-1950s:small, familyrunbusinesseswith the

founder-creatorashead.

Today,if westoptogazeattheluxurysector,

the first observationisthat the businessof luxury

is no longer a local business. It has become

global,facetedbydigitalisation, instant commu-

nication mobility, nomadism and a new breed

of consumer from the emerging BRICS coun-

tries – educated, digitally savvy, and abreast of

the changing ways in which the products and

servicesaredesigned,marketed,distributed,and

consumed. And although the traditional core

values and heritage of the industryremaintrue

andsparkthemotivationtopurchaseluxury,they

arenolongerenoughtocaterforthe hydrathat

theindustryhasbecome.

Whilemanyothersectorshavetraversedthesame

revolution, the luxury industry is as unique as the

productsit creates:theindustryis small,witha total

The Future or Luxury

BY ASHOK SOM

In order to thrive in the transformation of local sales and local business model to global

perspective and initiatives, the industry needs talents with specific and versatile skill sets that are

entirely new to luxury while enabling the existing talent pool to adapt and change with the times.

The Future of

LUXURY TALENT