understanding of the brand (by its employees) is different from the external
understanding of the brand (by its consumers). In this case, there is a miscom-
munication that requires the brand to re-align its communications.
To further highlight the difference between the brand personality and the
brand image, let’s use an illustration. When you think about a friend or
colleague, certain qualities or ‘associations’ run through your mind regarding
that person. These qualities, which would normally be different for each
person you think of, is the image you project of them in your mind through
your understanding of their personality. Sometimes this image is correct and
at other times it could be wrong through your misjudgement of their person-
ality. The same principle applies in branding.
The personality of a luxury brand is crucial for accurate positioning in the
consumers’ minds. It should be clear and consistent in order to project the
right image to consumers. The brand personality should be memorable and
affirmative and also distinguish the brand from its competitors. Brands often
lose out on market share when their personality is not defined because
consumers are left confused and guessing, which often drives them to seek
alternatives. This is amplified among the current clever and demanding
luxury consumer group who lack the patience for additional tasks such as
‘guesswork’ related to a brand’s identity. An unclear brand personality often
leads to one reaction: ‘next, please’.
The brand personality of a luxury brand could be checked against one of
the most widely applied models in both business and academic circles, The
Brand Personality Model by notable Marketing and Branding scholar,
Jennifer Aaker (Figure 5.2). This model uses five dimensions to classify the
personalities that brands could adopt. These are further given a set of descrip-
tive traits, against which the personality is tested. The measurement attributes
five points to traits that are extremely descriptive of the brand and one point
to the least descriptive. Although several additional personality traits exist,
this model is useful as a guide in the development of a set of attributes that
could contribute to the meaning a brand has for consumers. The traits are
shown in the following diagram.
Luxury fashion brands have a unique advantage in the brand personality
and image development process because their consumers already perceive
them as ‘luxury’. This is the reason that luxury brands hardly need slogans or
characters commonly found in other goods categories to accompany their
brand symbols. The term ‘luxury’ makes a lot of difference between luxury
brands and conventional brands. Luxury is associated with denotative words
like opulence, superiority, exclusivity and wealth. This means that no matter
what peculiar personality attributes a luxury fashion brand adopts, they also
ought to possess a strong element and projection of the ‘luxury’ and ‘prestige’
qualities. This implies that selecting the additional personality traits to
complement the core ‘luxury’ attributes should be a straightforward task.
On one level, luxury brands generally share certain brand personality traits
chapter 5 111the art of creating and managing luxury fashion brands