of the brand. Other decisions are related to customer relationship manage-
ment and sales response.
In several luxury companies with a wide product portfolio, the function of
product management is often divided according to the particular product group
or sub-brand group. This is where product category managers have the role of
coordinating the mix of diverse product ranges and lines within the general
product portfolio and also evaluating new product additions. In this setting,
there are also brand managers who manage the different brands within a single
or multi-product category. Their responsibility also includes coordinating the
extensive marketing mix and aligning them to the overall brand strategy.
There are two significant decisions that are made in product management
of luxury goods. They are luxury product naming and luxury product and
brand extension.Luxury product naming
Every fashion season, consumers are introduced to new products from luxury
brands. These products include apparel and accessories like bags, shoes,
eyewear and timepieces. Others are fragrances, make-up and cosmetics. A
number of these products, notably the leather goods, usually come with prod-
uct names. Some of the names are remarkable because they have a ‘back-
ground story’ while others are forgotten by the next season when new products
are launched with yet more names. Examples of luxury product names include
Alexander McQueen’s debut Novak bag; Ralph Lauren’s Ricky bag launched
in the 2006 spring/summer collection; Jimmy Choo’s Tulita and Theola bags
and Louis Vuitton’s Speedy and Musette bags that are often re-launched with
different materials. Other brands with product names include Furla, which has
names for almost all the leather goods in its collection. Among them are the
Patricia, Susy, Greta, Phoenix, Lutetia, Hope, Penelope, Norma, Nicole, New
Divide and a host of others. In addition, Tom Ford’s recently launched eyewear
range have products named after film and fashion icons such as Farrah Fawcett
and Ryan O’Neil and also after people personally close to him such as the De
Sole, the Buckley and the Whitney glasses.
Product naming is an aspect of product management that should be
approached from a strategic perspective. Although this practice is not new in
the luxury goods sector, its current rampant application raises several ques-
tions. These questions are related to the motive behind naming the products and
the objective these might serve for the brands and consumers. On the surface
level, products could be used by brands to tell ‘a story’ and give some mean-
ing to consumers regarding the particular product. However in most cases, this
objective of product naming is unmet due to poor execution. In other instances,
the aim of product naming is to replace product references. This strategy
however doesn’t provide an optimum positive impact as consumers are left
confused and overwhelmed by the numerous product names.136
luxury fashion branding