brands offer bespoke services (even though much of these need to be seri-
ously upgraded and updated!) but they either forget to tell their consumers
about this service or they guard it like a treasure reserved for two clients in
a year. Consumers want to be treated as important through the provision of
choices in product and service offerings. They want to feel special. They
want to be provided with the opportunity to show their high knowledge
level and savoir-fairein fashion. They want to be given the power to request
and choose what appeals precisely to their individual tastes. They want
courtesy and uncompromised product and service quality. These are all
achievable through product customization and majority of luxury
consumers are not getting this service from luxury brands. It is also impor-
tant to note that the same group of consumers are getting customized
services in other product categories such as in information technology (with
Dell and Apple), sportswear (with Levi’s and Nike), fast food (with
Subway), cars (BMW) and services like telecommunications and banking.
These benefits have increased their expectation of customized goods from
luxury brands.
The current strongly defined customer tastes have been aided by the digi-
tal revolution, which has exposed consumers to style options and propelled
their thinking and expectations to a fast lane. This is more apparent with the
steady growth of the size of the online luxury consumer market. This factor
has made customization an important strategic tool for competitive leverage
and a key feature in product and brand development.
The luxury consumer need for recognition and appreciation, which has
become more apparent in the last decade, has been recognized by independent
companies who have created parallel services. A notable example is the
French company, Soirée de Star, which offers consumers a package of
customized celebrity ‘frills’ such as limousine rides to staged ‘red carpet’
events, complete with photographers and fans. Although these customized
offerings are illusive in nature and expensive in cost, they provide evidence
of the consumer need to be courted and treated as special collaborators.
Luxury consumers have evolved from using luxury goods as a platform of
defining themselves, to accommodating luxury products in their independent
styles. This emphasizes the need for customization.
An example of a fashion brand that has responded to the consumer need of
customization in an efficient manner, which luxury brands ought to emulate,
is demin brand Levi’s. The brand provides customers with an option to
customize denim trousers before purchase on its website, through the
‘Jeanfinder’ feature (Figure 8.1). The tools that aid this service include colour
selection, size, style, fit preference, cut preference and leg style options.
Levi’s also encourages customers to be creative in styling their jeans and
sharing their creativity ideas with other consumers on the website. The inno-
vation of Levi’s in product customization is an excellent strategy that
enhances brand affiliation with consumers.
chapter 8 251customize me!