example is the Louis Vuitton fan website at ‘www.lying-awake.net/vuitton’.
Consumer fans of Louis Vuitton use this website as a platform for sharing
experiences and discussing issues connected with the brand. The website had
1,322 official members as of May 2006. This platform for sharing brand
experiences is an effective tool that luxury brands can adopt to build stronger
relationships with consumers.
In order to optimize the opportunity created by online communities, luxury
brands can proactively incorporate internally managed user communities to
their websites. Although luxury brands have yet to initiate this level of
customer relationship, casual fashion brand Lands End has pioneered a simul-
taneous shopping possibility called ‘Shop with a Friend’, where two shoppers
can browse the website, share notes and purchase goods at the same time.
Other examples outside the luxury fashion sector that enable user communi-
ties include Orange.com and Microsoft.com. An effective brand community
helps to build a closer relationship between consumers and brands.Content
The contents of a luxury brand’s website are significant in sustaining the
brand’s image. The corporate, product and services information provided on
the website should be up-to-date and highly interesting. The presentation
style using text, images, video, sound and colour scheme are also expected to
be well coordinated. In addition, other pleasantly surprising features that
contribute to an enhanced customer experience should be incorporated in the
website. This could be in the form of a brand’s product manufacturing process
or an audio/video greeting from the brand’s ambassador. These tools are
called ‘social benefits’ and their role is to boost the functional benefits
provided by a website. The social benefits that some luxury brands have
provided on their website at different times include product manufacturing
video clips at Vuitton.com and an animated picture story of the Gucci’s La
Pele Guccissima in production at Gucci.com.Customization
The demand for customization of products, services and web experiences is an
aspect of the increasing expectations of online consumers. In the present
luxury market, consumers desire to be recognized and provided with personal
attention. In line with this, they expect the websites of luxury brands to provide
tools to customize and personalize their experiences with the brands. One
method of achieving this is through implementing techniques that aid in
manipulating features of web pages such as background colour, wallpaper and
text size. These could leave powerful lasting impressions on consumers.
Another technique is the provision of multiple background music choices.
Other methods of customization and personalization could be derived from the208
luxury fashion branding