Lasting memories, "centers of creation" flagship stores, and like-minded cities will drive future sales in the luxury sector, according to new research revealed by graduating students in the Fashion Institute of Technology's School of Graduate Studies Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management Master of Professional Studies program.
FIT’s 2015 Student Capstone, titled “The Future of Luxury: Global Research Insights, Emerging Trends, and New Business Models for 2030,” included, for the first time, original and primary quantitative research in partnership with The Boston Consulting Group. A survey entitled "BCG FIT Global Luxury Customer Survey" was fielded to 3,000 luxury customers in the United States, India and China.
The Future of Luxury research focuses on the evolution of the luxury sector in the year 2030 across three key areas: New Luxury Consumer Values, New Luxury Platforms and New Luxury Epicenters. The findings were presented by the graduates, who also are emerging beauty industry executives, at the CFMM program's annual capstone research presentations, conducted in collaboration with event sponsor LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics, North America, and research partner, The Boston Consulting Group. The accuracy of the CFMM program's annual industry predictions has established it as "The Beauty Industry's Think Tank."
"This year's CFMM capstone research on the luxury sector perfectly captures the nature of FIT's unique culture of research, in which students collaborate with industry thought leaders to produce findings that are predictive of future strategies that will address the complex challenges of global consumer brands. FIT continues to evolve as a major innovation center for the global creative industries," said Professor Stephan Kanlian, chair of FIT's CFMM Program.
The research will also be presented in its entirety at this year’s Cosmoprof North America event in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Sunday July 12 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
New Luxury Consumer Values
Future consumers will look for luxury brands that create long-lasting memories and help them lead more meaningful lives. Brand loyalty is disappearing. In fact, most consumers wouldn't care if 73% of brands disappeared tomorrow. So what will drive purchases when the human attention span is measured at merely eight seconds, one second less than that of a gold fish?
— Emotionally Charged Memories rather than status will drive luxury purchases.
— Sensory Appeal, Delayed Gratification and Disruption are three new emotional triggers that brands can use for successful memory creation.
— Connecting with Consumers in a Meaningful Way will also drive sales in an increasingly time-pressed world.
— The BCG FIT Global Luxury Customer Survey revealed the following universal values across China, India and the United States:
- When asked what they would do with a 25th hour in their day, one in three consumers said they would spend time with family.
- 92% of respondents said that time to oneself was important to them in life.
- When asked what kept them up at night, 97% said that health and well-being were most important.
Three insights were developed as strategies to ensure continued success of luxury brands.
— Consumer First: Increase investment in development of new consumer products and experiences to 8%. Leading luxury beauty brands invest only 3% today; while innovative tech companies such as Google and Amazon invest 14.9% and 10.4%, respectively.
— MOODmetrics: Map the ever-changing moods of consumers as they shop in stores with infrared cameras to decode their immediate needs, even before they realize how they are feeling.
— Metamophic Branding: For unlimited personalization, consumers can bring their purchases back to the store to be refashioned as their lifestyles change. In beauty, lip color can morph as the customer's mood fluctuates.
[Image courtesy of Fashion Institute of Technology]