Every few years I attend the FT luxury conference to better understand the latest trends taking place in the luxury industry.

This year was particularly interesting as it centered around disruption and how the innovators have the potential to disrupt the luxury landscape. In that respect, social media was a big subject and it kept up coming up among the speakers. This was especially relevant to me as I write a blog and am active on Instagram.

In fact, as a result of the conference I am going to make some small but relevant changes to my blog going forward that will be difficult to implement but will improve my engagement with my readers going forward. I will share these changes with you at the end.

Before I go into the trends within luxury, a short general comment on luxury from a top down view:

China is of course the big elephant in the room and the luxury industry is largely dependent on China and its spending habits. In 7 years China will account for 44% of all luxury spending – a staggering figure (according to Alibaba Group). While China may be the biggest luxury spender, it is the Middle East that spends the most money per person at least on credit card purchases – according to AMEX. 

Here are main trends I picked up listening to the speakers*:

• Luxury is about engagement: Having a strong brand is not enough today. Today smart luxury is about engagement and the service behind the brand. All the big players mentioned this point (Moncler, Ferretti, Rimowa).
• Customer is becoming smarter: The customer understands better than ever what are behind the brands (quality, craftsmanship etc.) Taking short cuts will ruin the brand equity of brands quickly as the customer will find out.
• The key problem facing brands today: Consumers (especially millennials) want everything right away and quickly and are always looking for the next thing. How should brands manage this and still stay true to their DNA? 
• Polarisation in luxury taking place: Brands have to decide where to play. Brands that focus on the mass market or very high end will be fine – it is the middle space that will be difficult to manage and compete in.
• Experiences, experiences, experiences: It is the experience that is becoming key differentiating factor in luxury brands. Bad experiences can go viral today and you can lose your brand credibility in an instant.
• Collaboration booming important: Increasingly brands are partnering with other brands to make a unique product. Alexandre Arnault gave the example of his collaboration of Remowa and Supreme. This collaboration sold out online in 36sec! Not bad for a suitcase that is trading for up to €4000 on the online platforms (original price was €1800).
• Instagram and social media key: The luxury consumer is using Instagram to decide and manage purchases. The CEO of Ferretti yachts (which owns Riva boats) told us that just recently a customer ordered a RIVA boat online due to a post he saw on Instagram.
• Instagram is the new business card: Brands should treat instagram as their business card. Instagram carries the persona of your brand and the message you want to convey. Social media is an intrinsic part of any brand today.
• Luxury is about aspiration and storytelling: Brands that master story telling and are aspirational (cause consumers to dream) will win in today’s market.

What does this mean for me  and my brand who uses social media and writes a blog that is so personal? After all this blog has my name written on it.

Well if there was one main takeaway from the conference, it was that brands are collaborating more than ever. Brands constantly used the word inclusiveness and engagement. At the moment my blog is a one man show. I do everything alone and while the big advantage is that I have complete control over the content and image of my blog – the future lies in sharing and collaboration.

This is bad new for me who loves to do things alone. 

The reality though is that ALL the successful brands that spoke at the conference or that I follow are collaborating. Its not even even only the physical brands but social media too. All the big and successful blogs are partnering and collaborating. 

As a result I am going to invite more guests to post an article – I did the first one with a young collector Mr. A and received excellent feedback. Secondly I am going to work on opening up my blog for comments.

Both of these measures will involve more work but will be good longer term. Content wise I will not change much as I believe in staying focussed – it is just my sources and inputs will involve more outside guests and sources going forward. You can expect to start seeing changes gradually and within 12-24months.

I leave you with a few impressions of Venice which was the perfect setting for a luxury conference to take place.

(*The speakers I quoted from are: Seb Badault – Alibaba Group, Eduardo Caovilla – Caovilla Shoes,  Alexandre Arnualt – Rimowa Group, Marco de Benedetti – The Carlyle Group, Luca di Montezemolo – ex Ferrari, and J Whiteside AMEX).

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I am lucky to have chosen the perfect hotel which to stay at in Venice – the Hotel Danieli right in San Marco’s square.

Old fashioned, luxurious and full of history.

The first evening was hosted by DFS which is a big duty free retailer based in HK and controlled by LVMH. 

They had a huge department store called Fondaco di Tedeschi. This is a shopping mall but basically its a palace with a 3 star Michelin restaurant in the middle of it below.

On the top floor they hosted a nice dinner before the luxury conference began.

Which offered spectacular views over Venice.

On the day of the conference – it was a blue sky day at Breakfast at the Danieli. This was my view at Breakfast.

 

Even though it was a blue sky day I came to understand trends in luxury.

One of my favourite speeches was by Luca di Montezemolo ex chairman of Ferrari.

He talked about how the winner in luxury will be that brand that innovates in social media and differentiates himself from his competitor while staying true the DNA of the brand.

After it was time to let the culture of Venice and Italy sink in.

Even the simplest of cafes had luxurious chandeliers presumably made of Murano glass.

Venice is a place where waiters dress better than most people in my city and most people I know.

Even the Rolex shop had a sign made out of wood (if I am not mistaken it is an official Rolex retailer).

At night musicians played music and once again even they were dressed in black tie and so were the waiters.

It was time to visit Harrys bar – the legendary place where Hemingway hung out and where they serve the best bellini.

Next day some walking around. The coolest gondola I have seen in Venice.

It was time to leave Venice. A unique city full of history and culture and luxury.

Even the trainstation had a more elegant coffee house than the best coffee houses I know in my country.

Venice – I will be back very soon.

For the last FT luxury conference attended see our post here.