PRAXIS 2022: Futureproofing PR: Learnings from the World of Luxury

Why do people buy luxury brands?  It’s because they want to communicate something about themselves. Luxury is about dreams and making dreams come true, clarified Ipsita Das, Managing Director, Moet Hennessey India, elaborating on her definition of luxury. “Luxury makes you feel special”. It has united people and motivated them as well. It makes people deliriously happy, and at the end, “it was always known to make people dream”. The focus was on – “Futureproofing PR: Learnings from the World of Luxury”. 

How is this relevant in India? Here’s a reality check. According to the Euromonitor International, India’s luxury market will be worth $8.5 billion in 2022, against $6 billion in 2021 and it is projected to surpass $200 billion by 2030.  And, who is driving this growth? The growing middle class and the young population. Gen Z will form 40% of the segment by 2025, and “luxury is here to stay and will continue to grow”. 

There will emerge 300 new luxury brands in India in the next 3 years and, luxury is not going to be for the select few anymore.  So, she cautioned that brands have to be future-ready. 

The power of 5Cs

Here ‘consumer centricity’ comes in clearly – where the consumer is the center. She explained that 28% of India drink whisky (done with soda or mixed with water) and single malt was not there till Glenmorangie came in. There is a growing demographic of experimental whisky consumers in India. 

Then ‘cultural sensitivity’ and ‘creative agility’ also comes in for a creative idea that does not resonate with consumers is nothing! ‘Collaboration mindset’ and ‘courage to commit’ is also important. And, in order to stay relevant, brands need to commit to the future. 

“The 5Cs are great for making business grow but, storytelling is what makes brand leave behind a legacy,” she elaborated. For storytelling creates memories and elevates our experience; but it needs to be a relevant story tied to the 5Cs. This is where the role of PR becomes more prominent, for PR has the power to make any story ‘cool’. And how do you futureproof PR?  All the 5Cs are relevant. Her advice – “PR needs to have an independent say. In fact, PR is everywhere. The moral of the story is – let’s give PR a seat on the table”. 

In a conversation with Noopur Sharma, Partner & Director, PR Pundit, she noted –“We take pride in creating experiences. The notion of luxury is changing and has expanded now. It is a lot more democratized” and added that “it will continue to give niche experiences and make people feel special. 

Pointing out that creative campaigns are complicated today, Noopur asked what are the trends emerging. Quick on the uptake, Ipsita listed out a few trends seen globally – being authentic, unique experiences, the element of sustainability and a ‘fun’ factor coming in, for everyone wants to have fun and be highly engaged too. 

Finally, Ipsita rounded off futureproofing PR in 3 words – expansion of skills, measure your impact, curate and personalise.

The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.

Shree Lahiri

Shree is the Senior Editor at Reputation Today and hopes to move from one focus area to another in the editions that will be released this year. Having worked in Corporate Communications teams, she has experience of advertising, public relations, investor and employee communications, after which she moved to the other side – journalism. She enjoys writing and believes the power of the pen is indeed mighty. Covering the entertainment beat and the media business, she has been involved in a wide range of activities that have thrown open storytelling opportunities.

She can be reached at: @shree_la on twitter