"You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely take care of it for the next generation.” This well-known Patek Philippe tag line tells its customers that the brand's heritage could be part of their own as they bequeath their Patek timepieces to their future generations. (Patek Philippe's famous next-generation ad (c) Patek Philippe) One … Continue reading Luxury’s other heritage challenge
Tag: business model
Authenticity, genuineness and the luxury brand
A friend of mine is a genuine, passionate Porsche fan. Awaken him from deep sleep and start asking him about the Porsches he has owned through the years, and you begin to see how deep his fountain of knowledge, and his genuine affection for and attachment to the brand run. (Porsche North America customer welcome … Continue reading Authenticity, genuineness and the luxury brand
Respectful design, contemptuous design
Conversations with many friends, who are building communities for social businesses or are in other customer-facing roles, reveal a shared frustration. It appears that community builders and customer facing persons, and designers in a business are singing from different hymn sheets. Often, once the beta or whatever the business deems a shippable version of the … Continue reading Respectful design, contemptuous design
Customer service stories from America
I just got back from a few days in the Mecca of start-ups. They do things differently over there. Well they used to, till globalisation made us all the same. SCRIPTING FOR PRAISE Last week, while making a cardholder-not-present transaction with an American business, my card was declined. Twice. I told the customer service person … Continue reading Customer service stories from America
Unflattered by imitation
Luxury marques trade partly on the tangible benefits of craftsmanship, provenance and history, and partly on exclusivity (i.e. some can only aspire to them not afford them) and the brand name's signalling value. While discussing the face-off between the democratic web and the exclusive nature of luxury, in an earlier post, I wrote that the … Continue reading Unflattered by imitation
Technology and taboos redefined – part two
A friend recently lamented that she was unable to reach a client on any of the three available contacts she had for him. "Ah, modern communication!", she quipped. It set me thinking. About two conflicting phenomena in my life. First, that I have 5 separate email accounts on my iDevices. I separate different threads of … Continue reading Technology and taboos redefined – part two
Four For Friday (17)
This week’s eclectic, interesting reads: At the cusp of technology and regulation, Matthew C Nisbet argues why scientists must join food activists in examining regulation. This in the context of GE crops. The designer of all things i - Sir Jonathan iVe, oops, Ive - on his quest for simplicity, and why simplicity isn't simple. … Continue reading Four For Friday (17)
The future of “digital”…
.. is actually in "meatspace". Why? Because this wisdom that always holds good: it's when you deliver that counts. https://storify.com/shefaly/the-future-of-digital.js?header=false%5BView the story "The future of "digital"..." on Storify]
Only the monetising survive…
Watching financial news these days makes me feel I am in a Poseidon-like adventure film. Markets crash and burn, long-established institutions go out of business, gloom and doom is served with every newscast, and TV pundits advise people to take money out of stocks if they are going to need it in the next 5 … Continue reading Only the monetising survive…
We didn’t start the bubble…
Over at Ruhi's blog, on her enthusiastic post about Tumblr, my conversation with Ruhi started with and centred on finding out that elusive detail: what is the business model? After much toing and froing, it emerges that "nothing much" is the answer. On a related note, a friend of mine sent me a link which … Continue reading We didn’t start the bubble…
