Luxury is commercially successful! Despite
the economic crisis since 2008, European luxury brands have been
unflinchingly successful, a few Euro-based multinationals such as
LVMH, PPR and L’Oreal have overperformed many industrial blueships
positioned in industries referred to basic needs (energy, water).
This situation is partly explained by the opening of new market in
emergent countries such as China, India and Brazil. According to
most analysts, luxury, and especially its Euro practices, therefore
reflects recent changes in global capitalism. Because luxury brands
are omnipresent in the media, it is safe to say that luxury
communication corresponds to evolutions in the dominant
representations. This calls for an analysis of aesthetics and
values in relation to the new influence of large luxury brands. How
come artful European marketing and management is so in sync with
global developments, and how can this enhance Euro global
competitiveness?
We explore the new partnerships between large luxury brands
(managed by private European companies) and artists (in relation to
art institutions ). For instance, three biopics of Coco Chanel were
recently issued and were seen by millions of people around the
world. Videos by Karl Lagerfeld (current designer of Chanel) were
also posted on the Internet as « art advertisement ».
This goes beyond the traditional « product placement »
strategy, and it makes it difficult to set a limit between
advertisement and creation. The partnership between Louis Vuitton
and visual artist Takashi Murakami also questions the nature of
each operations and roles within « creative industries ».
Within « creative industries », we may observe a
reconfiguration of the hierarchy of talents and skills that were so
far orchestrated by art institutions. Today we witness an ongoing
fusion of culture with commerce; a process that renders European
luxury artful.
This leads us to reflect on the role of the media audience and
visibility on the evaluation and management of skills and resources
(copyright rules, contracts) and on the combinations of rare
resources (precious materials, prestige locations) and skills (arts
and craft traditions) to create unique offers. We also pay
attention to the reinterpretation of artistic and cultural codes in
a time where mixes, hybridizations and samplings are very popular.
In order to appreciate the specificity of European
strategies students are provided with toolbox of methods consisting
of;
Market semiotics (images, symbols and
styles and in particular brands)
Market exegesis and text-analysis (story-telling, stylistic
devises)
Market aesthetics; identify specific experiences (feelings,
emotions, senses) evoked by marketing and management methods
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Videos:
Coco Chanel (three biopics), on documentary by L. Prigent and
online videos by Karl Lagerfeld
Diane Arbus (biopic)
The day before (Loïc Prigent, video documentaries on fashion-shows
in the making, four houses)
Stellarc (performance)
The Stein (video documentary)
Videos : Cannes Festival, Oscar Ceremonies (with fashion in
mind
Zara fast fashion
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