An introduction to luxury in design

The first course "An introduction to luxury in design" focused on the one million dollar question :
“ What is luxury ?”

Luxury brands communicate to their clients essentially via :

Experiences :

Stores, press, private events, online

Forms :

Fine materials, packaging

Essences :

Myths and dreams

Even though Harrods is essentially an intermediary reseller it is obviously also a brand.

Harrods is acting as a quality guarantor. Most people will think: "If it is sold at Harrods it must be good." And there is a reason why client go there and not somewhere else.

Moreover, Harrods is selling for a long time products on its own name. From food, to wines, gift or even fashion. This is the best evidence to prove that Harrods is not only a middle man but a brand by itself.

So how does Harrods communicate ?

In experiences :

The Harrods experience is probably the essential element. People and especially tourists often visit Harrods as a museum with no intention to buy anything. But they will not resist to buy a little souvenir as a teddy bear or a key holder.

They want to see the biggest and first department store in the world.
Each year more than 15 million people visit the store...

In form :

The Harrods green bag, the teddy bear, the Christmas lightings, the uniform doorman are all part of Harrods brand identity. People are expecting to see that when they come at Harrods.

In essence :

They are a lot of historical events that contributed to the Harrods myth. From its heritage to the tragically end romance between Lady Diana and Al Fayed's sun.

All those elements make Harrods a unique place to shop.
From a little affordable souvenir to the most expensive luxury product, every client can taste the "Harrods experience".

At the end of the session we discussed what where the emotional qualities of the luxury brand.

- legendary & eternal

- opulent

- reliable

would probably effectively describe Harrods personality.