There can be no denying that a huge paradigm shift underway and that both the crisis and the irruption of new technologies are undoubtedly contributing factors. It means there is more information available and that it is accessible by a great many people and we are witnessing a strengthening of the relationship between “equals”. This means that when deciding to buy one thing rather than another, consumers are increasingly likely to place greater trust in the opinions of other consumers who have actually tried out the product in question than in the information provided by companies who are deemed, for obvious reasons, “to be biased”.
Forums, brand communities, blogs and social networks – including Facebook – are increasingly taking the place of businesses as the intermediary between an individual and a particular product or service. As a result, businesses have to make more of an effort than they did to win us over and maintain credibility, otherwise they risk that consumers will stop trusting them.
Businesses must, therefore, recognize that by now change is a question of structure, which means rethinking the role of consumers who are seen less and less as such and rather more as individuals who are, therefore, more concerned with relationships, the environment and how businesses behave. Company reputations therefore play a fundamental part in decisions about whether or not to buy something from them; they are increasingly characterized by their ethical stance, based, more often than not, on the extent of their sustainability, responsibility and their greater capacity to establish a relationship with clients as individuals.
From a past spent in the pursuit of self-interest and a narcissistic and solitary form of consumerism, we are moving towards a future based on trust and co-operation that features proactivity, coming together and the desire to be part of a particular project as opposed to the logic of an event for its own sake and indeed, its credibility. Ergo the need for marketing activities with a communications mix rationale based precisely on this new, socially aware type of consumer. In other words, the new form of marketing known as “societing”.
Two meanings can be attributed to the origins of the word “luxury”. The first refers to the Latin word luxus that means an exuberance of vegetation or, metaphorically speaking, an abundance of delicious things. The second word, also Latin, is “lux”, meaning light or splendor, which is however linked to a second meaning derived from the Greek word loxos, meaning “to grow in a way that is oblique, not straight, and consequently, “to grow excessively”, and also, excesses in general. It is also worth remembering that another word rooted in luxus is luxuria, full of negative connotations of debauchery and decadence.
The luxury sector is, therefore, one that is seen, in the collective imagination in both positive and negative terms. It is undoubtedly a dynamic concept that has changed over time even if it has held on to a few basic features like uniqueness, exclusivity, prestige, tradition and craftsmanship. The experiential dimension that characterizes this historic period is becoming increasingly important to luxury consumers, which is why, for example, describing the processes that lead to the creation of a particular product by means of a simple video has an emotional significance that is extremely important and a winning strategy for the company concerned. Choice itself becomes “a luxury” and making a particular choice is something that needs to be stimulated by new options, because quality alone is no longer enough to choose a product and companies must be committed to creating an experience wonderful enough to effectively bear witness to the excellence of the company responsible for it. On this point, the made in Italy brand plays an important role because it is a recognized guarantee of both spatial and temporal exclusivity that is consistent and continues to have great appeal abroad. Such an advantage, however, needs to be protected by combining it with innovation.
The growth of e-commerce in Italy between 2004 and 2014 was indeed exponential. Over that ten year period, sales turnover increased from 1.5 billion to 24.5 billion and these days, some 40 million Italians are hooked up to the internet. To be specific, in 2014 e-commerce experienced an 8% increase over the previous year and a noteworthy component of that 8% involved purchases from major marketplaces such as Amazon or E-Bay whose sales increased by 55%. It is a global phenomenon that has embraced all countries that are benefitting from the focus these hyper-platforms, equipped with their own logistics, are placing on providing an excellent service and customer care in addition to offering plenty of choice. Note that almost all are American.
In Italy, on the other hand, the situation is characterized by the fact that it is the complete opposite of one that is standardized: Italian platforms exemplify what it means to be different, as seen in the creation of a series of start-ups each offering users new experiences. On that point, generative relationships deserve a mention. These are born thanks to opportunities created by the web – that is certainly not a tool for consistency – that make it possible to branch off in new, unorthodox directions.
It should also be noted that like its e-commerce, Italy’s switchover to digital is now a well-established reality. The country continues to be TV-centric, but it is true to say that the face of TV has changed and Italy now has both social and second service TV too. This means that TV content unites traditional TV and social media (and therefore attracts comments) and is often only viewed on a pc or Smartphone. It is fundamentally important therefore that TV companies know how to listen to what is being said over the internet so that they can communicate more effectively with their respective audiences, consumers whose lives are now happily divided into on and offline mode. Finally, it should also be remembered that at the point where communication, promotion and sales converge, the capacity to interpret big data is also necessary. That is a real challenge, but one that businesses have to win if they truly want to have a dialogue with their clients.