You’ve likely heard of the Dior brand. In case you haven’t, Dior is a French luxury fashion house currently under the direction of businessman Bernard Arnault. Arnault also heads LVMH, one of the world’s biggest luxury groups.
Some people know Dior for their breakthroughs in fashion. But even people outside of the luxury market and fashion industries can recognize the Dior brand. How did Dior become this recognizable and successful? And what can you learn from their marketing tactics?
The Luxury Brand Approach
For starters, we need to understand that luxury brands don't market themselves the same way that other brands do. Luxury brands need to differentiate themselves and focus on different appeals.
These are some of the most important elements of a luxury brand’s marketing:
Niche targeting
Luxury products aren't going to be accessible to everyone. The high price point means large swaths of consumers simply aren't going to be able to afford these types of products. Additionally, people who make significant money have specific tastes – meaning not all luxury consumers are going to be interested in your specific fashion. To address this, luxury brand marketing campaigns need to feature niche targeting.
Exclusivity
Luxury brands often succeed by cultivating an air of exclusivity. Customers aren't just buying a product; they're buying a lifestyle. People want to feel like they're buying into a culture that not everyone can afford or enjoy. Accordingly, these vibes need to be front and center in an effective marketing campaign.
Value
Luxury brands also need to prioritize the perceived value of what they are creating. If a luxury brand appears to fall behind a competitor, or if the quality of their work drops, the entire brand could crumble.
The Hallmarks of Dior’s Marketing Campaigns
So what are the specific marketing strategies that Dior has used to become so successful?
Brand identity and consistency
For starters, Dior has an impressive brand identity and remarkable consistency in presenting that identity throughout all its marketing campaigns. The Dior team has taken great care to make sure every product distributed by the company falls in line with the overarching vision for the brand – and all forms of communication and messaging from Dior seem to be in alignment with that vision as well.
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Multimedia and an omnichannel approach
Dior succeeds by adopting a multimedia and Omni channel approach. The brand recognizes that each channel has strengths and weaknesses, and it plays to those strengths and weaknesses effectively. You can find Dior on almost every social media platform, in print magazine ads, and even in virtual reality (VR) exhibitions and fashion shows: the brand is everywhere.
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Segmentation strategies
There are many different audiences interested in Dior, and the brand utilizes segmentation strategies to appeal to each of these demographics independently. As a simple example, Dior has multiple social media accounts. On Instagram, there’s the core Dior official account, which caters to its primary consumers, but there’s also Dior Homme, which targets male consumers specifically. This allows them to greatly increase the relevance of their messaging, appealing to one audience at a time.
Influencer marketing
Dior has tapped into the power of many celebrities, including Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, Rihanna, Natalie Portman, and more. You've likely seen some of these celebrities in ads for specific products. This is an expensive, but incredibly powerful technique. When you have a household name and a pretty face attached to your product, people immediately begin associating it with luxury and status. It's an effective way to bring in the distribution of your messaging, since through the influencer, you can reach millions of people. But it's also a way to build the reputation and image of the products you're creating
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Ambitious exhibits
One of the most impressive elements of Dior’s marketing strategy has been its amazing exhibits. For example, in Esprit Dior, Dior shows off some of its most interesting and captivating pieces, celebrating themes that include: Paris, Dior and his artist friends, Dior Garden, Dior Allure, Dior Atelier, Dior’s Stars, Versailles: Trianon, Miss Dior, From Pink to Red, and J’adore. These interactive and innovative establishments help brand enthusiasts fully immerse themselves in the style of the brand while presenting new appeals to unfamiliar audiences.
Far reach
Dior has more than 4,000 stores in 35 countries around the world. Rather than applying the same strategies to every location or every audience throughout the world, Dior subtly adjusts its marketing to appeal to specific people. For example, to cater to Chinese audiences, Dior sold Lady Dior bags on WeChat amidst Qixi Festival holiday celebrations; originally planned as a 4-day event, the timing was quickly truncated after the bags sold out in a single day.
What Can You Learn?
What are the most important marketing lessons you can learn from Dior?
Even if you're not a luxury brand, you can benefit from the following:
- Start with a brand outline: Make sure you have formal brand guidelines in place, and consider educating and training everyone in your marketing department to ensure they follow those brand specifications exactly. If your voice, your values, or your presentation begin to waver, you may instantly suffer reputational damage or alienate your audience.
- Employ many channels and media formats: Capitalize on a multifaceted outreach strategy. In today's hyper-connected world, it's not enough to focus on one platform or one communication channel. Instead, you need to reach your consumers in many different ways.
- Specifically target niche audience: Segment your audiences and craft your messaging to specifically appeal to individual groups. If you do this, your messaging will be seen as much more relevant and it will be much more persuasive.
- Differentiate yourself: There are probably many brands like yours already on the market. So what makes yours unique? Highlight these differentiating factors.
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