Luxury brands go for radical rethink in customer approach

Paris: With the transformation come other financial decisions. One of these is how luxury groups re-allocate their advertising budgets to take advantage of social networks.

As one top luxury-industry executive said: “The celebrity system has taken a different spin with all the social media; some years ago, it was important to show Julia Roberts in Vogue; today, getting Rihanna to Instagram has no comparison.”

A second is rethinking traditional communication channels with important clients. On a recent phone call with one of LVMH’s biggest Chinese buyers, Antonio Belloni asked if there was anything he could do. “He said, ‘there is one thing you should do’,” Belloni recalls. “‘Don’t call me, send me a message on WeChat.’”

How long it is before Ian Rogers is sending his new boss innovative digital ideas via a chat app remains an open question. As Belloni puts it: “He will get to know the people, will work with us and the different brands; there will be a learning period.”

— Financial Times