The year 2024, like the previous year, is being a challenge for luxury brands globally. The brands have shown resilience, especially in Bharat, and, to its consumers, are more desirable than ever. At a time when the outlook is more challenging, and as customers become more discerning about where, how, and why they spend, luxury brands must ensure they are agile and flexible enough to respond to the uncertainties they face.

While there are some broad alignments between luxury consumers globally, there is a need to have a deeper understanding of price-sensitive and value-for-money-seeking luxury consumers of Bharat. In my new book Bharat, A Luxe Story, which is based on a series of lectures I have delivered in the UK, I have decoded and classified the luxury consumers of Bharat into Flaunters, Connoisseurs, Aesthetes, and Experientialists.

Consumers of Loud Luxury - Flaunters

From the time of the Maharajas, flaunting luxury has been the primary objective of owning luxury and thus visibility of the logo even to the extent that others feel uncomfortable was acceptable and desired. And later with evolution, The Great Aspiring Middle Class of Bharat (GAMCB) has become an integral part of this category of flaunters.

Cut to today, a socialite friend who used to swear by a clutch that she used to take to every party had secretly confessed that she isn't that fond of it but only carries it for the monogram tag. That's the power of a brand for this genre.

Welcome to the world of flaunters who tend to value brand names over all other factors. The visibility of the brand name at strategic positions across the product is a big deal for them as such purchases denote their status in their society. So the brand needs to be aspirational, else, what's the big deal? The newly rich or new money classes, especially their younger counterparts, are mostly badge seekers at the stage where the brand name is supposedly the biggest status indicator. There is a strong urge to prove to society that they are also a part of the elitist luxury brand wagon.

According to a survey more such consumers were seen in cities like Ludhiana and Raipur where they justify the ownership of brands by stating that they are now in a status or position which makes it de rigueur. Interestingly, for this category of consumers, the brands are on a continuum. They can show off Zara as a daily wear to Prada on special occasions with élan.

As flaunters move up the societal ladder, the badge value is conferred not only by the brand but also by the level of difficulty in obtaining the product or service. Dinner reservations at hard-to-get restaurants, Birkin or Kelly bags for which the wait list is over four years, monogrammed and hot stamped Louis Vuitton bags with their initials, accessories made from exotic leather like of crocodile or snake -- the ability to acquire these with relative ease is a reflection of their status.

To tap this segment of consumers, well-known but exclusive services and products are the way forward.

Consumers of Quiet Luxury

The next two categories – Connoisseurs and Aesthetes -- belong to a segment of the New Maharajas, the Richie Rich of today, who have replaced the age-old royalty. However, there is a significant difference in the way they showcase their wealth and luxury. They are quiet in terms of displaying logos of luxury brands. These categories of consumers pride themselves in being more knowledgeable in their understanding the luxury brands. They do, however, flaunt but only to the other New Maharajas and not to the masses. They leave subtle indications of the exclusivity that they own so that they can say how special they are, even among specials. (Reference: The Quiet Luxe by the author)

Connoisseurs

This genre is passionate in certain areas of interest and is mostly well-informed and knowledgeable about it. These could be art, scotch, wine, watches, writing instruments, cigars, or horses, not particularly in that order. These connoisseurs get together and appreciate the finer aspects of their passion. They form clubs and meet for a quiet appreciation of the finer things in life -- it may be a Horology Society of Timekeepers, a Wine Club, a Cuban Cigar Club, or a Super Car Club.

This segment just revels in enjoying what they appreciate the most. For instance, the Single Malt Club members come together, discuss, study, debate, and share their appreciation and experience in high spirits (pun intended).

They will spend their time and money in pursuit of the collection of personal passion points. They make the pursuit of their area of passion a mission and pursue it with zest and will not bat an eyelid for spending a fortune on limited editions, handcrafted editions, or the spirit of the bygone era.

They are reluctant to place value on brands unless they stand for exquisite exclusivity. They take pride in their knowledge of esoteric brands that are not widely known. Luxury to them is purely a matter of the level of craftsmanship, and the number of man-hours spent, which will determine the quality of the products or services that they buy. Niche, but specialized brands across categories will make their mark with these consumers. They are willing to pay a higher premium so curated services that bring such products to them will be a great getaway to tap into their need for excellence.

Aesthetes

In this genre, the brand is much less important than the design. Aesthetes are quiet luxury consumers purely because they have arrived at a stage of income due to which they can indulge in their love for design among luxury brands or products.

They will shell out a bomb because the object of desire is hand-stitched and not because of the label. They pride themselves for having an eye that picks up the unique and bold in design.

The difference between them and the connoisseur is that the latter has certain passions which they follow with zeal and the quality and craftsmanship are very important. However, for the former category, it is the aesthetic appeal, the look, and the intricacies of the design that appeal to their senses. They are also likely to pursue this aesthetic across categories, unlike a connoisseur.

Aesthetes and Flaunters are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. While Aesthetes are obsessed with design and label or logo comes quite low on the priority list, for Flaunters label or logo comes right on top and design takes a backseat. However, even Aesthetes are Flaunters in a way, they also flaunt their exquisite designs and feel pride at the snob quotient that most people are not even able to understand or appreciate the elegance. They feel exclusive. 

To tap quiet luxury consumers, luxury brands need to showcase more distinctive and unique designs. 

The next category is very interesting as it is hard to classify it in terms of loud or quiet luxury. These consumers will prefer foreign holidays to diamond jewelry. A jeweler friend once told me that exotic holidays have become their biggest competition.

The Experientialists

This genre typically values new and exciting experiences, more than buying products or brands. They lavishly spend on experiences. In their structured lives, they seek a getaway, hence five-star hotel stays, fine dining, or adventurous/thrilling experiences are their poison. Luxury to them brings up images of being suspended in time and space, not having the pressures of daily life and work responsibilities as they enjoy the time away.

An exquisite piece of art or a handcrafted timepiece may also give a similar experience when you are just in a space where you are appreciating the beauty of it. It is a time warp, every time you look at it, you become so mesmerized by the beauty that you forget your meetings and deadlines. The experience is the luxury, the experience is the dazzle or luxe.

Personalization of experiences takes luxury to a new level. It’s no longer personalization of menus at fine diners for the elite, this would even include the name of the customer being printed on the menu. So for an experimentalist, this is value for money. Going forward these discerning consumers would like to stay in specialty boutique hotels or resorts, luxury spas, or private apartments and villas when on a holiday.

The most intriguing part is that the Experientialist consumer may well be an Aesthete when it comes to apparel and accessories, while a Connoisseur in art may be a Flaunter when it comes to automobiles or his home. Indian consumers are yet to reach a stage where their lives are only dominated by luxury brands and they are constantly evolving.

 

 About the Columnist

Prof. (Dr.) Mahul Brahma, FCES is an author, columnist, academician, and former Editor-in-Chief. He is currently the Dean and Professor of NSHM Media School. Prof Brahma is a Visiting Research Fellow at Bath Business School, Bath Spa University, UK. He is a Fellow of The Commercial Education Society of Australia. He is a former Professor, Dean of the School of Media and Communications, and Director of Communications at an Indian university. He won the Sahityakosh Samman in 2022 and 2023, Crisis Communications Leader of the Year Award in 2021, and several other national-level awards in communications and CSR. He is a luxury commentator and award-winning author of 10 books – 'Bharat, A Luxe Story', The Quiet Luxe, Aesthetic Leadership in Luxury, Mostly Missing: Be Silly Be Slow, The Mythic Value of Luxury, How to Communicate Strategically in Corporate World, the Luxe Trilogy (Decoding Luxe, Dark Luxe, and Luxe Inferno) and Quarantined: Love in the time of Corona. He is a golfer with a 7 handicap.