MAM
JWT reveals initial findings of study on luxury brands
MUMBAI: Franco-Indian research project on ‘Communicating luxury to the affluent masses‘ between JWT Mumbai and the French Grande Ecole, ESC Dijon-Bourgogne presented their initial findings.
The objective of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of how to retain exclusivity whilst marketing luxury to a wider audience.
The paper explains three phases in the evolution of the market: luxurification, deluxurifcation and re luxurification. It suggests connoting a sense of ‘distance‘ as being the key to building long terms brand success.
ESC Dijon professor of marketing Glyn Atwal said, “The luxurification of Indian consumer society means that consumers are now developing brand preferences.
An important and paradoxical revelation of the research study was the process of deluxurification in India. An online survey with luxury consumers found that only 43 per cent of respondents agreed that luxury brands are of significant higher quality than non-luxury brands.
JWT Mumbai VP and executive planning director Shaziya Khan added, “Luxury brands can reach out to the affluent masses but they need to retain the aura of prestige and exclusivity.”
Khan has written extensively on the importance of luxury brands connoting distance, as the financial gap among the affluent masses and classes narrows.
“Luxury brands have a range of techniques to evoke a sense of distance. For example, this could be based on cultural, historical or intellectual distance. This will give luxury brands a sustainable competitive advantage” Khan added.
The study concludes that luxury brands need to consider a strategy of reluxurification. Khan said, “This is about creating a sense of distance. If something is within reach, you don‘t value it as much as you value something that is far from you or beyond you.”
Brands
Hardik Jhaveri named senior director marketing at Colgate-Palmolive Asean hub
Former Hill’s Pet Nutrition general manager returns to the company to steer marketing for South Asean from Kuala Lumpur
KUALA LUMPUR:Â Hardik Jhaveri has been appointed senior director marketing for the South Asean hub at Colgate-Palmolive, marking a return to the consumer goods major after a three year stint with Hill’s Pet Nutrition. He will be based in Kuala Lumpur and will lead marketing strategy for the region.
Jhaveri joins the role after serving as general manager at Hill’s Pet Nutrition in Taipei, where he led a cross functional team and oversaw the business with full profit and loss responsibility. The role placed him at the helm of operations in Taiwan, managing growth in what he described as a start-up style environment within a global multinational.
Before that, Jhaveri spent over a decade with Colgate-Palmolive across several marketing and innovation roles in Asia. As associate director innovation for Apac excluding China, based in Hong Kong, he led new product development and launches across multiple markets.
His portfolio ranged from developing specialised oral care products such as a diabetes focused toothpaste for the Indian market to launching premium oral care experiences under the Colgate Total brand in Australia. Alongside innovation, he also worked on launch planning, brand strategy and communications for the company’s oral care portfolio.
Earlier in his Colgate-Palmolive journey, Jhaveri held roles including marketing manager innovation, senior brand manager and brand manager. His work spanned urban and rural markets in Mumbai and customer development responsibilities in the Greater Kolkata Area.
Prior to his long association with Colgate-Palmolive, Jhaveri worked as brand officer home care at Unilever, where he helped drive marketing initiatives for the Rin detergent brand, including nationwide relaunch and on ground activation campaigns.
He began his career in advertising with Bates David Enterprise, working on brands such as IDBI Bank, The Leela Hotels and The Times of India.
Jhaveri holds a post graduate programme in management from the Indian School of Business and has also completed a level 4 diploma in wine from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Announcing the move, Jhaveri said he is excited to begin his new chapter at Colgate-Palmolive’s South Asean hub and thanked colleagues and mentors who supported his journey at Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
