Mahul Brahma's Blog

The Quiet Luxe

The way to communicate “loud luxury” or luxury where overt showcasing is the primary objective to consumers who are flaunters or who basically are logo-driven consumers is always selling logos and more logos.
But how do we communicate “quiet luxury” or luxury where the voice of logo is muted and the ego fight is on subliminal flaunting of luxury? Quiet luxury is a minimalist approach to luxury and fashion that emphasises timeless elegance, legacy, aesthetics, subliminal ego and exclusivity.
Let’s first understand the consumers of quiet luxury, primarily the ones who are obsessed with aesthetics such as Aesthetes and the ones who are the “real collectors” or rather the Connoisseurs. These are the two categories where the consumer is just not swayed by logos.
These are consumers who come from “old money”, who do not feel the need to establish the “coming of age” to everyone. However, they are more ego-driven to establish their supremacy to the others who they think are also from the same strata of society. The subtle cut of the bespoke suit from Savile Row or the logo-less uber-class limited edition jacket of Louis Vuitton, which are hard to find but the trained eye will know that it is 10 times more expensive than the logo-studded jacket are the signs of flaunting in “quiet luxury” space.
So communication also has to be bespoke. Communication has to be driven by two factors – exclusivity and ego. Therefore, luxury brands who are targeting the quiet luxury consumers have to keep a special communications and branding package ready wherein the logo is not showcased but the exclusivity is.
You can buy the logo but you can’t just buy the class!
Luxury leather brand Bottega Veneta has no logo as it says “you are the biggest brand”. An expert eye can tell from a distance from Bottega’s signature “intreciatto” weaving craftsmanship. So you have to communicate the ego-booster – “you are the biggest brand”.
Ironically, we all are in the same queue, waiting eagerly to be treated as special. The “exclusion principle” works like magic.
Brand communication needs to explicitly showcase exclusivity, the legacy of the brand, the intricacies of the movements in case of a watch or of the craftsmanship in other cases…harping on the number of man hours that have been painstakingly spent to make this unique piece as a “quiet luxury” desirable product.
So communication becomes complicated when the same brand appeals to both consumers of loud and quiet luxury. The biggest challenge is that the old money brands and the new money brands seldom overlap. Brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton are more known to appeal to loud luxury consumers or the flaunters while Patek Philippe appeals more to quiet luxury consumers such as the Connoisseurs and Aesthetes. So for Louis Vuitton or Gucci to appeal to old money consumers the brand messaging needs to abruptly change and appeal to exclusivity and subliminal ego boosting for an effective brand communication.
So, to communicate quite luxury a brand needs to know the art of subliminal marketing wherein the ego, legacy, exclusivity, man-hour investment and, of course, the story are the key drivers.

The Quiet Luxe

The Mythic Value of Luxury

The word luxury comes from the word luxe, which means “dazzle”. What creates that dazzle? The core element of that dazzle is that it represents something unique. So what keeps the luxury brand dazzling over the ages? The unique element that luxury brands that have stayed on for ages is mythic value. They have been an embodiment of contradictions passed on as a legacy of the heritage they were a part of.

The tales of luxury have a deep root in heritage and have always been a story of embodying contradictions. As stated earlier, the greater the contradiction, the greater the appeal of a luxury brand. The legend, the heritage continues to lure, continues to create awe, continues to remind the contradictions it represents – both simultaneously. That is why the heritage remains the greatest USP of any luxury brand even today. Thus, it is the mythic value stemming from the heritage that makes a brand iconic or legendary.
Let me explain with a few examples of how heritage plays a critical role in creating mythic value. The heritage is primarily originated from our Royalty.
In 1926, the Maharaja of Patiala gave Cartier its largest commission till date the remodelling of his crown jewels, which included the 234.69 carat De Beers diamond. The result was the Patiala necklace weighing 962.25 carats with 2,930 diamonds. In 1928, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir placed 30 orders in six months for trunks from luggage maker Louis Vuitton. Not to mention that a certain Nizam had procured 50 Harley Davidsons for his postmen to deliver his messages. 9
Let’s look at the case of the Maharaja of Patiala. An Indian native Maharaja adorning the most expensive Cartier crown necklace with the biggest DeBeers diamond that you can ever imagine. This would not have created such a legendary visual if the King were a Brit or European because here two contradictions meet — East meets West. Moreover, the popular perception is that of diamonds as a girl’s best friend. But, a man’s best friend? So this imagery has in itself another contradiction – Man and Diamonds. This was the image of Maharaja of Patiala, who commissioned the largest order to the epitome of Western brand Cartier back in 1926. Now this B/W photograph is carefully showcased in all major Cartier showrooms, some of which I have visited, especially abroad. Cartier executives are trained to carefully mention the story to key clientele, to make the client buy into the “mythic value” of Cartier’s luxury heritage. The client is made to feel one with the legacy of the brand that it carefully has chosen to showcase, as if the product is the conduit to the imagined community of royalty.

An India native Maharaja buying the epitome of reputation in Western culture – a Rolls Royce. And converting it into a garbage collector for the city. Had a European done this to an Indian brand, it would have been commonplace. Again, experience the visual appeal of East deconstructing West by embodying it. These visuals when analysed deeply show that they capture an embodiment of contradictions. These contradictions together create a mythic value in these brands that make them iconic. No wonder these legendary stories are alive for over a century and still able to generate awe. 10

If we look deeper into the case of the Nizam and his postmen, we will see the heritage and contradiction as well. If it were horses it would not have been made through time. If is easy to connect horses with Indian Nizams, given the time and the heritage of royalty. But the moment horses are replaced with Harley Davidsons. Heritage meets modernity creating mythic value.

Thus it is the heritage that helps luxury brands identify and unlock the value of their myth.

Creating mythic value for GenZ: embodying contradiction of technology and heritage

The times are a changing. So luxury brands need to innovate and change with the changing consumers. The contradiction today is experiential luxe that stems from heritage versus UI/UX of luxe ecommerce. And it is the task of the brands to identify this mediation.

The challenges ecommerce, in its existing avatar, faces when it comes to luxury brands. Luxury shopping is steeped in heritage and experience. The constant reminder of heritage, ambiance, the visual treat, the attention of the staff treating you like a king or queen, offering a beverage, even Champagne, and simultaneously sharing the tales of its myth, its legacy and its heritage. For traditional ecommerce, the shopping is primarily for value, the biggest discount. This is just not the premise where luxury brands operate.

Most luxury brands have started investing heavily in social media to generate a market for the millennials or rather millennial millionaires. Suddenly, UI/UX has become an important brand parameter. A mix of both worlds of our heritage and our future in technology is the way ahead. In addition, personalised service to key clienteles is a key element for creating loyalty.
In June 2017, global luxury goods company LVMH launched its own multibrand eCommerce portal, 24 Sèvres, named after its Paris address (24 rue de Sèvres) and inspired by its Parisian luxury department store Le Bon Marché. Featuring not only LVMH’s own portfolio of brands (including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior) the eCommerce site also curates luxury fashion, accessories and beauty products outside of the Group. 11
There is a role that AI (artificial learning) and ML (machine learning) can play. Using analytics, the clothing of the customer can be analysed and options suggested from what is available in the stores. AI spend is all set to rise to USD 7.3 billion in 2022 from USD 2 billion in 2018. 12

With the rise of millennial millionaires, technology has a greater role to play as a mediator between the contradictions of experiencing luxury and using ecommerce. The technological advancement of SAP is joining hands with the epitome of heritage Harrods to develop technology for creating a personalised shopping experience, which will have the heritage of Harrods and the power of technology – a perfect example of mythic value. 13

Therefore, in the new world order for luxury, innovation towards mediation will play a key role. Innovative formats like Zero Inventory Stores or Pop Up stores are quite in vogue, creating the mix of ecommerce and physical stores. Around 800 stores are lined up in the next five years by top 100 firms. 14, 15
In the midst of the crisis, however, new opportunities will arise. 16

It is heritage that stands tall as the father of mythic value in luxury. What changes are the contradictions that mythic value embodies over centuries. So today, post the Covid crisis, in the world of luxury the embodiment of contradictions will be experience and technology. The mix of physical and digital or phygital. This phygital, driven by AI and ecommerce, will pave the way for the new mythic value of luxury to survive the test of time.

Creation of new myth will be powered by luxury’s embodiment heritage and technology, mediating between the age-old legacy and the future.


(An Excerpt from the book with the same title)

Quarantined: Love in the time of Corona

PARASITE : An excerptQuarantined: Love in the time of Corona

Ranbir Kumar’s rising stardom was not without any consequences. At 25, he was ruling the hearts of millions of his fans. He is yet to see a flop. On the financials, his investments and earnings from endorsements, shows and appearances were sufficient for him to tide through the next 100 years. His finances as well as managing his stardom were managed brilliantly – a very rare trait at such a young age – he, however, had a trustworthy help in managing these two departments. The rumours of his hook ups are also well orchestrated to suit his lover boy image onscreen.

He had two well-guarded secrets, which had the potential to ruin his career, even his scripted life.

His love for coke and men!

His childhood friend Mariam, or M, who is now his manager, was the only soul privy to these two secrets. She was brains behind his success and the CEO of his life. Being privy to his secrets also made her the one responsible for the supply thereof.

While she could have easily engaged a pool of models and aspiring actors who would have died to sleep with Ranbir or RK, she just could not risk the secret getting out. The pact was only in the trips abroad would M organise local male escorts, strictly non-Indians. It was this way RK met C, a Singapore-based model, a year back. Something clicked and even before they realised, they had fallen for each other. RK and C had entered into an exclusive relationship and this has compelled RK to make at least two trips to Singapore in a month. M’s job was not easy but love makes it worth its while.

On the coke supply, it was not a problem as there is abundance in today’s world if you have the money. Again, M had strictly instructed RK: no matter what, he can never indulge in male or female advances in any party in India and he will never indulge in coke in any party, even among his closest friends.

M used to guard him 24/7. Accompany him everything. No wonder, rumour mills also had the “news” of M and RK’s long-term affair. And that was cited as the “well-defined” reason for lack of RK’s serious relationships. Rumour mills also had the “news” that M was an addict. She didn’t mind either of the rumours as long as RK is protected.

RK hated meetings with producers, corporates and event managers so M had to attend those meetings on her own, whether in Mumbai or in other cities, and rarely even abroad. These were the only times she left his side. But always kept a constant vigil over whatsapp and skype calls.

RK was brilliant and like all brilliant men he had his needs. Only she can manage and protect him.

RK had bought M an apartment and he, with M, used to live there during their stays.

RK wanted to move C to Mumbai but M was dead against it as it ran the risk of C exposing RK’s secrets. C’s lack of interest in Hindi movies and Bollywood is a saving grace and M wants to keep it that way.

RK had to leave for Mumbai in his ‘friend’s’ private jet as the shooting date for a big-budget film has been preponed on fears of imminent lockdown in India. M stayed back because she had a few meetings lined up.

On his way back, RK was thinking how nice it would have been if he was “stuck” in Singapore with the two people he loved M and C. He had told M to return at the earliest, otherwise she will be stuck there with C. The last bit was added because M was never fond of C, his charm was of no use with her. M tolerates C only because of RK. He felt blessed to have friends who love him so much. He already started missing them.

A day later it was announced that all the international flights to India were cancelled due to COVID 19 outbreak. RK immediately called M and told her that he is trying to make some arrangement. He immediately called his ‘friend’ for lending his private jet for M. This was the same jet that he uses for his trips to Singapore. In return, RK attends, for free, birthday parties or anniversaries or other social dos of this gentleman and his “close friends”. Both the parties felt it was a good arrangement, working perfectly. Unfortunately, this time, the matter was not in the gentleman’s hand and so he could not offer his jet.

M was stuck, that too with C. He smiled to himself.

RK informed M and asked her to hang on there. He will work something out very soon.

Now, she is here with C, no idea till when. RK sounded worried, he genuinely was, but he has his stash of coke. He will survive. She smiled.

M had met C during one of her visits with an organiser in Singapore two years back. There was something about C that she could not turn down his offer to meet him over coffee. She was just a mere shadow of RK, she had no life of her own, no identity. That evening she felt alive with C. It was as if she has reclaimed her life. She spent the next two days with C, promising to see him soon.

A year had passed, C’s modelling career was not taking off and he needed a patron, a sponsor, rather an anchor. M knew an anchor, a benevolent one at that. She introduced C to RK. And C’s charm worked like magic. Soon after C and RK started dating exclusively, she floated the idea of RK buying C an apartment in Singapore. Everything happened like clockwork. Like always, M made RK feel that it was his decision to buy the apartment, to be benevolent with the money he kept on loaning to C for his up keep, and to fall in love with C.

Little did RK know that the lockdown was an all-expense paid honeymoon for two parasites.

Luxe Inferno

Luxury is all about perceptions! So if it looks expensive, it surely is.

The luxury industry runs on creating perceptions, one after the other, where each one tries to topple another. Brand custodians all over the world have sleepless nights in creating these perceptions and then creating some more. It is the primary preoccupation of the dream merchants in the luxury industry. It is the perception that justifies the steep premium paid by price-sensitive Indian customers.

Branding luxe is all about conjuring beautiful and fanciful images in the minds of the customers. And so every luxury brand prefers to conjure some magic — a perception. “Most expensive” as a tag that customers drool over, is certainly not easy to get. The natural corollary to this tag is — why is it so expensive? So it won’t matter if you just keep hiking your price; there has to be a demand created for it. Perception is the key element is creating this demand. So let me take you through three key strategic perception-enablers that luxury brands have been exploiting since the beginning of time and will surely keep exploiting till the end of time.

Razzle Dazzle: Remember that news of Azzam, the largest yacht in the world, or the diamond and ruby-studded 24-carat gold bodied Rolls Royce Phantom, or the most expensive wine Domaine de la Romanée-Conti or DRC ($551,314), or the most expensive bottled water Beverly Hills 90H20 Luxy Collection Diamond Edition ($100,000 per bottle), or Saluki, the most expensive dog ($5,000). These are the stuff that dreams are made of, and they create the “world’s most expensive” perceptions. This razzle-dazzle is the quickest and easiest means of creating a perception to conjure dreams that make spending millions and billions sound so justified.

Rarity: This is a very potent key to creating perception that can make people loosen their purse strings. The perception of rarity can be classified into two categories:
i) Ancient artefacts made by artisans who are no longer alive, paintings or sculptures by greats like Leonardo Da Vinci or Michelangelo, or an object, say a writing instrument or a watch used by a famous personality who is no longer alive (like Napolean Bonaparte or Mahatma Gandhi). Take for instance the priceless death mask of King Tut. These artefacts, paintings or writing instruments or watches were not rare when these well-known figures were alive; they never fetched billions at Sotheby’s. Most of the great artists such as Vincent van Gogh died penniless while now their art is fetching billions of dollars. Blame it on the perception of rarity!
ii) When a watchman tries to create a complicated mechanism like a tourbillon that will give precision to a mechanical watch, this is rarity. Every such rare watch, such rare mechanical movement is painstakingly crafted by masters over months and may be years. Such pieces are rare. This is same for any artefact or a piece of art. The man hours put into its creation give the perception of rarity to these objects.

Exclusivity: Every individual longs to be special and not ordinary. They want to receive special treatment, they want to be looked up to and envied. They desire to be emulated, they desire to belong to a certain club of exclusivity where entry in by invitation only. Luxury brands like Rolex and Louis Vuitton rely heavily on this enabler. If you own a Rolex, you will “live for greatness” and be an integral of an exclusive notional club of all owners of Rolex, such as President John F Kennedy or Martin Luther King Junior, or even tennis star Roger Federer. Or Louis Vuitton telling you if you own their trunks or duffle bags, then you will know that “there are journeys that turn into legends”, which a famous ad campaign featuring “Core values” of the LV brand with Sir Sean Connery, Bono, Francis Ford Coppola and Angelina Jolie. This is selling the perception of rising beyond the ordinary, becoming exclusive.

(Excerpt from my book Luxe Inferno. It is the third book of The Luxe Trilogy after Decoding Luxe and Dark Luxe)

Dark Luxe - Coming Soon

When we think of luxury we always think of dazzle, but we never even touch upon the darkness that hides behind this luxe. It is always about glam and glitz. Behind this razzle-dazzle, there is another life. A life filled with lust, hatred, jealousy, anger. Luxury remains a silent witness to that darkness. Luxury is just a silent witness to the depth of darkness of human hearts. Dark Luxe is not about dreams, it is about nightmares. It is about those realities that safely hide behind the veil of luxe. These 13 short stories are from the darkest, bottomless pits of hell. These first-hand tales of horror are by stuff luxury is made of, straight from their heart, leaving a trail of blood. Mr Ratan Tata has given his blessings for the book and Dr Bibek Debroy has written the foreword.

I realized with dazzle, comes the darkness – Yin and Yang. It is the world's way of maintaining the order. After a lot of research and interviews, I came across shocking tales of death, blood and gore – associated with luxury. I realized we are only limited by our imagination to fathom the extent a man can go in his pursuit of darkness. Luxe or dazzle acts as a cover, a shield to keep this dark life of us humans at bay. From the glossy magazine pages with "price on request" tag, Dark Luxe takes readers to the other end of the spectrum. These horror stories are pure work of fiction and are crafted as tales from the proverbial horse's mouth. They are shared (in the stories) by the most sought-after and elite products that the crème-de- la-crème brands showcase to their exclusive patrons. These are the stories that buried deep into the Mediterranean or in the sanctum-sanctorum of our hearts. These stories tell you the tale of how we humans are all the same in our core, dominated by one or many of the seven deadly sins – lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. Whether it is the Princess Cut Tiffany ring or the Rolls Royce Phantom or the Rolex watch or the luxury yacht or a Dom Perignon vintage champagne – all of them will share their tales as a silent witness that are far from the dazzle they exude. These short stories about The Dark Life of Luxe are figments of my imagination but not limited by it.


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Decoding Luxe : A reader's story

This story is about a day when some random pieces of events came together and unravelled a serendipitous but dazzling reward.
That day was no different, we (my wife and kids) were excited to hop on the next flight to Goa to celebrate my kids’ birthday.
We boarded the flight and soon I got into my groove of self reflection while leafing through an in-flight magazine kept there. Suddenly, I saw a feature ad of a book with signature black and golden colour combination, suited enough to convey that it had a luxury element or at least it had the element to draw requisite expensive attention.
Now, pieces of puzzle started to fall in place. I, while being a connoisseur of luxury, happen to be the owner of an e-commerce platform that I acquired recently that operates in super premium and luxury retail. Anything that had the potential of tantalising my grey cells to know more about Indian luxury space, where I have betted my capital and passion was due to be tended very meticulously.
Sitting up straight, I delved in the advertisement and quickly realised the scintillating piece of research by Mahul Brahma “Decoding Luxe” was waiting to have my eyes and hands on it.
An entrepreneur spirit can be overwhelming sometime when it gets on the nerves to have things then and there, its sans time and place, its pure passion, but this time, it was mid-air!
Thankfully the spirit settled in logical space and searched for the places to acquire the book once I land than lunging to the spare parachutes that are kept in commercial flights (You didn’t know that! Did you?)
We alighted at Goa airport, I was busy shuffling through the bookstores' phone numbers than my luggage, immediately contacted 4 of them to face the dejection of not having the book on stands. Next call went to my office guys back in Gurgaon, rushed them to the store there, got a book picked and asked them to courier it to me with a priority delivery in next 24 hours.
I planned my stay at Taj Exotica, a beautiful property, outliving its name, and fairly rooted deep to have that extra effort to be made to savour the fruits of luxury and exclusive experience. Luxury and experience is a give and take relationship, its never one sided, it can’t be, this time, the location of Taj took away my chance of having that book delivered from Gurgaon in the timeframe I was looking to.
I use an amazon.com account, now leaving no stone unturned, I installed one more app in my wife’s phone for accessing amazon.in. Imagine the excitement when I saw the listing on Amazon! But, remember, give and take? Finding the book on Kindle, setting up my new laptop that I brought along and then finally acquiring the digital print of the book took four hours of entrepreneurial spirit and time.
Mahul has done an impeccable job in putting lucid perspectives about what, how and why of luxury in India through this piece of art.
Decoding Luxe connected those dots and solved the puzzles that pave way to my vision and readies me to embark on my entrepreneurial journey ahead with luxury in India!

Thanks,
Ritesh Srivastava

Decoding The Success Of India’s Luxury Market

My quest for luxury began two decades ago, with an inheritance from my grandfather: his Omega Seamaster manual-wind mechanical wristwatch. I always held it very close to my heart, not because it was an Omega limited edition, but because it was my grandfather's last gift. I was fascinated with its movements and complications. Even today, I never forget to wind it, every day. But it is since then that I started exploring the world of fine craftsmanship and luxury.

Over the years, my quest has helped me explore the various facets of the dazzle—luxe. The rich history of craftsmanship, the heritage, the sheer finesse with which an exquisite hand-crafted piece is created—every bit of it is a treasure trove for a story teller.

To sell or not to sell to the masses? That has been the big question that all retailers of luxury brands face.
Unfortunately, the literature on luxury is very limited, globally, and writers have mostly focused on cataloguing luxury products and showcasing them. Moreover, there is not much written on the Indian luxury market, which is unique in its own right.

A sneak peek into the age-old love affair between branded luxury and our great nation of royalty will give a sense of this unique history of luxe. In the 1920s, 20% of Rolls Royce's global sales were from India. In 1926, the Maharaja of Patiala commissioned Cartier (in its largest commission till date), to remodel his crown jewels, which included the 234.69 carat De Beers diamond. The result was a breath-taking Patiala necklace weighing 962.25 carats with 2,930 diamonds. In 1928, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir placed orders for more than 30 custom-made trunks from luggage maker Louis Vuitton over a period of six months.


Cut to today, with the ebbing Chinese luxury story, most luxury goods providers are shifting focus to the growing luxury consumer base in India, which is poised to grow at 25% from 2013 till 2018, and is likely to touch the $18-billion mark from the level of $14 billion in 2015.

For many luxury brands India was the past and India is the future.

So I felt an urgent need to narrate a wonderful tale of luxe in India—capturing this wonderful dazzle in a holistic way, unveiling its various facets. The result was my book Decoding Luxe, which challenges popular misconceptions and exposes certain unconventional and counter-intuitive realities about the luxury market in India. Let me share a few.

The super-rich don't drive luxury, the Great Indian Middle Class (GIMC) does

Major luxury brands owe their existence to the GIMC. The secret behind the survival of high-end brands is the play in volumes. Shopping malls, in order to lure the middle-class towards luxury and to give them its taste, are mixing luxury, premium and super-premium in the same shopping mall. You can't afford to restrict luxury retailing for five stars and exclude this group as they are your lifeline. It is this aspiration that has led to the exponential rise of the market of knock-offs and first copies. To sell or not to sell to the masses? That has been the big question that all retailers of luxury brands face. Most of them have been struggling to strike a balance. The key lies in pricing.

What we see today is the democratisation of luxury, the rise and rise of "masstige"—a portmanteau of the words mass and prestige.
What we see today is the democratisation of luxury, the rise and rise of "masstige"—a portmanteau of the words mass and prestige. Essentially, "prestige for the masses".

All luxury brands need the GIMC to drive growth as that gives them the volumes which are the sustainability drivers. So the low-hanging products by luxury brands such as accessories become the stairway to elite aspiration for the masses.

Luxury escape rather than ostentation is the next billion-dollar industry

The desire for escape has always been a very dominant yet not-so-obvious reason behind the love for luxury. But it's only recently that brand custodians have been wising up to this fact. The promise of escape, if properly harnessed, is the next billion-dollar-churner for all luxury brands across the globe. They just need to recalibrate their positioning.

Instead of positioning a brand where the payoff comes from flaunting a logo, it needs to stand for transcendence from the mundane, a getaway from the ordinary. Consumers will pay top-dollar for that one hour a week, or that lazy private beach or yacht holiday, away from everyone, where the brand will be the lone companion to their luxury solitude. Luxury is the great escape and it can make brands millions.

E-commerce and the rapid growth in the luxury counterfeit market

According to a 2014 study by ASSOCHAM, the counterfeit luxury products market in India is growing at a rate of 40-45% annually. This has a lot to do with the advent of e-commerce platforms selling them at affordable prices. Web shopping portals account for over 25% of the fake luxury goods market in India. Globally, with a share of about 7%, fake luxury products account for over $22 billion of the $320 billion global luxury industry.

It is all about being special or exclusive, to be someone who is not ordinary. About being able to stand out in the crowd. This razzle-dazzle industry thrives on ego.
Luxury counterfeits are not a new phenomenon, but with technological advances and sophisticated new ways to reach consumers, the business is increasing rapidly. Historically, luxury counterfeits were often shipped in large cargo containers and passed through numerous middlemen before reaching the final consumers. Compared to the purchase of a fake handbag on the street, the purchase of a bag online makes it harder for a consumer to tell whether the product is genuine. An online advertisement by these portals for a Gucci bag could show a photo of a genuine Gucci bag, but the purchaser would actually receive a fake one. The counterfeit seller may create pseudo product reviews, blog entries and rogue social media profiles to enhance its legitimacy. Suggestible consumers may fall for this fake content.

Ego drives luxury brands

It is all about being special or exclusive, to be someone who is not ordinary. About being able to stand out in the crowd. This razzle-dazzle industry thrives on ego.

The idea that a marketeer sells is the exclusivity of the luxury brand and the exclusiveness of its owner. You will belong to an elite club such as a Lamborghini Club, flaunting your standing in society. The sheer arrogance that a brand exudes using prohibitive pricing to crowd out clients will make it aspirational. So the users will get an elevated feeling that he or she is part of an exclusive club. A brand such as Rolex is selling a legacy, a life of greatness, pandering to a masculine ego that craves distinction.

This three-letter word drives the luxury industry globally.

From my blog on the book in Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.in/mahul-br...