Correspondence: Uché Okonkwo, E-mail: author@luxuryfashionbranding.com

¹is recognised worldwide as one of the pioneer luxury business strategists. A true luxury industry veteran and expert, she has closely collaborated with renowned luxury companies including LVMH, Richemont, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Christian Dior, Burberry, Piaget, Tiffany's, Rémy Martin, Oscar de La Renta, Coty Prestige and Fabergé as well as selective retailers Galeries Lafayette, Barneys New York, Selfridges and Bergedorf Goodman. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Luxe Corp, the pioneer Luxury Strategy & Management consultancy company based at Paris' famed Place Vendôme, with a worldwide clientele. She is also the founding head of The Luxury Centre at ESC Rennes School of Business, the first research centre established by a business school dedicated to luxury management research. She is also the author of the 2007 bestseller, Luxury Fashion Branding (Palgrave Macmillan), the first business text to provide a strategic and analytical perspective of the luxury business and a reference in the field that has sparked subsequent academic and management interest and publications. Her next book Luxury Online (2009), will be the first text on luxury in the context of the Internet, e-Business and new technologies. Uché has conducted seminars on luxury management at several business schools including Harvard and ESSEC Paris and sits on the board of several luxury entities including the Global Luxury Forum. She is also a fellow of the American Luxury Marketing Council. She has an MBA from Brunel Business School at Brunel University, London and is finalizing a PhD from Ecole Superieur de Commerce, Rennes, France.

Received 19 January 2009; Revised 19 January 2009.

Abstract

Luxury is neither a product, an object, a service nor is it a concept or a lifestyle. It is an identity, a philosophy and a culture. As a business sector and management discipline, these characteristics signify the presence of challenges in the integration of luxury branding within the Internet and digital environment and the requirement of intricate strategies to overcome them. Recent publications have raised the issues of the compatibility of luxury and the Internet, the suitability of luxury goods in the virtual environment and strategic approaches to maximising a luxury brand's presence online. Others have indicated that the Internet is a 'dilemma' that luxury requires to overcome through avoiding e-Commerce, whereas other literature have suggested that the Internet is purely a channel of communications for luxury brands. The question of the state of luxury in the digital context, however, remains largely unexplored, particularly with regards to the particularities of luxury management, which have posed a challenge in adopting digital technologies in the sector over the past two decades. Until recently, the luxury industry showed low commitment towards integrating advanced Internet technologies and its accompanying interactive and digital tools in the sector's marketing and overall business strategies. They also seemed to be pushed to be present and conduct business on the Internet as a result of evolving consumer needs and expectations. Notable international brands such as Versace and Prada did not have corporate websites until 2005 and 2007, respectively. The economic as well as consumer societies have also expressed bewilderment at the slowness of the luxury industry in establishing an online presence in comparison to other sectors. These parties have been right to question this crucial issue particularly since the Internet has become an indispensable channel of modern business. As an industry that is known for innovation, avant-gardism and creativity, it may not be apparent why luxury brands and digital technology have been perceived as incompatible since the advent of the Internet and digital communications technology. However, as with every case of reverse human behaviour, this may be explained through the examination of the very core of luxury. This paper examines the core and scope of luxury as a business disciple, particularly in the dimension of branding within the digital context. It investigates the true nature of luxury as a current management science and identifies its key drivers and their scope of integration within the Internet environment. This paper has been adapted from a section of the forthcoming book, Luxury Online.