Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
their own brand identities online. For example, a luxury brand that launches
an initiative in environmental protection does not need to plaster “green” on
its home page unless it intends to change its brand personality from “chic and
sophisticated” to “natural and wholesome” (as much as I recommend sustain-
able corporate practices). Of course, luxury brands should by all means fea-
ture interesting initiatives online but this should be done intelligently without
over-shadowing the brand or, worse still, confusing the brand's public.
Step five: creating the “wow” website
I don't believe that there is a secret formula for the creation of luxury web-
sites that would be suitable for every luxury brand in every product and serv-
ices category. I also don't agree that there is a secret “10 ways of…” that
is yet to be discovered and revealed by those that have more pairs of eyes
than we mere mortals. What I know for sure is that the one-formula-fits-all
approach doesn't apply to luxury website creation. The reason for this is
simple - every luxury brand is unique and different in its identity, person-
ality, image and core essence. Even though several brands currently have
more or less similar product categories and ranges, their core brand attributes
remain distinctly different and this difference is the source of originality and
equity for each brand. This must not be taken for granted online because the
impact on the Internet will be even more resounding than offline due to the
global accessibility and availability of the Internet.
As you may notice, we went through four steps before arriving at the point of
creating the website, which should tell us something: that luxury website crea-
tion is not as simple as following the guidelines in the “How to…” series. And
we haven't even started the discussion. Luxury website creation comprises ensur-
ing that all the elements of the back office (systems, softwares, applications and
all the tech stuff) are integrated and balanced with the front office aspects such
as the design, navigation and our most beloved luxemosphere. It also includes
ensuring that all the fundamental elements of luxury and website design are rep-
resented and these include, although are not limited to, the design and aesthetics
concept, the functionality, content, retail, community, customization and the sup-
port technology. These aspects are elaborated more in the next section.
By the way, if you've come across that someone who has a magic formula
for creating a luxury website, I'll love to meet him or her (I could do with
more eyes around my head).
Step six: testing and improving
Every beautiful thing takes time (and sometimes a lot of pain) to create. The
luxury website is no exception. Just as skill, craftsmanship and precision
is required in luxury product creation; and care, attention and excellence is
required in luxury service experiences, so should be the website creation
