Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
investment in e-retail and social web marketing strategies as sources of sus-
tainability.
In addition to these factors that separate the world of luxury from the other
“worlds”, luxury has always had innate characteristics that are intrinsic to its
very being and comprise elements that speak more to passion than to reason.
These include originality and creativity in product and retail conceptualization;
craftsmanship and precision in production; emotional appeal and an enhanced
image in brand presentation; exclusivity and limit in access; and high quality
and premium pricing, all for a niche clientele. The reproduction of all of these
elements often requires an unwavering dedication to perfection that some-
times defies logic. This often means a rather narrow approach, which has con-
sequences for business management. The natural reaction to any possibility of
interrupting this approach and thought process would be “apprehension and
resistance”, which was the initial reaction of luxury to the advent of the Internet.
To illustrate this dedication to perfection that forms a core aspect of lux-
ury let's take a look at the process that goes into making cognac. The drink
known as cognac as you may know is made from what is called
l'eau de
vie
, which translates literally as “the water of life”. It is a blend of specific
types of grapes mixed in exact proportions that are distilled twice through
a meticulously precise process and subsequently aged in specific oak bar-
rels which are stored over accurate periods, the least being two years, before
they are bottled and sold. Some are stored for four or six years while the
grand crus
may be stored for as long as 20 years. In order to qualify to be
used in making cognac, the grapes must be grown in a precise territory in
the Cognac region of France (from where the drink took its name) because
of the specific conditions of both the climate and the soil of the region. The
entire creation process from the selection of the
terroir
or the soil, to the
assortment of grape vines, their cultivation, harvesting, grouping, distilla-
tion, storage, dilution, blending, packaging and eventual retailing is strictly
controlled by laws that demand a process that hasn't changed much in the
last three hundred years. This ensures consistency in quality and the least
likelihood of imperfection. If one of the multiple creation steps goes wrong,
the entire harvest is completely destroyed. One of the world's best known
cognacs, the Rémy Martin's Louis XIII is a blend of more than 1,200
eau
de-vie
aged between a minimum of 55 years and over 100 years in very
old Limousin oak barrels that sometimes date back 200 years. Hennessy's
Richard Hennessy Cognac comprises over 100
eau de vie
aged for up to
200 years in a special blend that is both unique and rare. Suffice it to say that
the creation of certain cognac blends begins with one generation and ends
with another. The same applies to the dedication given to the care of the
terroir
- the soil - which sometimes involves investments with expected
returns projected within a minimum of 50 years.
This dedication to perfection is similar across other luxury categories
including timepieces, jewelry, fashion and fragrance. Christian Dior once
