The luxury sector combines creative flair with business know how, and jobs available in luxury marketing help to make premium products and services available to the global market. While foundational marketing principles still apply to the luxury sector, business professionals must approach marketing activities from the perspective of their unique customer base. Aspiring luxury marketing professionals often develop these distinctive skills through specialized business degree programs in luxury marketing. Here are some career paths that are available to trained marketing professionals in the popular luxury sector categories of fashion, automotive, hospitality and beauty.
Luxury Brand Manager
A common position in luxury marketing is the brand manager. A luxury brand manager is a marketing professional who has the responsibility of maintaining a brand’s image of privilege while tastefully making it popular with enough customers to support the brand’s profitability goals. Successful luxury brand managers have strong appreciation for the brand’s products or services and thorough knowledge of product history, unique features and market position. A challenge that luxury brand managers face is the limited growth in traditional geographic markets. Since revenues for luxury brands tend to become stagnant in developed nations’ markets, luxury brand managers are required to position their brands to target newly affluent customers in emerging markets. Subsequently, a luxury brand manager often has to learn about the culture of their new customers and how to adapt their premium brand to match that society’s ideals of luxury.
Boutique Hotel General Manager
Career opportunities abound in the luxury hospitality sector that is growing both domestically and internationally. The general manager of a luxury hotel or resort is a challenging position that requires sound business management abilities, distinctive services and exceptional customer relations practices. Advancements in technology have helped to raise the bar in this career field. For example, general managers at luxury hotels can technological tools to track the preferences of guests to customize their experiences for future visits. Also, incorporating social media into their marketing strategies allows these general managers to build lasting and more personal relationships with their customers.
Upscale Market Research Manager
Luxury marketing relies on data to forecast trends in customer buying habits and the social values that impact sales of luxury products. The data that luxury brand market researchers gather is used by other marketing professionals to make decisions on pricing, acquisitions, divestitures and product innovations. Some recent results of market research analysis for luxury brands have resulted in a unique change in distribution channels as luxury brand manufacturers cautiously make their exclusive brands available on e-commerce platforms, according to Euromonitor International. Besides the standard analysis of a market’s demographic information, these market researchers also attempt to monitor the attitudes of customers towards their brand in various geographic areas. For instance, one style of purse for the fashion giant Louis Vitton was reportedly so popular in the emerging markets of Asia that sales for that particular purse drastically slowed, because of over exposure. Market researchers were able to spot trends like these so that luxury brand managers and strategic planners could make early adjustments to the products available in those markets and preserve the brand’s exclusive image there.
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Conclusion
Career opportunities in luxury marketing have strong attraction to savvy business professionals who are endued with epicurean tastes. Since the luxury sector caters to different customers than consumers who normally only purchase standard retail goods, revenues remain steady there during most economic storms that send some regular retailers reeling. However, continued economic slumps prompt luxury brands to look for ways to add value and innovate their brands to stay competitive. The jobs available in luxury marketing today reflect those objectives.
