By Avik Chattopadhyay
On July 3, Harley-Davidson launched the x440 motorcycle in India at a starting price of Rs.2.27 lakh, in partnership with Hero MotoCorp. Two days later, in partnership with Bajaj Auto, Triumph, yet another luxury motorcycle badge, launched the Speed 400 at a starting special offer of Rs.2.23 lakh.
While the auto-journalist fraternity had been expecting competitive offers by both luxury brands on their measured re-entry into the Indian market, they were sure taken aback by the price points. This was in Royal Enfield territory, they unanimously exclaimed. For a moment, the RE stock price also dipped, the boffins at Dalal Street taken aback by the aggressive posture two traditionally legendary luxury brands had taken.
Two quintessentially exclusive brands had taken the decision to ‘democratise luxury’!
It was almost as if they were paying a tribute to a man who had disrupted the haute couture world a few decades ago by democratising fashion and making his label affordable to millions of aspirants. Pierre Cardin’s birth anniversary was on the July 2.
A flurry of questions come to mind.
What makes a traditional luxury brand go democratic?
Is it driven by the left or the right brain? Is it to primarily increase market share or to endear oneself to a larger base of customers?
In the implementation of the decision to democratise, does the brand remain the same or a new one is created? If the brand is retained, does the promise and experience remain the same? If a new brand is created, does it operate independently of the mother brand, or is there an umbilical cord?
Lastly, has it worked?
First and foremost, one must be clear about the ethos of the word “luxury” before we even make an attempt at finding answers. Does luxury mean the experience or the exclusivity or the price point? Or is it a combination of all? Or does being luxurious not necessarily mean it is only meant for a few and comes at a commensurate price point to ensure exclusivity? I remember an interaction I had with my boss Frederic Fabre in Peugeot. We were working on a new car for India, way back in 2011, against a very competitive price point. When the prototype was shown I was taken aback by its styling and luxurious interiors. Frederic smiled and said, “Whatever is cheap does not need to look and feel cheap!”
Luxury, according to me is a state of mind, at any price point. For, the benchmarks are different for different socio-economic strata. If a brand decides to address only one stratum, so be it. If it wishes to address multiple strata, it is most welcome.
Mercedes-Benz offers the A-class alongside the S-class, at two different price points, with different performance characteristics and creature comfort features, but with the core luxurious experience remaining intact in both. The A-class offers an experience unmatched by others in the same price band. The experience keeps getting enhanced as one goes up the ladder. The moment Mercedes-Benz took the strategic call to explore a segment at a lower price point than the A-class, it realised it had to compromise with its experiential promise. Hence it created a new brand called “Smart”.
BMW and Audi too stretched the brand downwards with their X1 and A1 respectively.
Similarly, when Louis Vuitton decided to experiment with a new consumer segment of the young and the restless which was not an advocate of traditional luxury, it created a separate brand called ‘Trash & Soul’. Though the brand did not last for long, it was surely a bold step of a talismanic luxury brand to think outside the box, literally.
Pierre Cardin tried the same with mixed results. He wanted to make his label accessible to people down the socio-economic chain. For this, he franchised his name across product categories, right from perfumes to ballpoint pens and even keyrings. His logic was that millions across the world wanted a piece of his creation, so what if they could not afford his couture. They could certainly belong to the global Pierre Cardin family by even owning a keyring.
Does it always work? For Mercedes-Benz it did. For Pierre Cardin, it did not. For the simple reason that the former was intent on not compromising with the ownership experience while the latter, sadly, lost the plot there. Cardin had a terrific idea terribly executed. I would want to definitely own a pen carrying his famous logo and signature at Rs 1000 but would not want to buy it from the local stationery store. I would aspire to walk into a Pierre Cardin store that houses all his creations and rub shoulders with someone buying a Rs.10,000 linen shirt, carrying the same logo. I become part of the same family and I walk out feeling as exalted as the other gentleman.
Brands like Armani and TAG Heuer possibly learnt from this blunder and got the implementation right. The Formula 1 watch, though eight times cheaper than the Link, was available at the same store, as were the spectacle frames, rubbing chain-links.
Democratising luxury allows the brand to engage with the aspirational customer into encouraging gradual upgrades through the brand ladder…from the Formula 1 to the Aquaracer after 5-7 years finally to the Link. The customer basks in the ownership journey while the brand grows in profits, without diluting the brand essence which Cardin ended up doing.
This is exactly what both Harley-Davidson and Triumph are attempting in their re-entry into the world’s largest two-wheeler market. Earlier, they were way too exclusive. Now they are within the reach of thousands who wish to own a piece of motorcycling legend. The rider on the x440 will be rubbing shoulders with the rider on Softail and feel the same pride in being a HOG family member. The day the x440 customer is treated like a Hero customer because of the price point, thee shall be a re-exit soon.
And yes, I simply hate the word “masstige”. Whoever has coined it has the same sense of warped humour as the one who coined the word ‘phygital’. What H-D or Triumph or M-B or TAG have done do not make them masstige brands. They remain iconic luxury brands. Just that they have democratised the luxurious experience to reach out to many more aspirants. And prove that Monsieur Cardin was conceptually right, after all!