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The Cult of the Luxury Brand: Inside Asia's Love Affair with Luxury is the first book to explore how and why an extraordinary "luxeplosion" is rocking Asia. And it's not just the glitzy upper crust that is getting swept up in the frenzy - secretaries clutch Burberry bags, junior executives sport Rolex watches and university students stroll around in Ferragamo shoes.
Hong Kong boasts more Gucci and Hermäs stores than New York or Paris. China's luxury market is growing so quickly that it will be the largest luxury market in the world by 2014. Even India, relatively new to the luxury scene, has three-month waiting lists for hot items, while in Tokyo, the epicenter of the luxury cult, 94% of women in their twenties own a Louis Vuitton bag.
Written by world-leading retail consultants who know their way around the Asian market, The Cult of the Luxury Brand draws on more than 150 interviews with industry experts and market studies in ten countries. It offers glimpses of Asia's thriving retail scene from glorious flagship stores in Tokyo to bustling local markets in Seoul, and seeks to understand consumers' inner motives for this obsession. Not so long ago, your place in society was defined by your role and your heritage; now it's all about your Chanel suit and your Cartier watch.
The "luxe" cult is so powerful that Asian consumers account for as much as half of the eighty billion dollar global luxe industry. Radha Chadha and Paul Husband describe how to elevate your product's status while simultaneously pumping it out to the masses. They crack the code of the cult, offering a tried-and-tested approach for creating a devoted following for your brand. Whether you are a business professional targeting the Asian consumer or a shopper trying to understand your own love affair with luxury, this book illuminates the mysterious inner workings of one of the world's fastest growing industries.
Contents
Introduction: Wear Your Success
Part One: How and Why
1 A Love Affair with Luxe
2 Finding Meaning in an LV Bag
Part Two: What and Where
3 Japan: An Insatiable Yen
4 Hong Kong and Taiwan: Yin and Yang
5 China: From Mao Suits to Armani
6 South Korea: Indebted to Luxury
7 Single-Season Sisters: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines
8 India: The Next China?
Part Three: Behind the Cult
9 How the Cult is Created
10 Advent of the Genuine Fakes
11 The Future of Luxury
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
Radha Chadha is one of Asia's leading marketing and consumer insights experts. After working with leading advertising agencies J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy & Mather, Grey Worldwide and Bates Asia, Radha established her own brand consultancy in 2000 in Hong Kong. She has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, with a specialization in Marketing, and a BA in Math from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi. For more information, visit http://www.chadha-strategy.com. Paul Husband is one of Asia_s leading retail center planning and development consultants. He founded Husband Retail Consulting and works with clients in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Korea, India, the Philippines and Thailand. Paul is an Asian faculty member of the International Council of Shopping Centres and a member of the Washington-based Urban Land Institute. He lives in Hong Kong with his wife and a large walk-in closet.
http://www.husband-retail.com
"At last a book that arms the fashion industry with actionable insights into the psyche of the Asian luxury consumer. Written with charm and verve, the book reveals the soul of Asia in all its nuanced splendor, showing how the culture of nations shapes its people's fashion sensibilities and passion for luxury brands."
- Vivienne Tam, fashion designer
"Fascinating. The Cult of the Luxury Brand is the first insightful exposition of this dramatic re-framing of traditional Asian values. It is full of insight and vital source material for anyone interested in understanding modern Asians."
- Miles Young, Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific
"Excellent and timely. The Asian market is red hot, and by focusing on the luxury brand, we can better understand the rapid social changes taking place in Asia today. A great topic, one that professionals in many fields want to know more about. It_s happening now - and Chadha and Husband have got the story, in a way that the competition does not. It's 'hands-on', accessible, informative, professional and lively."
- Dr. Kaori O'Connor, leading anthropologist on material culture and fashion, and author of The Way We Wear
"A fascinating and informative ride through cities like Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. There is no other place in the world where luxury is the currency of power than Asia, where what you wear speaks volumes about who you are. The Cult of the Luxury Brand is a must-read for anyone who is looking to enter the retail development market in Asia, an invaluable tool in understanding the psychology of the Asian consumer."
- Bertrand Pellegrin, Marketing Director of Lane Crawford
"Painstakingly researched and easy to read, an amazing look inside the luxury brand trade."
- Ambar Brahmachary, President of JWT Japan
"In this superb book, through a series of case studies and insightful analysis, Chadha and Husband highlight new marketing tools that companies are successfully implementing to create and build the luxury cult. This is a must-read book for executives who want to build their luxury brands in the booming Asian markets."
- Sunil Gupta, Professor of Marketing at Harvard Business School
"Savvy marketers can use this information to plan how to penetrate the Asian market. The prose is lively, engaging and witty, elevating this marketing manual into the fun-to-read category. getAbstract enthusiastically recommends it to those with a passion for fashion, a curiosity about the Asian shoppers' psyche or an interest in entering the high-end Asian market."
- getAbstract
