The Future of Luxury Technology
The perception of luxury and how it is evolving in the future, is becoming subtly redefined. The existing values of authenticity, quality, craftsmanship, refinement and exclusivity still remain, but these are now focused around the user experience and how this benefits the consumer on multiple levels. More people have access to luxury now, through lifestyle choices around home ownership, credit and aspirational social behaviour driven by ever-improving access to knowledge and opportunities.
been a growth in exclusive clubs, with access to like-minded people who have positioned themselves through personal achievement and shared success. Such social groups can act in many ways: as private spheres where a lack of surveillance can allow for increased informality and a relaxing of behaviour, or as privileged circles where those ‘in the know’ can share insider knowledge and tips with one another to mutual advantage, or the betterment of the tribe. They can also act as a social and educational catalyst, introducing members to specialist knowledge and thus facilitating an atmosphere of personal development beyond simply mixing with other fabulously wealthy people. Members can be encouraged to discover new experiences and in doing so become connected with a global network of like-minded peers, stimulating their cultural awareness and perhaps even encourage some to adopt the role of thought leaders, contributing their insights and opinions to long-term issues such as sustainability, environmental protection and social justice.
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These new social groupings, though perhaps unashamedly elitist, will, transcend national boundaries more than ever before. They will define luxury through access; access to the right sort of people, access to the right sort of places and access to all four corners of the world.
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his mass market shift is pushing the true luxury consumer upwards, to seek another level of individualism. There has
These experiences will become even more integrated for the consumer as they evolve from a passive to a more responsive role, in shaping their future relationship with a brand. As all these touch points converge, the luxury brands have invited their consumer into their home, offering this exclusive access that very few can ever hope to achieve. The irony of all this being of course that it is just as much the case that the consumer has unwittingly invited the brands into their home (whilst still feeling that it is they that are privileged to be able to do this) as the other way around.
By moving in with their consumers, brands can be present at an increasing number of emotionally important points in their lives. They can indeed help create, or at least heighten, these moments, playing on the heartstrings of their users by providing context in the form of responsive imagery, ambient noise, even music tagged by the user as being associated with certain events, moods or feelings (whether consciously or not).
Companies that do this also become more than just props in the theatre of their clients lives, they become supporting actors, complete with their own lines, and emotional arc. They become entities that people relate to or special friends that are noticeably choosy about who they associate with.
Crafted storytelling will become more intrinsic in this luxury landscape, to engage, involve,
entertain and create a long term bond that establishes this as an integral part of your personal expression. Ultimately the brands will shape what the future of luxury will be by understanding
and positioning themselves
as a progressive partner who will know their consumer in a profound way and connect in a sensory way.
Storytelling also implies a give and take relationship - implicit respect for the role of the story teller- the imagineers - as the master craftsman, creating realms of the imagination and flights of fantasy that the recipient, the consumer could not conceive of alone but is educated enough to appreciate and perhaps responsive enough to build and expand upon. In this sense, one facet of luxury could be quite simply the bespoke creation of movies for individuals that want nothing more than to live out their fantasies on the silver (or OLED) screen. True luxury therefore, becomes the power to commission new realities to please oneself. The authority that in past times was restricted to Pharaohs and God-Emperors, the power to move mountains and to fashion the world in their own image, is born again when there is more than one (virtual) world for us all to share. Think Minecraft writ large.
Luxury will be more than just beautiful objects in isolation, it will be about the context that allows these objects to shine, that brought them into being in the first place and might encourage similar things to be fashioned. This context will envelop all the senses, creating four- dimensional experiences that can be carried on in memories and enlarged in the retelling. Luxury will be about living, living well and living to the full.
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