Guide to a Career in Luxury Brand Management

Major brands are exploring new markets that are beyond their traditional domains, and more people are taking a keen interest in branded luxury products. Since the luxury industry itself has undergone tremendous changes in recent years, luxury management has gained quite a bit of popularity. New and emerging brands are looking for capability of using promotional innovative marketing campaigns that can compete with campaigns of established brands.

The primary focus of luxury brand management is to continue creating memorable experiences. Luxury Brand Management can be defined as an interdisciplinary subject which makes use of time-tested management practices to organizations and businesses offering premium services. Luxury brand management (LBM) is mostly offered as a Master's degree and in some cases, as a specialization course. It is about how the purpose and the offer of the brand can fit in a broader cultural, sociological, and demographic landscape; and how branding involves a combination of emotions, logic, art, and science.

Students get to practice the method of recognizing social patterns and individual behaviors. They uncover insights about how to support companies in developing strong emotional connections and meaningful values via memorable and engaging experiences. The course teaches business and marketing skills needed in managing such brands and to create an exceptional customer experience with professionalism. It hones skills, knowledge and versatility needed to excel in the world of leisure, hospitality, and luxury. The course teaches to analyze the target audience, marketing, research on interpretation by brands of their brand positioning translating to development of a brand strategy.

A background in business management along with functional experience in management practices, or
Undergraduate study in economics, marketing, fashion design or similar, or proven relevant work experience, and
Excellent networking skills - particularly with customers and corporate clients
Creative and critical analytical ability

Luxury Brand Management teaches elaborate systematic and creative solutions to a range of real-world business and management problems, deliberation of theories, frameworks and practices relevant to luxury and fashion branding and brand management; evaluation of current issues including new technologies, understand the changing role of the consumer and corporate social responsibility impacting competitive strategies of luxury goods organisations. Few of the subjects in the curriculum include:
Strategic Brand Management
Luxury Brand Concepts
Geo-Economics of the Luxury Industry
Intercultural Issues in Luxury
Luxury Marketing
Luxury Industry and Digital Business
Merchandising and Art of selling Luxury Products
Distribution
Brand Innovation and New Product Strategy
Fashion Marketing Management
Contemporary Issues In Fashion

Ability to work out creative solutions with the purpose of improving the performance of a brand.
Able to define the style of a collection, identify the price range, the target and the market reference Checking on the development of new products
Plan the promotion and sales avenues in collaboration with the design, production and marketing departments of luxury fashion Develop and implement a communication plan
Create, deliver and monitor communication strategies, organise campaigns and events for brand exposure on media, while maintaining an active broad social network
to evaluate the relationships between branding and corporate strategies, business strategy and the ‘functional’ strategies of an organization
To find creative solutions and to improve brand management practice of different types of organisations operating within the fashion and luxury goods industries
Express ideas effectively and communicate information appropriately and accurately using a range of media including ICT Develop working relationships using teamwork and leadership skills, recognising and respecting different perspectives
Research, find, evaluate, synthesise and use information from a variety of sources;
Articulate an awareness of the social and community contexts within their disciplinary field
Evaluate the interrelationships between branding strategies and corporate, business and functional strategies of the organisation

Until a few years ago, this was a sector that didn't exist so apparently. Today, there are exciting career opportunities for those holding a degree in this field. An LBM graduate can work in consulting firms, trade associations, and companies in fashion, luxury and lifestyle industries. Luxury brands are on the lookout for graduates who possess innovation and creativity along with the skills in media, product design, brand experience, and service development. Few of the key job roles are:
Branding Consultant

Improve organizational and practical management of the brand
Awareness of product placement, and analysis of the brand's relationship with customers
Make critical decisions around brand repositioning and brand extension
Detect weaker products in a particular collection
Balance corporate brand image while enabling participants to create a network
Conduct market research for all the target products

Luxury Brand Manager

Attract and retain customers with marketing and brand strategy
Create an image for the brand that is identifiable and connects with the targeted audience Conduct market research, manage and organize promotional campaigns
Propose and analyze marketing budgets, oversee marketing staff and assignments
Collaborate with other brand designers and creators, and supervise production
Plan and supervise advertising campaigns; and resource budgeting
Sketch product and distribution plans
Network with external agencies and promotional representatives

Fashion Retail Buyer

Decisions on what type of merchandise a fashion brand should sell
Responsible for the right merchandise availability in-store
Maintain adequate stocks to fulfill customer demand, manage and plan stocks
Analyze buying patterns, predict sales trends, analyze sales and discount performance
Interact with suppliers while maintaining a healthy business relationship with them

Fashion PR Specialist/PR Manager

Build and maintain a favourable public image for the brand
Maintain relationships with media to ensure appropriate depiction of the brand image
Networking and effective communication with fashion magazine editors and writers
Handling any potential negative media portrayals of the brand
Handling image-crisis and customer complaints, ensuring brand popularity

Product Marketing Manager

Product planning and execution
Scrutinize the entire development and production process
Conduct market research and surveys to analyze customer demands
Oversee and organize advertising campaigns

ECommerce Manager

Scrutinize opportunities to leverage market share and growth within key accounts
Innovate and activate key launches, campaigns
Collaborate with marketing team for impactful brand presence leading to business growth
Ensure right presence on social media to ensure discoverability
Build customer experience through brand pages, innovate presence and utility of tech
Scout potential DTC (direct to consumer) opportunities
Build a sustainable relationship with existing customers (Distributors, Affiliates, Retailers) Indepth analysis of sales to optimize performance of the accounts