Revealing the tactics prestige brands use to keep buyers coming back for more
Luxury brands don’t play by the same rules as everyone else, turning the shopping narrative on its head with just-out-of-reach products
4 min
From the Spring 2024 issue of Kanebridge Quarterly magazine. Order your copy here.
In the world of luxury fashion, few items evoke as much desire and exclusivity as the Hermès Birkin bag.
Conceived 40 years ago, as legend has it, after a chance meeting between actress Jane Birkin and then Hermès chairman Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight from Paris to London, the coveted rectangular hold-all now has a folklore all of its own.
From rumoured ‘pre-spend’ requirements to stories of eager customers wooing Hermès sales assistants with freshly baked cookies just to get on the waitlist, Birkin lore persists because it can be tough to fact-check anything about the bag, its pricing or the brand’s distribution and sales practices. Hermès is notoriously tight-lipped and didn’t respond to requests for comment for this article.
But this phenomenon is no accident; it’s the perfect example of a meticulously crafted strategy employed by luxury brands to create a sense of urgency and prestige around their products.
“Storytelling, a strong brand narrative and engaging customers emotionally is so important in the luxury retail space,” says Dr Edwina Luck, senior lecturer in advertising, marketing and PR at the Queensland University of Technology.
“Then this is backed up with strategies such as creating scarcity around a particular product or line, which is exactly what Hermès do with the Birkin, to further create that very real sense of exclusivity that drives the luxury sector.”
According to global research firm IBISWorld, Australia’s luxury retail industry has grown 6.9 percent on average per year between 2018 and 2023 and is now worth more than $6.2 billion.
This is despite a trend during the pandemic for some brands such as Tiffany & Co. and Burberry to reposition parts of their business as ‘masstige’, meaning the perception of exclusivity in relatively affordable goods.
It’s a shift that has been exacerbated by the popularity of social media and overt influencer and celebrity endorsements driving such brands to a younger audience than has traditionally been associated with luxury retail.
“What all of that has done is actually make those ultra-luxury brands such as Hermès and Cartier even more exclusive,” says Dr Luck. “So, the gap is widening and as far as luxury brands and consumers are concerned, the more exclusive the better.”
Exclusivity has long been a cornerstone of luxury branding, creating a unique allure that sets high-end products apart from the mass market.
Limited production runs, personalised shopping experiences, and even the physical design of stores (think closed front doors and roped-off entrances) all contribute to the perception that these products are not just items, but experiences worth striving for.
Pre-spending — the concept that a consumer needs to build a “purchasing profile” that justifies their right to buy a certain product — is another tactic that brands use to build a deeper relationship between the consumer and the brand, creating a tiered connection that fosters loyalty and aspiration.
This initial investment, such as a scarf or a wallet, can serve as a gateway to the brand’s more exclusive offerings, such as particular product lines, limited-edition collections or bespoke fashion pieces.
“These strategies turn shopping into an event,” says Kelly Brown, co-founder of retail strategy agency, The Working Party.
“The anticipation, the thrill of securing a limited edition, the urgency of pre-spending — all these enhance the consumer experience.
“Luxury shoppers aren’t just buying a product, they’re buying a story, an experience, and a sense of belonging to an exclusive club. It’s about making them feel special and valued, which is exactly what consumers expect from luxury brands.”
The concept of scarcity isn’t new for high-end brands either. Enzo Ferrari, the father of the Italian luxury sports car manufacturer famously said, “Ferrari will always deliver one car less than the market demands”.
“Ferrari highlights a fundamental principle in luxury branding: the deliberate creation of scarcity,” says Jon Michail, CEO of corporate and personal brand image advisory Image Group International.
“This technique is not just about limiting supply but about crafting a positioning and image of exclusivity and unattainability that even Lamborghini could not beat.
“Scarcity creates urgency and elevates perceived “psychological” status, crucial elements for luxury brands. This perception is vital as it differentiates luxury brands from mass and mid-market options, reinforcing their unique value proposition and maintaining their premium and/or ultra-premium positioning.”
So, what’s next in the luxury sector? Experts predict luxury brands are likely to explore new and creative ways to further enhance their exclusivity and appeal.
“I see luxury brands are set to adopt more personalised and experiential techniques to enhance exclusivity and desirability,” says Brown. “A sophisticated online presence is now essential, but we’ll see luxury brands take more control over their sales channels, particularly online, by reducing distribution through online multi-brand retailers.
“This shift allows them to own the customer relationship which reinforces exclusivity and brand loyalty.”
As for the five-figure Birkin, retail insiders say only customers with an extensive purchase history with the French brand are offered the opportunity to buy one directly from a Hermès boutique.
However, pre-loved bags can often be found through online reselling websites such as priveporter.com (at the time of writing the lowest price Birkin available on priveporter.com was $AUD36,056).
According to Vogue, Hermès “boutiques have their own style offering, with infrequent deliveries and little notice as to which colourways or finishes will be available to purchase at any given moment. For this reason, customers who want a brand new bag should enquire in store and seek advice from Hermès sales experts”.
Even then, they can be hard to pin down, with Birkin bags, and the equally popular Kelly bag, subject to stringent quota systems worldwide.
Good luck.
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The lunar flyby would be the deepest humans have traveled in space in decades.
4 min
It’s go time for the highest-stakes mission at NASA in more than 50 years.
On April 1, the agency is set to launch four astronauts around the moon, the deepest human spaceflight since the final Apollo lunar landing in 1972.
The launch window for Artemis II , as the mission is called, opens at 6:24 p.m. ET.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration teams have been preparing the vehicles to depart from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on the planned roughly 10-day trip. Crew members have trained for years for this moment.
Reid Wiseman, the NASA astronaut serving as mission commander, said he doesn’t fear taking the voyage. A widower, he does worry at times about what he is putting his daughters through.
“I could have a very comfortable life for them,” Wiseman said in an interview last September.
“But I’m also a human, and I see the spirit in their eyes that is burning in my soul too. And so we’ve just got to never stop going.”
Wiseman’s crewmates on Artemis II are NASA’s Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
What are the goals for Artemis II?
The biggest one: Safely fly the crew on vehicles that have never carried astronauts before.
The towering Space Launch System rocket has the job of lofting a vehicle called Orion into space and on its way to the moon.
Orion is designed to carry the crew around the moon and back. Myriad systems on the ship—life support, communications, navigation—will be tested with the astronauts on board.
SLS and Orion don’t have much flight experience. The vehicles last flew in 2022, when the agency completed its uncrewed Artemis I mission .
How is the mission expected to unfold?
Artemis II will begin when SLS takes off from a launchpad in Florida with Orion stacked on top of it.
The so-called upper stage of SLS will later separate from the main part of the rocket with Orion attached, and use its engine to set up the latter vehicle for a push to the moon.
After Orion separates from the upper stage, it will conduct what is called a translunar injection—the engine firing that commits Orion to soaring out to the moon. It will fly to the moon over the course of a few days and travel around its far side.
Orion will face a tough return home after speeding through space. As it hits Earth’s atmosphere, Orion will be flying at 25,000 miles an hour and face temperatures of 5,000 degrees as it slows down. The capsule is designed to land under parachutes in the Pacific Ocean, not far from San Diego.
Is it possible Artemis II will be delayed?
Yes.
For safety reasons, the agency won’t launch if certain tough weather conditions roll through the Cape Canaveral, Fla., area. Delays caused by technical problems are possible, too. NASA has other dates identified for the mission if it doesn’t begin April 1.
Who are the astronauts flying on Artemis II?
The crew will be led by Wiseman, a retired Navy pilot who completed military deployments before joining NASA’s astronaut corps. He traveled to the International Space Station in 2014.
Two other astronauts will represent NASA during the mission: Glover, an experienced Navy pilot, and Koch, who began her career as an electrical engineer for the agency and once spent a year at a research station in the South Pole. Both have traveled to the space station before.
Hansen is a military pilot who joined Canada’s astronaut corps in 2009. He will be making his first trip to space.
Koch’s participation in Artemis II will mark the first time a woman has flown beyond orbits near Earth. Glover and Hansen will be the first African-American and non-American astronauts, respectively, to do the same.
What will the astronauts do during the flight?
The astronauts will evaluate how Orion flies, practice emergency procedures and capture images of the far side of the moon for scientific and exploration purposes (they may become the first humans to see parts of the far side of the lunar surface). Health-tracking projects of the astronauts are designed to inform future missions.
Those efforts will play out in Orion’s crew module, which has about two minivans worth of living area.
On board, the astronauts will spend about 30 minutes a day exercising, using a device that allows them to do dead lifts, rowing and more. Sleep will come in eight-hour stretches in hammocks.
There is a custom-made warmer for meals, with beef brisket and veggie quiche on the menu.
Each astronaut is permitted two flavored beverages a day, including coffee. The crew will hold one hourlong shared meal each day.
The Universal Waste Management System—that’s the toilet—uses air flow to pull fluid and solid waste away into containers.
What happens after Artemis II?
Assuming it goes well, NASA will march on to Artemis III, scheduled for next year. During that operation, NASA plans to launch Orion with crew members on board and have the ship practice docking with lunar-lander vehicles that Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have been developing. The rendezvous operations will occur relatively close to Earth.
NASA hopes that its contractors and the agency itself are ready to attempt one or more lunar landing missions in 2028. Many current and former spaceflight officials are skeptical that timeline is feasible.
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