Luxe Yet Local

DLF Emporio is the address of most international luxury brands like Dior, Fendi, Cartier, Armani, Jimmy Choo and the like in Delhi. A walk through Emporio is always a stark contrast to visiting other malls like Select Citywalk, which houses comparatively lower-end brands. As winter wrapped up, these stores went crazy with sales, discounts, ad banners screaming promotions like buy-one-get one-free, 50% off and ways to win free merchandise.

But their richer cousins sat smugly on their shelves. Quiet and understated, their marketing strategies are always more subtle. They never go on sale, give discounts or employ the same gimmicks that other brands do.

So what do luxe brands do differently? One of the strategies they seem to be using well, at least in India, is that of “localizing.” A stand out example is French fashion house, Louis Vuitton. LV has a heritage that stands strong and apart, yet the brand seems to be conscious of changing consumer tastes across the world. It has learned the lesson of localizing well.

Last November, during the festival of Diwali, which is a time of super discounts, like Christmas for the rest of the world, LV came out with a Sari-dress line. (Sari is the traditional Indian women's outfit; several meters of cloth that can be draped in different ways.) Marc Jacobs designed the line of limited edition ready-to-wear sari dresses that were spotted on Indian actress Priyanka Chopra and supermodel Christy Turlington.

What’s more, during the Diwali season, LV’s window displayed a set of hand-painted trunks made of banana leaf that softly glowed from within like lanterns. They were created by Indian artist Rajeev Sethi in celebration of the festival of lights. LV needs no introduction in India, but by using local traditions and artists it has reached a wider spectrum of people.

And it didn’t stop at a one-time festival promotion. The LV store in DLF Emporio, displays a historic LV trunk that belongs to the ''Maharani of Baroda'' (the queen of the Indian princely state, Baroda.) With a small gesture like this, LV touched the hearts of its discerning Indian clients.