"We can be both highbrow and loved by the masses!" Huang He tapped Qu Wei's head. "When you hold a 'Liushang Qu Shui Caiwei Shi' event, you don't have to stick to just this one brand. You can create a new brand and develop it into a 'light luxury' brand."
"Light luxury? What does that mean?" Qu Wei was stunned. He had never heard the term before.
"Ah!" Huang He was also taken aback. He hadn't expected Qu Wei to be unfamiliar with the concept of light luxury.
In fact, it was said that the term was first introduced in 2008 by China's most renowned fashion magazine, "Harper's Bazaar," in an issue aimed at promoting Dior in China, positioning Dior as a light luxury brand.
That's right, contrary to what many might imagine, Dior has never been a top-tier luxury brand. The reason is simple: top luxury brands are always unaffordable and unattainable for ordinary people. You can only hear legends about them in the martial world, but you never see them in person. Perhaps you might see them on others, but never on yourself.
Just look around on the streets. Any so-called goddess or socialite can flaunt a Dior bag. Their social media feeds are also filled with Dior pictures. Like Apple, it's completely ubiquitous.
Anything that becomes ubiquitous is divorced from the realm of top luxury. It doesn't even deserve the label of luxury. Hence, the media coined the term "light luxury."
Seeing Qu Wei still looking perplexed, Huang He could only continue to explain. "Light luxury, in essence, refers to products that lie between ordinary goods and luxury items."
"Take a bottle of perfume, for example. In Wenzhou, the ex-factory price is two yuan a bottle. If you put it in a beautiful crystal bottle, it might cost an extra yuan, and that's it. In the market, selling it for twenty or thirty yuan would be the absolute maximum."
"However, a bottle of Chanel perfume, considered a luxury item, costs at least 5,000 yuan at the cheapest. And even Chanel isn't exactly top-tier luxury anymore; it's already entered the light luxury category. For 5,000 yuan, anyone can afford it with a bit of effort, saving up two or three months' salary."
"Well, it's more or less the idea. The pricing for light luxury perfume should be between 1,000 and 10,000 yuan. This is a price that seems incredibly expensive, but in reality, any ordinary person can afford it with a little effort, sacrificing two or three months of salary. They can then own a prestigious luxury item to show off to their friends."
"And this kind of so-called luxury is light luxury!" Huang He concluded.
"I think I understand!" Qu Wei nodded. She was already very sensitive to fashion, and Huang He's explanation was clear and easy to follow, so she grasped it quickly.
At the same time, Qu Wei immediately realized that light luxury was the most suitable positioning for her.
"You know, even though the prices of top luxury items are so exorbitant, they actually aren't that profitable. Even selling one for a million yuan, they only sell fewer than 700 units a year, topping out at 700 million yuan in sales. They really don't make much money."
"But light luxury is different. If you manage these light luxury brands well, they can generate hundreds of billions, even trillions, in astonishing profits for the company each year. This is because light luxury relies on volume, and significant volume at that. They need to sell tens of millions of units annually, even more than many roadside stalls sell, but at prices hundreds or thousands of times higher than those on the street, naturally making immense profits!"
"So, how to operate a light luxury brand is the key, and it's also a very contradictory matter."
"Because the definition of a luxury item lies in its inherent rarity. For a luxury item to command a high price, it must be rare."
"But rare things don't generate money. So, we need to sell in volume. The biggest challenge in marketing light luxury products is how to maintain the price of these so-called luxury items while selling them in volume."
"Countless people in the world aspire to create a light luxury brand, but only a handful succeed, like Dior and Chanel, just a few brands." Huang He continued to impart his business acumen, guiding Qu Wei on how to manage a light luxury brand.
"The key to successfully operating such a light luxury brand is to maintain its recognition among consumers, to make consumers believe that the brand is noble."
"As I said before, all luxury brands are essentially bullsh*t. They're not much different from the two or three yuan sets produced in Wenzhou, but they sell for so much. It's because users recognize their status."
"We must also maintain this recognition. So, first, regarding store openings, in a first-tier city like Shanghai or Beijing, each district can have at most one store, and a city cannot exceed five outlets."
"Second-tier cities are limited to three outlets, and third-tier cities to one. Other cities simply don't warrant our presence – they don't deserve us!"
"Then, for store locations, stick to one principle: open stores where the rent is highest."
"The store decor must also be very high-class. Well, I don't understand interior design; you're an artist, you understand that. But remember, it shouldn't be too artistic. Luxury stores need to convey a concept of opulence and prestige. Essentially, it's a mass-market product, because the masses desire to become opulent and precious. If you make it too artistic, you become niche."
"But absolutely do not use gold. Because the more people perceive themselves as opulent and prestigious, the more they dislike the color gold, the epitome of opulence. They fear being perceived as someone who likes opulence. This principle is crucial; you must grasp it!"
"Simultaneously, the store area must be large, at least 300 square meters to start. All merchandise should not be densely packed. Each item must have ample space around it, allowing all customers to perceive the high-end nature of these products visually."
These are all aspects of offline stores. These are just the basics for a luxury brand. To truly establish a light luxury brand, you need to focus on advertising and promotion.
"I get it! We need to spend hundreds of millions a year on advertising, right?" Qu Wei exclaimed with a look of enlightenment.
"What advertising? A noble luxury brand inherently exudes nobility, a captivating fragrance. How can something inherently precious be advertised? How can you use advertising to tarnish its prestige?"
"Do you really think that by constantly showing 'Send gifts, send Naobaijing' on television, everyone will believe Naobaijing is the most precious thing in the world? That's naive!"
"Let me tell you, luxury goods cannot advertise. They cannot actively promote themselves, otherwise, it will damage their divine image of being grand and noble," Huang He said with deep concern.
"Then how can a new brand become widely recognized without advertising?" Qu Wei was becoming overwhelmed by Huang He's words.
"Advertising doesn't always have to be direct. We need to find another way, a way to advertise by making it passive!" Huang He said.
"For example, if I ask you to immediately think of the most noble person in China, who comes to mind?" Huang He inquired.
"The Emperor!" Qu Wei instinctively replied.
"Exactly. Everyone knows the Emperor is the most noble person in the world. But does the Emperor constantly advertise, telling everyone, 'I am the Emperor, I am the most noble'?"
"Of course not. Most people never even see the Emperor in their lifetime. They only learn about him through hearsay."
"And these people never speak directly about the Emperor's nobility. They only reveal it in casual conversations."
"For instance, 'The Emperor ate hundreds of dishes for a meal yesterday.'"
"Or, 'Yesterday, the Emperor held a grand selection of concubines, and thousands of the most beautiful women in the country were chosen for him, not even as wives, but as maids!'"
"Or, 'This morning, the Emperor was enraged and had hundreds of ministers beaten, even beating several to death!'"
"Then, tomorrow, you hear that His Majesty the Emperor has suddenly declared a general amnesty, releasing a murderer who killed over a dozen people from prison, granting him complete exoneration."
"See? The Emperor never proclaimed his own nobility, but through countless surrounding facts and stories, you come to understand His Majesty's nobility!"
"It's the same principle for operating a luxury brand!"
"We cannot engage in any direct promotion, but we can do so in a subtle, pervasive manner, through casual remarks that convey the brand's nobility!"
"For example, the day before yesterday, you heard that three top Chinese actresses attended a gala, competing in elegance, and Xiao Zhang, wearing 'Liushang Qu Shui Caiwei Shi,' outshone everyone, eclipsing the others."
"Then yesterday, you pick up a fashion magazine. Not a single article recommends 'Liushang Qu Shui Caiwei Shi' products, yet you see the editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine posing with other celebrities, wearing the latest style from 'Liushang Qu Shui Caiwei Shi'!"
"Today, you find fashion magazines boring and decide to read a novel for escapism. You come across a passage describing: 'Hua Chaoxi got out of his xxx bed and buried his head in the xxx silk pillowcase. A maid brought him mouthwash served in a transparent xxx crystal cup, made from natural sea buckthorn and lemon grown in the Ferrari Mountains of France. Even with Hua Chaoxi's wealth, he only deigned to use these lemons for mouthwash, unwilling to use them for foot soaks.'"
"After finishing his ablutions in the bathroom, equipped with Italian top handmade sanitary ware platforms from xxx, he finally opened his walk-in closet, only to be surprised to find it entirely filled with limited edition custom-made clothing from 'Liushang Qu Shui Caiwei Shi.'"
"With Hua Chaoxi's wealth, he could have filled his wardrobe with far more luxury attire. But Hua Chaoxi is not a man who is fickle. When he was just three years old, the first time he saw his father wearing the Han-style attire of 'Liushang Qu Shui Caiwei Shi,' he decided he would only wear clothes from this brand for the rest of his life."
"He never cared about whether clothes were expensive; he only cared if they resonated with his heart. Although this one piece of clothing was equivalent to ten years' salary for an ordinary person."
"Finally, tomorrow, you go to work and see your female colleague wearing a piece from 'Liushang Qu Shui Caiwei Shi.' All the women around her are buzzing and casting envious glances."
"Do you think the things screaming 'Send gifts, only send Naobaijing' on television are more noble, or is this 'Liushang Qu Shui Caiwei Shi' piece more likely to make you desire it?"