The study of demand in economics briefly describes the role played by the three types of goods, namely – Normal goods, Inferior goods and luxury goods in the economy.
The very old textbook concept has turned out to be a crucial matter of relevance, as the pandemic is continuing to affect the economy to deeper extents.
As a result, most of the luxury brands were forced to transform their face of operations and offerings, as wearing a temporary mask was not enough to tackle the depleting conditions.
The piece intends to discuss the changes in the way of operations and offerings made by some of the top luxury brands and what is in it that is going to decide their future in Indian markets.
Waving the social flag
Corporate Social Responsibility, or simply CSR, has managed to grow beyond the management cubicles in the past decade and has successfully emerged as a pure and more generalized concept.
The companies, especially those dealing with luxury brands, were forced by society’s expectations and being the centres of attention to level up their CSR activities amidst the pandemic.
We can assume that the relentless hustle of change management has worked out in favour of some of these brands, who successfully achieved the most anticipated transformation to a complete societal brand.
The process started with redesigning their operational strategies and making crucial changes to their product offerings (pulling out the products which are least likely to generate revenue during the pandemic and replacing them with the products on demand), and developed promotional strategies that waved the social flag.
Considering the example of Reliance Brands, their way of communicating to the customers has undergone a drastic change to the promotion of healthcare and well-being, which is apparently the need of the hour.
If such a trend is going to continue till the near end of the pandemic, the markets will get to witness a collective re-launch of the products from multiple brands.
With or without the support from their parent concern, the survival of the brands is the prime challenge they have to overcome as only time will the impression they have left in the minds of its consumers.
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Brand building amidst the pandemic
The depth of their market base and a loud capital backup usually remains to be the strongest forte of the luxury brands.
In most cases, until and unless it incurs damage to its internal environment, these brands are capable of tackling the external environmental changes and adversities to a greater extent.
The operational pace and the flexibility and adaptability to the change by the internal environment is the major force that assists the organization to thrive, even in the worst cases.
The scope of mere survival can be expanded to a growth stage with the right implementation of change and its undisputable factors.
However, even this trend can be witnessed at a large scale when you take a closer look at some of the brands that were able to generate more revenue in contrast to the pre-pandemic era.
A more innovative and compelling consolidation of CSR activities and brand building was running the show for the luxury brands.
They made an indirect proclamation to function for societal welfare, sacrificing the gains and profits.
In order to preserve their financial vigour, the privileges available for these giants were leaning on rigorous cost-cutting and contentious layoffs.
If the pandemic chooses to stand, not many of these luxury brands will sustain their voyage seeking enduring goodwill and brand image.
At the least, the market also got to witness their favourite brands paying for their past decisions on stock keeping and vibrant marketing efforts.
The Digital Legacy
Ever since the brick and mortar stores turned out as a last resort for the luxury brands to generate revenue, they took refuge in the digital market space.
Most of the brands were already experiencing a humongous amount of traffic in their digital space, while others joined the digital revolution soon.
Above all, the major digital platforms selflessly served as a medium to channel the re-tailored product and service offerings, appeared more conventional for the next sunrise.
The Final Word
Calling the sudden transformation of luxury brands a need of the hour just because of the steps taken as part of a more societal and humanitarian approach is indeed a debatable one. Yet, at the same time, the sense of solidarity and public spirit ignited by these brands deserves so much appreciation, regardless of their commercial motives.
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