Harman Luxury Update

The definition of LUXURY has changed and so must we.

Historically when someone mentioned the word “luxury” it almost always was associated with craftsmanship and high price points. Today, the same word means many different things to many different people. In 2019, luxury is highly subjective to the consumer. Akin to art, luxury can be approached from many different angles.

The notion of luxury is no longer limited to a small sector of the public. In many ways luxury has almost become a fruitful commodity. We see the term used to describe everything from toilet paper to million-dollar automobiles.

Even with this paradigm shift occurring, there are some things that remain the same. Trend forecasters are still predicting that today’s luxury shoppers are looking for exclusivity, high quality, but they are also looking for their purchase to make them part of a community. This passion for social and environmental causes has reached critical mass in some countries and we all must come to terms with this new phenomenon. It’s now just as important to have the craftsmanship and limited reach as it is to appeal to the moral consciousness. There was a recent survey done with 12,000 affluent consumers across the US, Europe, China, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates to get the pulse of cultural attitudes and inclinations. No matter what country the surveys were conducted in, more than two thirds of the consumers associated the desire to purchase Luxury Goods and Services with differentiating themselves from others. This desire to differentiate included a social cause that other brands do not associate with.

Today, the word luxury is associated with the means of travel rather than the destination. In our industry, the means of travel takes consumers to our branded websites. We need to make our websites more inspirational for today’s luxury consumer who is beginning his/her journey towards purchasing a luxury audio experience. We need to introduce them to the people who design, manufacture and sell our products. Our customers are seeking out reasons for them to be differentiated from others.

With all these new realities occurring, Harman Luxury Audio will soon begin a major transformation of our branded websites. We will be focusing our websites on the brands more than our products. We intend to capture the hearts and minds of today’s luxury audio consumer. We will give them more stories, more videos and more experiences that they can associate with. We will also share our social and environmental causes we support.

This shift in our branded websites doesn’t stop with our consumers. We also plan to launch the most comprehensive site for our dealers and distributors. We stand committed to deliver one site where you can find everything you need to help you sell Harman Luxury products to your consumers. Whether it’s a white paper from one of our engineers, a CAD drawing or a hi-res lifestyle image of one of our products, this new site will be a one stop resource for our valued resellers.

In another article in this newsletter, you will learn more about our new e-Learning platform from our Global Training Manager, Chris Robinson. His new Learning Management Systems (LMS) will be linked directly from this new dealer site. We plan to host all our Points for Products programs and other incentives on this dealer site to help you become raving fans of Harman Luxury Audio.

All these changes are because of you and your customers. We look forward to delivering our new LUXURY EXPERIENCE early in 2020.