The Bling Dynasty: Why the Reign of Chinese Luxury Shoppers Has Only Just Begun

Chapter 3 Another French Paradox

Lady Astor: ‘‘Sir, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea''.

Churchill: ‘‘Madam, if you were my wife, I'd drink it''.

In this chapter, we see how luxury has moved quickly from scarcity to ubiquity. Ubiquity issues are forcing brands to find ways to address the paradox of selling more of what should be exclusive. (See Figure 3.1.)

Figure 3.1 Gucci Forever Now Campaign 2012

(PHOTO CREDIT: Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin)

Combatting Ubiquity

One of the biggest challenges in the luxury industry following strong growth over the past few years and, more importantly, imagining that that growth continues in the future, is the issue of combatting ubiquity, the idea that you see the same brands everywhere you go. Luxury brand omnipresence contradicts the principle of these brands being exclusive and thus worth their high price points.

The French Paradox: Of Wine and Bags

Serge Renaud, a research scientist, became famous in the United States thanks to the TV newsmagazine 60 Minutes in which he explained the ‘French paradox', this idea that French people, despite consuming more saturated fats than their American counterparts, were less often victims of cardiovascular diseases.

If you leave aside the possibility that measures may differ between France and the United States making results meaningless or lacking credibility, there are many ...