The luxury car industry is a niche
market. It means that it targets a small population. Indeed, the price ranges (from a minimum of 100 000€ to
over 500 000€) testifies that not everybody can afford such goods. But this industry does
not only target “rich” people.
In 2010, only 7.4% of Lamborghini
buyers were women and 9.3% of Rolls Royce buyers were women. Regarding the
other luxury brands, the percentages are quite the same and never reach more
than 10%. This means that the other 90% are men. Indeed, according to Jesse Toprak, Vice President of Industry Trends and
Insights at TrueCar.com : “The study shows that women car buyers are more
cost-conscious and purchased fuel-efficient vehicles while male buyers were
completely the opposite, purchasing vehicles that were either big and brawny,
like a large truck, or chose a high-priced, high-performance vehicle.”1
Regarding their ages, the European
and US market is dominated by older customers. However, Lamborghini seduces a
much younger market in Asia. Indeed, according to Stephan Winkleman, CEO, this
is an Asian phenomenon and this trend can be seen only in India and China2.
With such figures, we understand their
communication and advertising strategy. As it is a niche market, the media used
are specialized paper magazine and specialized TV shows. The latter are
presented by men (for the most part) and car models are tested by men. In
magazine, it is more about printed advertising and strong technical approaches
in articles.
Promotion videos are also shot and shared online (Youtube official channels, trade fair websites, official websites, blogs) or in TV shows.
Brand placement is another advertising technique used by this market. We can see Lamborghini in the Batman trilogy as Bruce Wayne’s car. Rolls-Royce seems to have a deeper relationship with the cinema as its models appeared in countless movies and TV shows. As an example the Silver Cloud III appeared in 136 movies and TV shows, sometimes as a simple background car but also as the main vehicle of one of the characters[3]. This can be explained by the old age of the brand and it certainly contributed to its myth.
Another communication strategy is the participation of these brands in trade fairs. And their booth design also reveals the targeted market: modern architectural lines metaphorically representing the implied technology, young women enhancing the beauty of the car and men presenting the technical aspects.
We can definitely say that it is a men’s world: the cars are designed, created and produced by men in order to please other men, the latter being the future buyers.
Symbols of wealth, performance and power, we understand why such goods please men who will project their own desire and their social-self on their car.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire