MODERN HERITAGE. HOW TO COMPETE IN A LUXURY MARKET DOMINATED BY CENTENARIAN BRANDS.

For Annabel’s packaging, SUM’s underlying concept was to capture the heritage ambiance of the club through a unique design approach that would be appropriate for use across a variety of formats.

For Annabel’s packaging, SUM’s underlying concept was to capture the heritage ambiance of the club through a unique design approach that would be appropriate for use across a variety of formats.

In the world of luxury branding, heritage speaks volumes. We’ve written previously about how many of today’s leading luxury brands - such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes, and Prada - were established more than a century ago and have, over time, developed their own memorable legends and legacies. But what if your brand has been launched more recently, or perhaps is a startup due for launch in the coming months and has therefore not yet earned the passing of time in which to develop a long history?

At SUM we believe that in the luxury space the opportunity to build a heritage need not only depend on decades of existence, but instead can be earned more quickly by adopting the right approaches.

The opportunity is crystalised in a single thought - authenticity. To build a heritage means relying only on stories and insights that are entirely genuine and ring true to your audience. It means remaining adamantly loyal to your brand’s values and principles, because a glorious heritage is so easy to damage with a single false move.

At the start of every project, we spend time asking questions about each brand we work with. Who founded it? What were their motivations for doing so? What do they care about and what are their personal red-lines? What makes their products different from those of their competitors? With whom have they collaborated? How are their materials sourced? Are there manufacturing aspects that are different from the methods used by competitors?

The insights that emerge from this process form the basis of a branding approach that is expressed through visual identity, storytelling, website design, content creation, and of course the experience of buying and owning of products. In this way we aim to help brands achieve a fast-track to heritage and to luxury status.

If you’d like to speak to SUM about the growth of your own luxury brand, please email us.