Brand Building: Luxury Leather Goods Brands Anatomized

Brand building is central to achieving differentiation in most economic sectors. This is paramount for luxury goods where customers buy a symbol as much as a product. The brand and its image are key factors for competitive advantage and brand building is a central competence for luxury goods companies. This study aims to explore brand building of traditional luxury leather goods brands. A multiple case study of Delvaux, Bottega Veneta, Hermes and Loewe allows us to replicate and extend Fionda and Moore's (2009) findings about luxury fashion brands. Results show that the nine dimensions identified by these authors also apply to these brands. Moreover, five additional sub-dimensions are uncovered-website, e-shop, link with art, customization and workshop-and these should be taken into account in the brand building process. These exploratory results provide insights to managers for their on-going efforts to keep their brands competitive.