Luxury carmakers inspired by high fashion marketing techniques

Luxury automakers are taking a page out of fashion’s marketing manual in a bid to appeal to a similar luxury goods consumer.

Whereas luxury brands do not market clothes as the vital garments that warm our backs, neither do luxury carmakers market their vehicles as solely a mode of transport.

Fashion is about selling a dream, with haute couture at the peak of the fashion pyramid. Luxury carmakers like Rolls-Royce are similarly strategising their communications: “You are not just buying a car but commissioning a work of art, building a dream,” Rolls-Roys chief executive Torsten Muller-Otvos said in an interview with The Economist.

Luxury cars are sold for entertainment, not transport, notes the weekly financial publication, and like haute couture, customers that commission ultra luxury cars, where prices can start at 200,000 dollars for a Ferrari, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce or Bentley, are looking for the ultimate in luxury experiences.

Interestingly, some luxury car brands have a similar sales strategy to those of luxury fashion brands. Whereas Chanel produces only a limited number of expensive handbags, it sells perfumes and makeup to a mass market. Ferrari, likewise, sells a limited number of pricey sports cars, but on a mass market scale sells cheaper branded goods, including watches, clothing and accessories, like its 50 dollar baseball cap.

Earlier this year Porsche shot its campaign with fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh. The subjects were the German automaker’s Mission E and 911 sports cars. Lindbergh created the images in his typical black and white aesthetic, images with a narrative fit for any fashion glossy.

Photo credit: Royce Atelier, courtesy of Rolls Royce