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Values key to both the Message and the Medium, at FT Business of Luxury Summit

This year’s FT Business of Luxury Summit, brought together more than 300 hundred luxury professionals from around the world at the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel to discuss “The Medium and The Message.” Some of the highlights from the two day conference were blogged by Imran Amed on The Luxury Society. Three of the eight highlights clearly demonstrate the importance of values for luxury brands. He notes:

Celebrities want part of the action, over the long-term
Celebrity and brand collaborations may be on the rise, but Charles Finch, Chairman and CEO of Finch
& Partners said that savvy celebrities are now thinking of themselves as brands and are far more sophisticated than luxury brands often assume. Bryan Lourd of CAA concurred: "People that are famous want real partnerships with companies… “ including meaningful roles and equity shares; he added that “These are the most successful relationships by far.”

Keep it real on Twitter
Diane von Furstenberg reported that she loves Twitter. In fact she sends out a few tweets about empowering women, a core value of her brand, on a daily basis. She believes that once the brand message is firmly in place the sales
will follow: “it’s more important to empower women than sell them a dress. If everything is marketing driven, it’s no longer real.”

Authenticity, Community and Doing Business
Luxury brands should keep in mind three important principles as they craft their digital strategies, according to Joe Raspars, Founding Partner of Blue State Digital and strategic architect for Barack Obama’s digital campaign: Authenticity, Community and Doing Business. Raspars explained the campaign attracted 13 million people active online supporters,, translating into 20% of the votes cast for Obama overall and 2/3 of the finance for his campaign.