the rise of the conversation product
Structuring product portfolios to create desire
Conversation products are pieces that are shared countless times on social media. The buzz they create excites consumers and thereby satisfies luxury brands need for visibility and the creation of desire. Luxury fashion should offer unique materials, techniques, heritage, and design – we explored this in “the purpose of luxury”. Nevertheless, these products are extremely expensive. To be willing to pay the premium, consumers need desire – luxuries are not only about fulfilling a functional need but are above all about the fulfilment of dreams.
Not all products of a brand create the same level of desire, so one of the ways brands build desirability across their wide range of products is through a well-organized products portfolio and product hierarchy. If done according to current best practice this plays out in the form a pyramid. At the top are those products that shine the most but are sold the least. The line extension products at the bottom of the pyramid are more affordable and still embody the dreams and desires associated with the brand. They are the ones that enable luxury brands to generate revenues from a broader range of customers. With the rise of the conversation product, there is a shake-up at the top of the pyramid.
Origin of the pyramid
Let’s go back in time to understand the origin of the pyramid.
We have all heard of haute couture, the fine art of dressmaking. Haute couture dresses by the likes of the late Christian Dior, Cristóbal Balenciaga or Yves Saint Laurent were some of the most exclusive gowns of their time. Their eponymous brands live on today and still use their legacy to sell product. But haute couture was and is only available to a select few at an exorbitant price point. Then, in the 60s to 70s, Yves Saint Laurent additionally created a prêt-a-porter – ready-to-wear – line, which allowed customers to purchase luxury products all season and off the rack, next to showing haute couture.1 Ready-to-wear collections carried the same aspirational value of the brand but were more affordable and accessible. Even if some brands already took line extension efforts earlier (e.g., Chanel No. 5, which was released in 19212; Brioni, who showed ready-to-wear suits in 19523), we can use Yves Saint Laurent’s ready-to-wear inception as the point in time when a pyramid was finally established as the single best practice to structure a product portfolio and enable an artistically relevant and commercially successful brand – Yves Saint Laurent’s haute couture was shown on the runways and shining at the top, his ready-to-wear was available in stores and generating mainstream revenues.
Haute couture remains the most common example of a product group at the top of a luxury brand’s product pyramid today. It is complex, costly (for brand and customer), and through its exclusivity very desirable. The radiating desire created by a strong haute couture show can still carry the brand name through a season.
Broader application creates hero products
Over time, brands broadened the application of “top of the pyramid”. This development occurred – among other reasons – because non-haute couture luxury brands started launching clothing lines – e.g., Gucci in the 80s, Louis Vuitton and Bottega Veneta in the 90s.4,5,6
These brands had their own signature products and adapted the pyramid best practice to their product lines. Not having haute couture as their origins, naturally their “top of the pyramid” would be from another category. Therefore, the idea of a more generic “hero product” definition became relevant.
hero products can be characterized by different factors: their craftsmanship, their material, specific patternmaking, or their relevance to a brand’s history. However, almost all hero products hold one common attribute: they are among the most expensive in the respective product portfolio; following the equation of high price equals high desire.
Today, the hero product concept is also applied by haute couture brands. For Saint Laurent the Motorcycle jackets fulfils this role. It carries all the hero product characteristics – recognizable, connected to the brand identity and expensive. An example for non-couture hero products is Hermès’ Birkin and Kelly. Their omni-presence as the most luxurious bags trickles-down through the entire portfolio. Louis Vuitton is a bit different as it has multiple highly desirable products that are hard to narrow down to one or two. Nevertheless, it’s range of bags and ever-recognizable pattern transcends and supports all other product categories. In that sense Louis Vuitton’s hero is their signature branding.
Conversation products create desire from their visibility
Three drivers have led to a new approach to the “top of the pyramid”. In the social media age we are so oversaturated with content that it is difficult to leave a lasting impression. We are seeing the rise of mix & match, where consumers combine high-end with affordable products. Additionally, designers take more and more inspiration from “the street”. Therefore, complexity in creation, representation of brand heritage and a high price do not define current hero products anymore. Nowadays, the ability to slice through the thick fog of impressions and become a viral hit is the most important characteristic of a product.
What we are witnessing, is the rise of the conversation product!
The conversation product creates a buzz instantly. It is photographed or filmed and then shared, shared, shared, and reposted and sent via DM and then… again. That is its role. The conversation product’s value – for both brand and customer – does not stem from its exclusivity or price but from its relevance in social media. A successful conversation product increases the visibility of a brand dramatically. Naturally this drives desirability for consumers as they can stand out by wearing it.
Some examples for recent conversation products are JW Anderson’s Pigeon Bag, Loewe’s Minecraft inspired 2D T-Shirts (- also designed by Creative director Jonathan Anderson), and Coperni’s spray-on dress, which surely marks the most viral fashion moment of 2022 – no need to even discuss it.
Coperni’s genius idea featuring Bella Hadid generated 27,7M Earned Media Value, which doubles the awareness they gained in the last season the research from lefty.io says (“Lefty defines Earned Media Value as the equivalent ad spend of the impressions gained. The EMV is calculated by estimating the number of impressions of each publication and associating a CPM of $100, which is equivalent to $1 per engagement. The formula used is: [Impressions * CPM/1000]”, I highly recommend their report, which you find in the sources).7
To make the number more tangible: During Paris Fashion Week only Dior and Saint Laurent captured more media attention than Coperni. Just like that the young brand beat Valentino, Balenciaga, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Acne and Givenchy.
Let’s examine this one and look at Google Trends for the keyword “Coperni” in the 2nd half of 2022.
That is what a viral moment looks like; Coperni nailed the first step of the conversation product, obviously, conversion must be aimed at now. Even though there is a steep decline between October to December, we can observe a slight yet maintained increase of the Google Trends Index because of the show – from a median index of 2 before, to a median index of 3 after. (@Coperni, feel free to send the actual revenue data, in case you need some crunching).
All three are examples of products which are very different than previous hero products. The pigeon bag is “fairly” priced at 650 GBP and does not offer particular complex craftmanship or material, Loewe’s t-shirts are more or less simple compared to the brands high heels and bags, they also have nothing to do with the brands heritage in leather goods; and the Coperni dress will probably not be available to anyone, it was more like an art performance shown on a runway – meaning that for Coperni this season’s conversation product is not even sellable, nevertheless it showcases the young brands innovative identity and has certainly created a buzz.
Capture the essence to create lasting impressions
So why do consumers pay the premium? It all comes down to desire. The desire to own uniquely crafted products, the desire to own the halo of the hero, the desire to be at the centre of attention.
The recent rise of the conversation piece will lead to more brands pushing for viral moments.
We will hopefully see more daring pieces with stronger concepts in both design and marketing – overall, I expect a more breath-taking fashion space. On the other hand, we will probably be overloaded by an even higher level of noise by those brands, that are not able to capture the essence.
Brands can take advantage of the conversation age but should stay true with themselves – don’t create simply for a viral moment. Extrapolating the identity will lead to pin-pointed concepts and virality based on authentic values will enable bonding beyond the buzz.
For customers this means that we should stay open for the fun, exciting times are ahead; we should nevertheless look closely and hold brands accountable for whatever they produce – we do not want throwaway ideas in the luxury space.
Let’s enjoy this pivotal moment in the hierarchy of luxury fashion portfolios!
Sources
The idea for this topic came after reading “die Erfolgsgeschichte der Hässlichkeit” by Isabelle Braun, which I highly recommend. She also uses the term conversation product in the article. https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/auffallen-reicht-erstmal-die-erfolgsgeschichte-der-haesslichkeit-ld.1708209 (last accessed in February 2023)
1 https://museeyslparis.com/en/biography/saint-laurent-rive-gauche (last accessed in February 2023)
2 https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/beauty/fragrance/a41776009/chanel-no5/ (last accessed in February 2023)
3 https://www.brioni.com/en/gb/history (last accessed in February 2023)
4 https://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/house-of-gucci-maurizio-gucci-tom-ford-patrizia-reggiani-history-timeline-1234813497/ (last accessed in February 2023)
5 https://www.rebag.com/thevault/louis-vuitton-101-history-luxury-giant/ (last accessed in February 2023)
6 https://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/history-of-bottega-veneta-daniel-lee-matthieu-blazy-1235111577/0 (last accessed in February 2023)
7 https://www.lefty.io/industry-reports/pfw-womenswear-ss23 (last accessed in February 2023)
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