Let’s talk about the juxtaposition of modern and vintage. In the city of Paris, it is everywhere you look. you cannot escape it.
This made me think of how this concept of mixing the old with the new is not only a technique to be used in marketing and branding, but, in the case of many heritage brands, a huge challenge and obstacle they must tackle every day.
For instance, take a brand like Louis Vuitton. There is no Louis Vuitton without their iconic trunk and LV pattern, but there is also no Louis Vuitton if they only remained selling and exclusively producing that specific product. On the contrary if they had pivoted to completely reinvent themselves without considering the weight (literally and figuratively) of their trunks they would have lost the essence of what the LV brand is.
In the case of Chanel, they have a very clear policy of brand over business, meaning that no matter how profitable an opportunity, their main priority is maintaining the brand´s heritage and legacy, perhaps a severe approach, but it seems to have worked for them so far. Conversely, if I think of a brand that completely lost the plot, Balenciaga pops into my mind; the brand seems to have zero ties to its history and the legacy of Cristobal Balenciaga, so now people tend to associate the brand more with the Kardashians rather than with old classical Spanish glamour.
The luxury industry is the most obvious example for this juxtaposition, but in reality, it can be witnessed in many other brands that aspire to maintain relevancy while still staying true to their origins. A good example of a non-luxury brand that achieves this is Heinz; an everyday consumer good that struggles with being interesting as well as being top of mind. Their strategy is to lean deeply into nostalgia and the simplicity of their product. It does not try to reinvent itself, but rather it focuses on reminding the consumer the high value of their product, and simultaneously it leans into UGC and a strong online brand awareness campaign that invite the more modern consumer to join the Heinz family.
All of this leaves me with a question: how do you define what is intrinsic and unchangeable for a brand and what is open for experimentation.
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