Research Program for Luxury Brands

Luxury brands achieve phenomenal growth rates and the willingness to pay for their products is extraordinarily high. This research program aims to provide a platform to discuss and explore the management of luxury brands.

The development of luxury brands is a big challenge because luxury companies always work on the edge of what is within their means: luxury brands reach high growth rates and willingness to pay because they deliver operational excellence in combination with creative brand environments.

In order to achieve such excellence luxury brands require special efforts regarding managment knowledge, management research and management training. In 2010 we founded our research program to explore these specific requirements of this industry. Since 2012 the program is developed in cooperation with the Institut of Bussines Administration.

Our goals

• In cooperation with companies: We want to facilitate discussions on luxury-specific marketing- and management topics by building an interactive luxury brand platform.
• Our research: Provides significant results that help to solve the main challenges in the luxury market.
• Our teaching activity: Allows students to learn more about the luxury market. Within the scope of practical research projects for their thesis they learn more about luxury brands and, at the same time, contribute to the current research on the topic.

For companies: luxury brand program

The success of our "Best Practice in Marketing" program, which allows an active interchange between science and the business world, shows how valuable discussions between managers and researchers are for both of them. The luxury brand platform aims to build on this tradition by facilitating the interchange between managers of different luxury brands. The program will consist of industry exclusive partner firms participating in regular focus groups. Partners of the program are part of the program's management board and therby set the agenda of the luxury brand program.

Each partner firm contributes 30'000 CHF p.a.

Research: Our publications

Within the past few months, the following scientific works have been published. They are available on request:

• Berghaus, B. (2012). Luxury Reader: Current, recommended publications in the field of luxury consumption and management. St. Gallen, Switzerland: Institute of Marketing, University of St. Gallen.
• Berghaus, B. (2012). Luxusmarkenentwicklung: Markenführung durch einen sich stets neu erfindenden Markt. Marketing Review St. Gallen, 1 (29), 6-10.
• Berghaus, B. (13.12.2011). Luxusmarken zwischen Demarketing und Erreichbarkeit. Nürnberg: SUXXEED. URL: http://www.vertriebszeitung.de/index.php/luxusmarken.html.
• Berghaus, B. (2011). Luxury Stocks: Luxusmarken aus Sicht des Finanzmarkts. Marketing Review St. Gallen, 3/2011 (29), 4.
• Berghaus, B. & Reinecke, S. (2011). Massenexklusivität als Herausforderung wachsender Luxusmarken: Der Luxusmarkt boomt, marke41, 4/2011 (4), 10.
• Koordination: Marketing Review St. Gallen, "Ausgabe Luxury Brand Development", 29 (1), 64.

Teaching: current research projects

Within the research program on luxury brand development, the following topics are currently being elaborated by students in the form of master and bachelor thesis:

• "Brandextension in the Swiss watchmaking industry"
• "Measures to create a unique shopping experience in luxury watch retailing"
• "Hedonistic consumption of luxury brands"
• "Expansion strategies of luxury brands in emerging markets and their success factors"
• "The relationship between brand equity and financial performance in luxury hotels"
• "Luxury and Expansion: The Case of Fashion Labels"
• "The contribution of brand tradition to successful brand management of premium car manufacturers"
• "Brand development of luxury yachts"

We are glad about your interst in our research program on luxury brand development and would like to invite you to contact us if you have some questions, remarks or cooperation approaches. The right column of this web page lists all the possible ways of contacting us.