Restoration Hardware launches “RH” using their focus on craftsmanship to expand into the world of consumer goods.
One of our favorite home décor and furnishings companies, Restoration Hardware, has been going through quite the image change. It plans to revamp its image from a high-end home furnishings company into a full-fledged luxury lifestyle enterprise. We love home décor companies and lifestyle brands like RH because of a central part of their identity: a focus on craftsmanship.
The luxury lifestyle landscape is shifting from over-the-top flashy labels to a refreshing focus on attention to detail and superb craftsmanship. A younger generation is changing the consumer landscape, caring less for conspicuous consumption and instead seeking high quality products that only get better with age.
Restoring Restoration Hardware’s Image & Refinement a la Bernardaud
Taking a cue from Ralph Lauren, the home décor powerhouse is using their initials “RH” to launch a luxury brand of apparel, accessories, footwear and jewelry. The company is even expanding into curated collections of art, kitchenware and iconic antiques, revealing a bespoke craftsman focus.
Our NYC PR firm represented Bernardaud Fine French Porcelain and the focus was not flashy ad campaigns; instead, it was targeted placement in top publications and tasteful cross-promotions. Keep it classy!
Iconic Luxury
As we mentioned in a previous blog post about a McKinsey study, if a brand is to embody the luxury lifestyle, it must do so with authenticity. This authenticity cannot be bought with glitzy ad campaigns and forced messaging. It is established from a loyal consumer-base that reveres the product and incorporates it into their ‘luxury lifestyle’, whatever form that may take.
Our newest client, Martin Miller’s Gin, epitomizes craftsmanship. Where some spirits brands harp on the “unusual” and “small batch”, Martin Miller’s does just the opposite. They are proud of their product because it is the best, crafted in the finest gin still in the world and offers unparalleled consistency in aroma and flavor. It is this type of product that the new luxury lifestyle consumer craves. Something authentic, delicious, luxurious, and, as it were, born out of some degree of madness.
Quite remarkable is how Martin Miller’s, founded in 1999, is already an iconic luxury lifestyle brand. True to its roots, using only the finest ingredients sourced from far corners of the world, their product epitomizes the luxury lifestyle. A nod to the good life, the iconic gin has a spirit of adventure in each bottle.
When I sip this superbly crafted gin, I’m instantly transported to a sailboat in Sag Harbor, a floating bar in Ibiza, a safari in South Africa and a sunset in Tuscany. Even the bottle itself takes one on a charmed visual journey around the world.
Here’s to luxury lifestyle brands who revere craftsmanship and never settle for anything but the best.
Cheers!