The New Rules Of Luxury Storytelling: The Power Of True Voices
Who should be the voice of your luxury brand? The designer? The artisans? The people working in the backrooms and boutiques? Social media influencers? The answer: all of them.
AI-generated campaigns, influencers on the catwalk and IT workers posting makeup videos. Should luxury brands be horrified? No. Instead, marketing teams should embrace this new storytelling to widen brand reach.
As thousands of creative storytellers rewrite the luxury marketing playbook, here's what professionals need to know.
In December 2024, surreal ad campaigns emerged online featuring fashion's biggest names—a Loewe-branded man hugging a giant tomato, a Victoria Beckham coat sitting eerily on an armchair, a young model in a Prada suit looking like (per the caption) a "Wall Street intern who borrowed her dad's tie."
All were eye-catching, convincing and entirely AI-generated.
Rather than lawsuits or denials, the fashion world leaned in. Gucci soon commissioned Paris-based creative director Sybille de Saint Louvent, who wrote the prompts, to create AI artwork (registration required) inspired by its fall/winter 2025 show.
De Saint Louvent is part of a growing wave of content creators transforming luxury storytelling. From the likes of Gstaad Guy to company employees, the $250 billion creator economy is helping reinterpret brand DNA with fresh narratives, ushering in a new storytelling era. Who Your Brand's Key Storytellers Should Be
Choosing who speaks for your brand is now central to its narrative. Each voice reveals a different, authentic facet. The CEO
From Simon Porte Jacquemus sharing cutting-room pics to Instagram's Adam Mosseri posting family life videos, some leaders are natural storytellers.
However, these are rare. Most CEOs tend to "talk numbers," which often doesn't resonate with mainstream audiences. Unless they're visionary communicators like Sheryl Sandberg or Bob Iger, CEOs are best reserved for the business press—not podcasts or TikTok.
LVMH's Bernard Arnault, despite heading the world's biggest luxury group, stays largely silent in the media. That exclusivity strategy pays off. When he does speak (such as with the New York Times in 2023), it makes waves. Employees
For many decades, the designer was the star—think Yves Saint Laurent, Hedi Slimane and Tom Ford. Storytelling would center around artisans: the Chanel perfumer walking through jasmine fields in Grasse or Dom Pérignon's chef de cave talking tasting notes. Brands also relied on rigid branding bibles detailing fonts and paper stock.
Now, content can come from anywhere. Employee-generated content (EGC) is booming: flight attendants share packing hacks, store assistants post day-in-the-life videos and even Fenty Beauty's IT team appears on TikTok talking makeup.
This shift shows brands aren't built by lone geniuses but by rich networks of contributors—from creative directors to supply chain workers. EGC is cost-effective and resonates with audiences craving authenticity. A 2017 survey by U.K. digital insights firm Toluna found that 48.3% of respondents were less likely to buy from brands with unrealistic portrayals.
At VistaJet, pilots, cabin crew and maintenance engineers post passionately about safety and aviation, drawing large followings (@pilot.robbie has 188,000 fans). This authenticity and expertise break through the gloss of traditional marketing. Content Creators And Brand Ambassadors
Gstaad Guy parades in Loro Piana, and the European Kid parodies luxury culture. Yet brands embrace both. According to the New York Times , the European Kid earns tens of thousands of dollars per post and flew to St. Moritz with Moncler. Gstaad Guy has a sunglasses line with Chimi.
Superfans also take the spotlight. Last year, 70-year-old Miu Miu fan Dr. Qin Huilan walked its fall/winter 2024 runway.
Marketing has realized influencers are essential to luxury, not fringe. Once slow to adapt to unboxing videos, brands now use them to engage younger audiences and showcase products. Takeaways For Comms Professionals
To some, working with satirical influencers or promoting internal voices contradicts traditional luxury marketing. However, benefits abound. Social content posted daily keeps brand visibility high—far beyond the lifespan of a traditional campaign. These stories also reveal new angles—like an influencer sparking a bold lipstick trend—that marketing can build on or use to better understand audiences.
This storytelling shift reminds us why people connect with brands. Not everyone loves Hermès for silk scarves. Some prefer Lamborghini for its aerodynamics, not flashy doors. Luxury appeals to niche passions—sparking podcasts, Substacks and social posts. Marketers can then target products to these engaged fan bases, often unreachable via traditional media.
Prestige still matters in luxury, but exclusivity is evolving. In this era of EGC and creator-led branding, trust is the new cornerstone. That trust opens the door to a dynamic array of voices that can amplify your message and bring countless new narratives into play.
Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
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