Luxury, Lies and Marketing

MARIE-CLAUDE SICARD is an Associate Professor at Paris IV-Sorbonne University, and Adjunct Associate Professor at Stern University, NYU, and EM-Lyon, Shanghai. Sicard is a well-known European expert on luxury and brands, and a consultant for French & international companies with her own consulting company MCPS Conseil, Brand Analysis and Strategy Consultancy. As a strategic marketing consultant, her clients have included L'Oreal, Lancôme, Ralph Lauren, Armani, Kellogg's, Porsche, Jaguar, Renault, Dior, Louis Vuitton, tourism companies (Club Med ) and banks (such as BNP Paribas ). In addition to the permanent teaching positions she holds at the Sorbonne (Paris & Abu Dhabi), she lectures and consults around the world, most often in the USA & Asia ( China, Japan, India ), speaks at international seminars and conferences, and is often interviewed in the media for her outspoken views on branding and the luxury industry.

• Introduction Part I Doing Away with Some Received Ideas French Luxury : An Ego as Big as the Ritz A Neglected History On the Art of Denying One's Mother Going Back Still Further The Origin of European Luxury : Court Society And on the Paternal Side ? Luxury's Quest for Meaning False Ancestors The Limping Devil Luxury is Always a Swerve The three 'Swerves' of Luxury Part II International Luxury : The Clash of Cultures The Pyramid The Galaxy Two Models, Two Societies The Classical and the Baroque A Work in Progress When the Erosion of the Industrial Model Reaches Luxury Brands Invisible Luxury New Brands on the Horizon ? Part III How Luxury Brands Work Defining Luxury : Insufficient Criteria One Luxury, or Three Luxuries ? A Brand is an Impression The Fingerprint Method • The Physical Pole • The Temporal Pole • The Spatial Pole • The Norms Pole • The Positions Pole • The Projects Pole • The Relations Pole What does the Future Hold ? The Slider Console Ralph Lauren : a Luxury Brand ? The Summaries of Summaries The Brand Ladder of Values Descending and Rising Marketing and Luxury : the Big Misunderstanding A Paradoxical Form of Marketing Down with Luxury Marketing ? Conclusion

'Luxury, Lies and Marketing isn't just one more book about luxury marketing, it's THE book that challenges all the others, thanks to its indispensable critical approach, its capacity for overturning our preconceived notions, the effectiveness of its analytical methods, and its salutary critical spirit.' - Inma Urream Brand Meaning Management Director, Pompeu Fabra Universitat Barcelona, Spain 'Luxury marketing without a grounding in luxury culture is nothing. This is the point of departure for Luxury, Lies & Marketing. Marie-Claude Sicard offers very innovative analytical tools that all luxury professionals will benefit from in the management of their brands. A stimulating, enlightening book that yields results.' - Alexandre Peraldi, Design Director, Baume & Mercier "The concept of a culture de l'ecart - a 'twist' or 'swerve' culture that Marie-Claude Sicard advocates is particularly important to us at L'Oreal Luxe. The challenge for us is to apply this principle every day, in the sector we operate in, that of luxury beauty." -Marc Dubrule, Strategic Development Director, L'Oreal Luxe "For years now, this book has been circulating discreetly in all the international luxury marketing seminars and workshops. Why? Because it is easy to read, has a lot of substance, and offers an analytic method that is as flexible as it is rigorous. Luxury, Lies & Marketing has become indispensable for anyone wanting to address luxury without keeping to the usual, well-worn paths, but with a constructive, critical approach." -Agnes Bureau, Program Director of the MA in Luxury Management, Haute Ecole de Gestion, Geneva School of Business Administration