Riches for all
With luxury fast becoming more affordable and accessible, marketers need to raise the bar and offer something new and alluring to their existing customers. The Global Luxury Forum threw up the right questions and illuminated what lies ahead for the new generation. The venue was the very charming Old Billingsgate Market with spectacular views of the Thames and London Bridge. Verve supported the event as media partner.

While the focus of the discussions was on Russia, the first session, ‘Overview of the luxury market, its trends and consumers’ had global relevance. Saloni Nangia, Vice President, Technopak, spouted statistics highlighting that India along with Brazil and China has the largest population of people under the age of 26. India would soon have the maximum number of young consumers for high-end products, producing a want-it-all generation. All eyes are on the country, with most brands opening flagship stores in either Mumbai or Delhi.

Natalia Vodianova, a top model from Russia and the face of Chanel for 2007 spoke about her personal experiences of luxury. Founder of the Naked Heart Foundation, which provides underprivileged children in her hometown with playgrounds, she believes luxury can be put to a good cause.