Deeper Luxury Report - WWF UK

It should come as little surprise, then, that the latest
global study on luxury consumer tastes finds that they
are remarkably similar in many ways, especially in the
emphasis consumers place on experiences, rather than
something that one has or owns. Consumers in China,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US were
found to “have remarkably similar perspectives on how
to define luxury”, said Lynn Franco, director of the
Conference Board Consumer Research Center. 31
Eco-Bollywood: Actress and luxury brand ambassador Pretty Zinta on the
Green Carpet at the 2007 Bollywood Awards
The role of showbusiness in this global upturn of
awareness is important. Celebrities from around the
world have increasingly become involved in high-profile
awareness campaigns on issues from poor country
debt relief to climate change. Hollywood celebrities
may have pioneered the trend, but, in 2007, Bollywood
caught up; the International Indian Film Awards –
complete with green carpet instead of red – were
organised in a more environmentally friendly way in
order to promote environmental awareness among
Bollywood fans. 32
As celebrity endorsement is
increasingly important to the luxury industry, so this
trend is commercially relevant, and we discuss the
implications further in Chapter 8.
© Monir Ali Photography
Despite this global wave of awareness, there is still a
long way to go in changing behaviour. Business has a
key role in enabling this. More employees and business
owners are keen to play such a role. A WWF survey
found that communications professionals want to lead
on this agenda, but were not being encouraged by
their employers or clients to do so. 33
The luxury industry
depends on such people, and will benefit from answering
their calls for better training, better information and
adequate recompense for improving their environmental
and social performance.
Investors are also encouraging companies to become
part of the solution to social and environmental
challenges, as an element of a smarter and longer-term
approach to portfolio management. The UN Principles
for Responsible Investment are now backed by
institutional investors with more than $10 trillion of
assets under management. 34
These institutions invest
in many luxury brands, either directly or indirectly.
Their calls for more strategic and systematic approaches
to corporate responsibility will need to be addressed. 35