JP Kuehlwein

Rethinking Prestige Branding

Categories: Branding, Business, Marketing, Strategy

JP Kuehlwein is the co-founder of ‘Ueber-Brands’ a consultancy that helps owners elevate their brands to make them peerless, priceless and profitable. He previously was Executive Vice President at Frédéric Fekkai & Co, a prestige salon and retail hair care business and served as Brand Director and Global Director of Strategy at multinational Procter & Gamble, based in Germany, the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and finally in New York.

JP can look back at an over 25-year track record of translating consumer and cultural insight into propositions that generate more than a billion dollars in sales today.

He shares this professional experience with students as a faculty member at both Columbia University’s Business School and NYU’s Stern School of Business. He is also a Senior Fellow and Leader of the Marketing Institute at The Conference Board and an advisory board member at the CFMM Master’s Program of the Fashion Institute of Technology, all in New York City.

JP is the co-author of “Rethinking Prestige Branding – Secrets of the Ueber-Brands” (Kogan Page, 2015) and “Brand Elevation – Lessons in Ueber-Branding” (KP, 2021 forthcoming) with Wolfgang Schaefer, which are reference books when it comes to understanding and building premium brands across industries.

Presentation

Rethinking Prestige Branding – Secrets of Ueber-Brands

Why are Cirque Du Soleil or Grey Goose so successful despite breaking all the conventions of their categories? What does Gucci’s approach to marketing have in common with Nespresso’s? And why do some pay a little fortune for Renova toilet paper or Aesop detergent when those seem to have none of the ‘functional superiority’ conventional marketers would seek to demonstrate?

Today, prestige is accrued in many more ways than it used to. Its marketing rules are in flux and it is flourishing across pretty much all tiers and categories – from a US$ 2 drink to multi-million dollar jewelry. Classic notions are shattered and reshuffled and prestige branding is being slowly but unmistakably re-defined: Less traditional through pricing-up and celebrating yourself as rarified, but by evoking pride and aspiration through ideals and ideas wrapped in mythical storytelling; Less classical by building exclusivity through restraint and scarcity, but in fusing these with inclusivity and ubiquity; And less marketing-manipulated but more truth-minded, living brand-specific convictions inside out rather than making-believe with thin veneers of gold-plating.

Welcome to the age of Ueber-Brands. An emerging breed of modern prestige brands which are above and beyond their competition not only in standing and making their price premium an after-thought, but in courage and conviction. Thriving on paradoxes, breaking with long held traditions and inspiring us with commercialization strategies that set new standards and lead the way into a new kind of marketing for the new millennium.

Mission, Myth and “Truth”- Or – How to Make Your Brand Priceless

This seminar is for brand owners/leaders who want to lift their proposition above considerations of performance or value alone and make their brand esteemed beyond size and valued beyond price. You will learn about key drivers behind the success of some of the best in the premium brand world across industries – we call them ‘Ueber-Brands’.

Many post-crisis consumers and most Millennial keenly differentiate between products and experiences they want to invest themselves into and necessities they want to buy as efficiently and cheaply as possible. Gone are the days where shopping per-se and accumulating ‘stuff’ provided satisfaction and status.

Where does your brand stand on the continuum between ‘material’ and ‘meaningful’? Is it where you want it to be? Or might you be stuck in the middle?

If your desired place is to be esteemed for both your product as well as what it stands for, then join us to look at and discuss what drives the sustained success of some of the best brands in this class – We call them ‘Ueber-Brands’ in our book. Brands that go beyond.

During this seminar you’ll learn:

• How mission gives meaning and generates a strong buy-in
• Why myths are the superior story and create magic
• About the power of balancing the longing and belonging
• How to un-sell to seduce
• About the need for ‘truth’ and ‘living the dream’ as the answer

Related topics we have covered:
– Modern Marketing and the Need for ‘Truth’ (aka ‘authenticity’)
– Modern Marketing and the Need for Mission and Myth
– To Seduce Consumers – Re-Mystify Marketing!
– Prestige Brand Growth – How to Grow without losing your Glow
– How an Apple, Berluti, Cirque du Soleil or Dyson make us ‘happily pay a fortune’?
– Modern Prestige Retailing – Manifestation of Mission, Myth and Mojo.
– The Art of Seduction in Prestige Marketing – Or – How to strike the fine balance between Inclusivity and Exclusivity.
– Ueber-Branding – Or how to Seduce rather than Sell for Sustained Success
– Ueber-Branding – Or how to imbue your brand with meaning to matter.
– The Meaning of Innovation – Sustainable Growth for Premium Brands
And more…

Testimonials on JP’s book

he Ueber-Brands authors made me reflect on the Moleskine brand in a radically different way. There is much to learn from its innovative approach.
MARIA SEBREGONDI, CO-FOUNDER – MOLESKINE

‘JP and Wolf have an entertaining way to present today’s marketing paradigm of prestige and luxury brands. Their book is an absolute must-read for any marketer working within the prestige, luxury industry… any industry!’
ATISSA TADJADOD, DIRECTOR GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS – PIAGET (RICHEMONT INTERNATIONAL)

“Wolf and JP set a clear compass, balancing the mystery of magic and distance with the importance of purpose, meaning and customer delivery”
JENNY ASHMORE, PRESIDENT – CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF MARKETING, CIM, UK

JP Kuehlwein

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