The Elite Future of Luxury Brand Management

This article is sponsored by ESSEC Business School’s MBA in International Luxury Brand Management. Learn more about the program.

The world has changed. Since the global recession, many smaller brands have struggled. In 2015, the euro’s plummeting purchasing power continues to hurt continental consumers, while middle class shoppers in the US mainly used their energy savings to buy larger vehicles. Retailers found most shoppers remained stingy, with both Target and Walmart reporting only modest figures in November.

Yet, one market segment has not only endured but thrived: luxury. Since the recession, asset inflation has generally outpaced wages, with beneficiaries of real estate and stock market gains helping drive growth. Meanwhile, in China and other emerging markets there has been an explosion in the number of middle and high-income consumers.

Few countries are as synonymous with luxury goods as France. Home to iconic brands like Hermès, LVHM, and Chanel, it is also the location of ESSEC Business School, located just northwest of Paris. So, naturally, the school offers an MBA in International Luxury Brand Management, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2015.

An MBA in International Luxury Brand Management remains as rarified as the market segment. In luxury, sought-after brands, by definition, lose their appeal if they became too easily (or cheaply) obtainable. With over 13,000 schools offering MBAs worldwide, the degree’s cachet faces similar challenges. Yet, applicants with a passion for the finer things in life might discover that specializing in luxury management is one way to add distinction to their degree.

The educational approach to luxury brand management necessarily differs from other specializations. For one thing, it doesn’t easily translate to an online curriculum; physically experiencing luxury goods and services is tremendously important. While high-end merchants often provide internet sales, for many consumers and managers nothing compares to the brick and mortar experience. Here ESSEC Business School’s location provides an unquestionable advantage. As ESSEC MBA student Jahnavi Tampi wrote in a blog post, “Where can you learn best about luxury but France?”

The specialization draws heavily on both its origins and its geographical advantage. Launched in 1995, ESSEC Business School’s MBA in International Luxury Brand Management was the first of its kind, initiated in collaboration between the school, LVMH and the L’Oréal Luxury Division. The goal? To recruit high-potential managers from other regions, particularly Asia. Once trained, MBAs would ideally return to their home countries and help run local luxury outlets.

In many ways, Tampi represents the new frontier. While previous luxury brand management classes had a large Chinese cohort, increasingly many are like Tampi and hail from the Indian subcontinent. A former fashion stylist for Elle magazine’s local edition, Tampi explains, “I have always felt an undying passion for the luxury industry. Being able to touch and feel the products and finally styling them together to create a fashion story that appeals to our Indian reader gave me a rush and I knew this was my calling.”

Those with similar callings and a passion for luxury have long gravitated toward ESSEC Business School’s MBA in Luxury Brand Management. Reputation and industry connections help make the program highly selective. Most of admitted students have between five and seven years professional experience. “50% of the people who come onboard and do the program do not come from a background in luxury,” explains Anthea Davis, the director of corporate relations and career development in an interview with ESSEC’s Campus Channel. “They come to the program to make a career switch.”

The school seeks applicants with an affinity for luxury. This is one reason the admissions interview is so significant. Four committee members, (two faculty, two from the ranks of ESSEC’s corporate partners) quiz applicants on their motivation, creativity and understanding of the sector. They need to know the segment’s key players and recognize how luxury is, as Davis points out, a unique blend of “attention to detail, history and heritage, craftsmanship and quality.”

Applicants don’t have to know specifically where they want to be at the end of the program, but they should have an idea of where they hope the degree will take them. Although the school wants to see ‘managerial capacity’, they are less concerned about an applicant’s undergraduate background.