Luxury Beauty Marketing Lessons from My Time at LUXASIA
A Backstage Pass to Luxury Beauty
Interning at LUXASIA Indonesia felt like stepping into the world of luxury beauty, where every element of the brand experience is crafted with precision. You probably recognize these brands by their eccentric bottles or because they’re your favorite designer—Carolina Herrera, Jean Paul Gaultier, Rabanne, and Penhaligon’s are all part of the PUIG fragrance portfolio I had the privilege of working with. These are more than just products—they're transformative experiences.
Luxury Consumer Goods: A Different Beast
One of the biggest takeaways from my time at LUXASIA was how drastically different marketing for luxury consumer goods is compared to mass-market products. The luxury beauty market is about creating experiences, not just pushing products. Consumers in this segment aren’t just buying—they are investing in a lifestyle. Luxury consumers prioritize exclusivity, quality, and status, which is why it’s so important for brands to build and maintain an emotional connection with their customers. In the luxury market, a loyal customer is a cult follower, and it’s vital to keep them engaged consistently. Continuous engagement with these brand loyalists through personalized experiences, exclusive events, and tailored content is key to ensuring long-term success. It’s not just about having a great product—it’s about making your customers feel like they are part of something unique and aspirational. This is what drives luxury consumer behavior and purchasing decisions.
Luxury beauty is increasingly about personalization. Offering tailored experiences, such as customized tags or personalized treatments, makes the consumer feel truly valued. This approach helps create a more intimate connection between the brand and the customer, something mass-market products can’t replicate.
The Importance of Crafting a Brand Identity
Crafting a strong brand identity is essential in luxury beauty, and this process involves much more than just designing a logo or choosing brand colors. It’s about creating a consistent story that the consumer can connect with, aspire to, and ultimately embrace. Carolina Herrera, a luxury brand under PUIG, is a perfect example of how to successfully craft a compelling brand identity. The Good Girl fragrance, for instance, is a prime example of the brand’s commitment to luxury, empowerment, and femininity. The signature bottle design, shaped like a high heel, perfectly captures the essence of confidence and sophistication. This isn’t just a bottle—it’s a statement of power and elegance. When Carolina Herrera launched Good Girl, the marketing campaign wasn’t just about showcasing the fragrance—it was about selling a feeling. The tagline, "It’s so good to be bad", aligned with the brand’s empowerment messaging, encouraging women to embrace their boldness, strength, and sensuality. The advertising visuals featured a modern, confident woman, breaking traditional stereotypes, and showcasing her ability to embrace both her soft and strong sides.
Creating an Emotional Connection with Consumers
In luxury beauty marketing, creating an emotional connection is not just a strategy, it’s a fundamental component of brand success. Luxury beauty consumers don’t simply purchase a product—they are purchasing a feeling, an experience, and a status symbol. A perfect example of this is Penhaligon’s, a PUIG brand with a rich heritage and distinctive approach to storytelling. When Penhaligon’s creates a fragrance, they don’t just focus on the scent itself; they design a narrative around each fragrance. Take Penhaligon’s Portraits collection, for example, where each fragrance is tied to a character with a unique story. "The Duke" scent, for instance, is marketed as an homage to an aristocratic, sophisticated character who is both charming and mysterious. This narrative doesn’t just serve as an ad campaign—it creates an emotional connection with the consumer. By associating a fragrance with a personal story, Penhaligon’s allows its customers to feel as though they are stepping into the world of the character—a luxurious escape that appeals to both emotions and identity. It’s not just about wearing a scent, it’s about becoming part of a narrative, evoking emotions like romance, nostalgia, and elegance, which elevates the product far beyond the transactional. This powerful blend of storytelling and luxury makes consumers feel like they are part of something special, creating loyalty and engagement that goes beyond just the purchase.
The Rhythm of Retail Marketing
In the world of luxury beauty, especially fragrance, retail experience is everything. It's not just about a product on a shelf—it's about creating an immersive environment that speaks to the customer’s aspirations. I quickly realized how important in-store animations, interactive displays, and passionate sales assistants are to a luxury brand's success. The fragrance section of a store is not just an aisle; it’s a stage. Every detail— from the lighting to the way products are presented—creates a sensory experience. Sensory marketing is one of the most powerful tools in luxury beauty because it engages multiple senses, immersing the customer in an experience that goes beyond the product itself.
Sales assistants are the brand ambassadors who guide customers through this experience, helping them understand the story behind each product and making them feel personally connected to the brand. This holistic approach to retail marketing ensures that customers are not only educated about the products but also feel the brand's prestige and exclusivity.
What It Takes to Bring a Luxury Product to Indonesia
One thing I didn’t fully realize before my internship was the complexity and length of the process to bring an imported luxury beauty product to Indonesia. It’s not as simple as just shipping a product overseas—it involves a year-long journey through various administrative hurdles. First, there’s the need for BPOM approval (Indonesia's national drug and food monitoring agency) and Halal certification, which can take several months depending on the brand's specifications and compliance. These certifications are essential in Indonesia, where consumers expect all beauty products to meet these standards, particularly in a Muslim-majority market. Navigating the importation process and ensuring everything is in place for the launch requires careful planning, often beginning a year in advance. Understanding the bureaucratic process early on is crucial for ensuring a smooth and timely product debut. Every detail, from customs regulations to local compliance, needs to be addressed to ensure the successful launch of luxury products in Indonesia.
The Power of Storytelling and Scent
Working with fragrance—and especially luxury fragrances—was a whole other world. The beauty of fragrance marketing is that it’s not just about the product itself; it’s about the story you wrap around it. I learned how powerful storytelling is in the fragrance industry—every scent has a narrative to tell, and the way you craft that story can turn a simple fragrance into a sensory experience. The fragrance market is all about emotional connections—the right scent can evoke memories, aspirations, and even feelings of luxury itself. Additionally, the importance of in-store animations and displays can’t be overstated. The fragrance aisle isn’t just a space—it’s a stage. It’s about creating an atmosphere, not just showcasing products. From eye-catching displays to interactive installations, I saw firsthand how these experiential marketing techniques elevate the shopping experience, turning it into an immersive journey that makes you want to linger.
Crafting Luxury Experiences
One of the standout experiences I had during my time at LUXASIA was working on the Dandy fragrance launch by Penhaligon’s. This was when I truly saw what it’s like for the KOLs we invite and for the consumers. I had the chance to interact and mingle with many of them that night, and it gave me an entirely new perspective on the luxury event experience. It wasn’t just about the product launch—it was about creating an environment where influencers and customers felt like they were part of an exclusive, intimate moment. I saw firsthand how these events are more than just promotional—they are about curating an experience that makes attendees feel like they’re stepping into the brand’s world. From the décor to the conversation, everything played a role in making the evening feel personal, memorable, and aspirational.
But LUXASIA wasn’t just about PUIG. I had the chance to contribute to several standout brand events that showcased the true art of luxury marketing. From the hotel-themed Olaplex Leave-In launch to a beautifully curated Diptyque Christmas dinner and the vibrant buzz around Kylie Cosmetics’ debut in Indonesia, each event had its own identity, energy, and audience. Watching how these events were designed and executed taught me a lot about how luxury brands create moments that feel personal and intimate, even when they’re scaled to the masses.
Building Desire, Not Just Demand
Above all, this internship sharpened my understanding of what it means to build desire, not just demand. In the world of luxury beauty, it’s not about the product alone, but how it’s introduced, displayed, and talked about. I learned that luxury brands thrive on exclusivity and the experience they provide. A product isn’t just sold, it’s experienced and desired—and I had a front-row seat to see how that magic is made.
Limited edition products, exclusive collaborations, and private pre-launch events create a sense of scarcity that elevates the brand’s value. This perceived rarity makes consumers feel that owning a luxury product is an honor, not just a purchase.
The Takeaway: Luxury Marketing is an Art Form
Ultimately, interning at LUXASIA gave me an inside look at how luxury beauty brands create aspirational experiences that go beyond products. From storytelling and sensory experiences to luxury consumer behavior and event creation, I walked away with a deeper understanding of how to make a brand feel simultaneously aspirational and personal. And honestly, I loved every second of it.
