The Art of Luxury - Winning in 2025: Interview with Dr. Daniel Langer of Équité
Welcome to our exclusive interview with Professor Dr. Daniel Langer, a visionary in the world of luxury and one of the most influential voices shaping its future. As the founder and CEO of Équité, a leading luxury strategy, brand development and creative activation firm, and the Executive Professor of Luxury Strategy at Pepperdine University, Daniel has his finger on the pulse of the luxury market. Recognized as one of the “Global Top Five Luxury Key Opinion Leaders to Watch,” and featured in Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, The Economist, and many others, his insights have guided numerous premium and luxury brands to unprecedented success.
Today, we are privileged to have Daniel share his perspective on the future of luxury in 2025. In a reality where luxury client expectations changing faster than ever before and traditional luxury paradigms are being challenged, Dr. Langer’s advice is more crucial than ever. This interview offers profound insights that are extremely relevant as brands enter into 2025. Get ready to dive deep into the mind of one of luxury’s most forward-thinking strategists as we explore the challenges and opportunities that will shape the future of luxury.
Q: Professor Langer, thank you for joining us today. Bain’s recent luxury study highlighted a trust crisis facing many luxury brands. What’s driving this crisis, and how can brands address it?
Dr.Daniel Langer: The trust crisis in luxury stems from several key factors. Many clients feel disconnected from brands’ DNA and struggle to find meaning in their brand stories. For many brands, solving this “identity crisis” will become critical for survival.
There is a fundamental dissatisfaction with client experiences, often falling short of the elevated expectations set by luxury price points. Additionally, inconsistent or unclear brand storytelling has left many consumers questioning the true value proposition of many luxury brands.
To address this, brands need to refocus on building compelling, authentic brand stories that resonate with their target audience. Many brands underestimate the precision and expertise needed to do that. They must also invest in delivering exceptional, personalized experiences at every touchpoint. Rebuilding trust requires a holistic approach that aligns brand values, storytelling, and customer interactions.
Q: You have developed the 4E of Luxury, a new framework that helps brands to navigate the challenges and you presented it all over the world over the last months in keynote presentations and masterclasses. Can you explain this concept and why it’s so crucial for luxury brands in 2025?
Dr.Daniel Langer: The 4E of Luxury is a strategic roadmap I developed to help luxury brands create extreme value. The four E’s stand for Emotion, Experience, Engagement, and Exclusivity.
Emotion is about defining and consistently delivering a powerful brand story that resonates on a personal level with consumers. It’s the deep, personal connection that the brand evokes in its audience through its most fundamental core value and promise. It’s the key to break out of the “sea of sameness” that so many luxury brands are floating in.
Experience is the sum of the unique, extraordinary, and memorable interactions clients (hopefully) have with a brand. It should be immersive and unforgettable, from the moment a client walks into a boutique to the second they engage with the brand online. However, the reality is often different, Luxury, fundamentally, is about falling in love with a brand, and the experience is crucial to get there.
Engagement refers to the ongoing, meaningful interactions between the brand and its clients. It’s about creating a dialogue that feels personal and inspiring, going beyond just “great” customer service. This elevates a brand from being transactional to building a lasting relationship
Exclusivity highlights the perceived uniqueness of the client. Only when a client feels that all eyes are on them, then they will truly find that a brand is exclusive.
This framework is crucial for luxury brands in 2025 because it provides a comprehensive approach to creating and maintaining luxury value in an era where clients have skyrocketing expectations. The 4E framework helps brands think radically client-centric instead of being product-centric, which is essential in today’s hyper-competitive and hyper-personalized market. Brands that embrace a deep integration of the 4E framework and execute in an exciting, engaging, and inspiring way with excellence will grow disproportionately. It’s about leveraging these elements to create a complete ecosystem of value that justifies the luxury positioning and price point.
Q: You’ve written extensively about the importance of brand storytelling in luxury. Why is this so crucial in 2025?
Dr.Daniel Langer: I already spoke about radical client-centricity. This is the key to create desirability. Brand storytelling is the secret to achieving this in luxury. In my research, I have found that in many cases 98% or more of a luxury brand’s value comes from its story, not just its products. Therefore, not managing brand storytelling right is the death of any luxury brand. And we are not talking about a marketing campaign. The brand story is the fundamental core promise the brand gives to its clients. Most brands today get this totally wrong.
Luxury brands carry three value components: functional, emotional, and what I call Added Luxury Value (ALV). ALV is driven by the anticipated perception shift of the person who buys a luxury good, and it’s highly personal. I did the probably most extensive research on the psychological drivers of luxury and the findings were never as relevant as they are now. In 2025, with evolving client expectations, a compelling and consistent brand story is more critical than ever for creating extreme value.
Q: How can luxury brands improve their client experiences to rebuild trust and loyalty?
Dr.Daniel Langer: Enhancing client experiences is crucial for rebuilding trust and loyalty in luxury. Brands need to focus on delivering exceptional, personalized interactions at every touchpoint. This involves investing in staff training to ensure consistent, high-quality service across all channels. Leveraging technology for personalized recommendations and seamless client-centric experiences across every client touchpoint is also key.
Moreover, brands must create exclusive, memorable moments that go beyond traditional and often bland and transactional retail interactions. This could include behind-the-scenes access, personalized events, or unique product customization opportunities. Importantly, the client has to be at the center of everything. The goal is to make every client feel valued and understood, inspiring a deep emotional connection with the brand.
Q: You have mentioned that many luxury brands are facing an identity crisis. What’s causing this?
Dr.Daniel Langer: The global luxury market is undergoing a profound transformation, largely driven by Gen Z becoming increasingly influential. Today’s luxury clients are more discerning, seeking deeper emotional connections, more personalized experiences, and exceptional value. Many brands are not prepared for these much higher expectations.
Many luxury brands are struggling because they focus too much on operations and forget to inspire clients. I call this “luxury in aspiration only.” There’s no time for complacency as expectations change rapidly.
Q: Professor Langer, you are known for traveling the world providing masterclasses for some of the most iconic luxury brands. Why is training so critical in today’s luxury landscape?
Dr.Daniel Langer: These masterclasses are so critical because they address the rapidly evolving luxury market and the dramatically shifting client expectations in real-time. They provide a unique opportunity for brands and managers to gain cutting-edge insights - not based on fluff and anecdotes but on hard data and proprietary research into UHNWI and the psychology of luxury - and strategies that can be immediately applied. The sessions focus on implementing the 4E of Luxury in a tangible and relevant way - which is crucial for creating extreme value in today’s market.
Additionally, these masterclasses instill a necessary mindset shift to radically client-centric approaches. They also serve as a catalyst for innovation, bringing together diverse teams and challenging them with new perspectives. Ultimately, these sessions are about transforming how luxury brands think, operate, and create value in a hyper-competitive market where doing more of the same is not enough. In a recent masterclass in Paris, one of the participants summarized the learnings as “just wow,” and concluded that “we have to start working on this immediately.” This shows how critical training and challenging the status quo is,
Q: How can luxury brands improve their pricing power and capitalize on pricing opportunities?
Dr.Daniel Langer: The key to unlocking pricing power lies in strengthening the value equation first. Many luxury brands undervalue themselves because they don’t have a distinct story or fail to deliver experiences that justify premium prices.
To justify or increase prices successfully, brands need to create a unique, compelling story paired with exceptional products and clienteling, thus anchoring the value in the minds of consumers. This involves also enhancing product quality, craftsmanship, and exclusivity, and additionally investing in exceptional client experiences and personalized services. Every detail matters.
Brands should focus on creating emotional connections and delivering Added Luxury Value that goes beyond the physical product. If done right, they create a perception of value that supports premium price points. Fundamentally, in luxury, pricing is about obsessing with the value proposition.
Today’s reality, unfortunately, is different. The latest Bain study showed that a significant number of clients perceives many luxury brands as overpriced. Dramatic action is needed to counter this.
Q: What is your ultimate piece of advice for luxury brands in 2025?
Dr.Daniel Langer: My ultimate advice is to master the art of inspiring desire. Many luxury brands can create wonderful objects but fail to create enough inspiration to stimulate desire effectively. Luxury is about the perception of extreme value through the eyes of clients, which goes far beyond the physical product. It’s about consistently exceeding expectations and escaping the sea of sameness. In 2025 and beyond, the luxury brands that will lead the change are those that can inspire and captivate their clients at every touchpoint. It’s the obligation of luxury brands to make people care, to inspire them, and to create wonder. Anything less is not luxury.
Reach out to Dr. Daniel Langer to discuss what he and his team can do for your brand.
