Now the 99-plus percent can do more than envy the owners of Aston Martin cars. We can envy the owner of Aston Martin powerboats, condos, and clothing.
The British brand synonymous with automotive opulence is in the midst of a huge spasm of brand extension as it seeks to create an Aston Martin "lifestyle" across all sorts of haute categories.
Rebecca Robins, global director of Interbrand, the global branding consultancy based in New York, told me that Aston Martin is among luxury businesses that "are acutely aware of the shift in what we value and why, in an economy that's revolving less around what we own and more around what we share and experience."
So in addition to fine Aston Martin automobiles that may have been inspired by James Bond, these days there's also an Aston Martin "design masterclass" about how the company fashions the cars, ice-driving outings in snowy climes, Aston Martin Residences high above the Miami River, 37-foot Aston Martin powerboats, and a new range of "luxurious clothing" with U.K. menswear retailer Hackett that "reflects the coming together of two stylish brands.
The London-based brand also just revealed a "portfolio of experiences" that it will offer in 2017 by its Art of Living program, which takes customers beyond sports cars and provides them with "the opportunity to live the brand's lifestyle," as the company puts it.
"It's about becoming a sustainable luxury business," Patrik Nilsson, Asia-Pacific president of Aston Martin Lagonda, told Bloomberg, "not only putting a logo on something but being a part of it. We're catering to the people that are our customers, that love the uniqueness of Aston, that special something that Aston is very good in making. Exclusiveness and the highest possible material quality that there is. And being able to tailor a real experience for you."
Headlining this collection of experiences are two "Ultimate Drives," one that takes drivers across two continents in three weeks and includes South Africa, Monaco, Austria, Lake Como in Italy and Vienna, "including challenging drives and helicopter rides, gourmet dining and undiscovered city sightseeing," as Aston Martin put it in a press release.
"Anyone attending these experiences," said Aston Martin Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman in the release, "will get to indulge in the soul of the brand."
As Robins put it, "Legacy brands such as Aston Martin are building a new ecosystem beyond product to experiences and services. As brands evolve, 'focus' is crucial, in leveraging brand as a central organizing principle to guide those decisions and to inform platforms and partnerships in the process."
