The Luxury Approach (Half-Term)

The class "The Luxury Approach" addresses the unique properties, opportunities, and challenges of the luxury industry by studying issues relevant to the field and working on a real-life project alongside company’s senior management. The course structure includes presentations (by faculty and industry executives), discussions, and the team project.

In this intense half block week program, 24 Columbia Business School MBA students will work in teams of 6 to solve an actual project developed exclusively for this class by Clarins. Each of the teams will work on a specific aspect of the project, and the teams will coordinate their research and recommendations to present together to the company's senior executives at the last session of the program.

PROJECT:

Sephora, Ulta, and Amazon are driving massive growth and traffic in the Beauty luxury space. They set new trends and introduce new independent brands to the market at a rapid pace creating market hyper-fragmentation. How can a luxury “legacy” brand articulate & express an updated brand narrative on multiple channels (digital & physical) to compete effectively with “insurgent” brands , often digital native, picking up market share in multiple market sub-segments? Help Clarins define a concrete strategy and execution plan to break thru and attract US consumers, justifying its premium price positioning in highly competitive, highly fragmented market?