Luxury Unfiltered: Is your brand still flying?

July 30, 2025

Daniel Langer is the founder and CEO of consulting firm Équité

After returning from a multi-city trip across Europe to meet several luxury clients, I was left reflecting on the brand chaos I experienced while flying from one destination to the next.

I was flying with one of Europe’s biggest airlines between three cities, and every time I boarded a plane, it was a different brand and a different experience for no client-centric reason. I had booked what was advertised to be a premium airline experience, offered under one of Europe’s leading brands, which, for many, and also in their internal perception, was synonymous with premiumness, quality and reliability.

What I actually experienced was a series of flights operated by several of its subbrands, some of which I had never heard of.

Branding barriers
On one leg, I received chocolates and bottled water labeled with the main airline’s name and a printed thank-you note.

On the next, I received no branding at all, just a dry biscuit. On top, the planes looked different, the crew behaved differently, and the overall atmosphere shifted from flight to flight.

What was labeled as a branded experience became random. To make matters worse, each airline seemed to have its own baggage rules, loyalty program benefit recognition and interpretation of the premium experience.

Sometimes my loyalty perks were acknowledged. Other times, they were dismissed as incompatible with the operating partner.

Even though I had booked one brand, what I got felt anything but consistent. This kind of inconsistency is not just an annoyance.

To me, it felt like a branding catastrophe. You book a premium experience with expectations of a known identity.

Instead, you are passed from one anonymous subcontractor to another, each interpreting the brand in their own way, or not at all.

Erosion of trust
On each plane, the group name was featured, but there was not one marker that would connect the experiences.

The result is massive confusion and total erosion of trust. Worse, it becomes increasingly difficult to feel anything at all toward the main brand.

It is as if it never showed up. This is the danger of fragmentation.

And it is not confined to aviation. The same thing is happening across many sectors of the luxury industry.

Brands stretch themselves thin across regions, product categories and business partnerships. They introduce sublabels, license their names, and rely on third parties to deliver the experience.

In theory, this expands reach. In reality, it often dilutes meaning.

Luxury is built on clarity and on the creation of extreme value. It is about control of the experience, which leads to client trust.

The brand needs to own the experience from start to finish. Once you hand it off, you hand off your identity.

The moment a client wonders who is really behind the interaction, the emotional bond begins to fade. For premium and luxury brands, trust and emotion are everything.

I see the same problem with many hospitality brands that now increasingly partner with third-party operators. The logo is on the building, but the soul is missing.

The details are inconsistent. The service feels generic.

Suddenly, the brand promise starts to feel like marketing, not reality. During my trip, in Antwerp, I stayed at such a hotel.

The website promises confident luxury at booking, but the reality is a disaster. Clients may not complain.

They may still book for convenience or lack of better alternatives. But they stop caring.

And once indifference sets in, loyalty disappears. The strongest brands never confuse their clients.

They do not overcomplicate. They do not try to be everywhere, for everyone.

They choose their moments and own them completely. Their value lies in authenticity, consistency, emotional depth and a distinct point of view.

You know what you will get, and even more importantly, you know how it will make you feel.

Consistency is key
During my journey across Europe, I found myself appreciating the few brands that still get it right. The ones that deliver what they promise, every time.

Where the name on the booking matches the experience at every touchpoint. These brands do not fragment.

They focus. And because of that, they build desire, trust and long-term client relationships.

What I encountered on my flights with that airline group was the opposite. It became a mysterious experience at the airports and on board, with no way to predict what I would get or what to expect.

No emotional consistency. No clear message.

Just a transactional process of getting from one place to another. Functional, perhaps, but entirely forgettable.

I am sure the company will have many rationales for its decision to fragment its offers. From a client perspective, it’s the worst outcome.

Premium and luxury brands should never be forgettable. They should never feel absent.

The whole purpose of building a brand is to create recognition, expectation and emotional response. If a brand is not present in the experience, then it has already lost its value.

So I ask again: is your brand still flying? Or have you outsourced it into invisibility?

Now is the time to audit every detail. Review every partner.

Reclaim every experience that carries your name. Your clients may not tell you when they stop caring.

But they will show it. And once that happens, no marketing campaign can win them back.

Luxury Unfiltered is a weekly column by Daniel Langer. He is the CEO of Équité, a global luxury strategy and creative brand activation firm, where he is the advisor to some of the most iconic luxury brands. He is recognized as a global top-five luxury key opinion leader. He serves as the executive professor of luxury strategy and pricing at Pepperdine University in Malibu and as a professor of luxury at New York University, New York. Dr. Langer has authored best-selling books on luxury management in English and Chinese and is a respected global keynote speaker.

Dr. Langer conducts masterclass management training on various luxury topics around the world. As a luxury expert featured on Bloomberg TV, Financial Times, The New York Times, Forbes, The Economist and others, Mr. Langer holds an MBA and a Ph.D. in luxury management and has received education from Harvard Business School. Follow him on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen to his Future of Luxury Podcast.

Share your thoughts. Click here

Luxury Unfiltered: Is your brand still flying?

Presenting bespoke models, Bentley tributes ‘Dutch Masters’

France welcomes first Case Loewe location

Ralph Lauren, Team USA reveal 2026 Winter Olympic uniforms

Guerlain Spa to launch aboard Orient Express Sailing Yacht

Dior’s ‘Lady Art’ project turns 10

New film from Moncler marks return to Winter Olympics

St. Regis Estates to premiere in 2027

Hyatt names global lead for luxury brands

Fendi reveals holiday window displays

Estée Lauder Cos., Jo Malone launch AI scent advisor