Finding the devil in the details: a study of heritage commodification as designed products using the case of HongKong's G.O.D.

Abstract

 The three terms heritage, legacy and treasure came across my mind and led me think about how strongly these three terms are correlated. Heritage is a great treasure in cultural terms. However, the terms legacy and treasure also literally suggest the commercial potential hidden in heritage, which can generate commercial benefits in monetary terms.

Brand heritage can be a great marketing tool to add value to the products. By applying heritage driven marketing campaigns, the food and beverage brands received a huge success. Notable examples include the champagne brand Dom Perignon and the whisky brand Macallan. Sharing the traditional knowledge and how they followed the traditional practice in the modern days, these stories not only show how loyal they are to the traditional practice, but further enhance the “premiumness” of the brands.

Fashion brands have also been using heritage marketing as a tool for brand building. Louis Vuitton has been using its heritage and craftsmanship in luggage making for brand building. Similarly, Hermes has been leveraging its history in scarves and fine craftsmanship as a way of heritage branding.

This dissertation examines the Hong Kong lifestyle brand G.O.D. to understand how heritage commodification contributes to its relative success not only to the business but also in its promotion of Hong Kong local heritage. In order to understand the case, the company background, the process of heritage commodification via design and marketing is carefully dissected in this dissertation.

To understand the impact of design with a twist approach on promoting Hong Kong heritage, the product design, elements selection criteria, marketing campaigns and shop design have been studied. To verify the relative success of the brand, a marketing survey has been conducted and the findings have been analyzed to understand the real market response towards the brand so as the effectiveness of promoting Hong Kong heritage via design product.