Small, independent and privately owned luxury companies face a number of challenges in today’s globalized and increasingly digitalized luxury market dominated by big luxury groups. However, the Internet and Social Media also create new opportunities. They enable luxury brands with limited resources to reach out to an international clientele and build brand awareness. Moreover, new channels and platforms allow for multifaceted storytelling, interactive communication with customers and data analysis for quick and continuous learning and improvement of strategies. While many luxury brands have long struggled in the digital sphere, which in many cases represents the exact opposite (e.g. openness, accessibility, dynamic change, etc.) of what luxury stands (or stood) for, a growing number of young and daring luxury brands with no legacy and heritage, embraces digital technology as an important, if not vital part of their business model from day one. Given the often high investment needed to start and sustain a company in the luxury segment, “born digital” luxury start-ups need to show a great deal of creativity, pragmatism, flexibility and a good sense for the actual tastes and preferences of their globally dispersed target group in order to be successful and cut out their share of the market in due time and despite fierce competition. By analyzing the case of VAULT, a Swiss luxury watch brand founded in 2014, the present study explores the main challenges of the young luxury brand with regards to positioning, communication, distribution and business development and the role of the Internet and Social Media for the company’s success. By deriving recommendations for similar brands, the study aims at a practical, but also a theoretical contribution.

To be successful in today’s globalized, increasingly digitalized and homogenized luxury business, small independent niche players need to show a great deal of creativity, flexibility and a good sense for the actual tastes and preferences of their globally dispersed clientele. By looking at innovative entrepreneurs and beyond the famous players in the global luxury market, this study – building upon and expanding earlier research of the authors – explores the main strategies enabling independent luxury niche companies to successfully position and effectively differentiate themselves from their larger and financially more powerful competitors. The study examines and further refines the strategy types identified in earlier research and further explores the business model configurations and the specific success factors of independent niche luxury players in a global market dominated by the ever-growing “luxury goliaths”.