Karl Taro Greenfeld has a wonderful article in Salon’s Big Money. We agree, heritage, technology, function, and emotion are key features for luxury brands to focus on – instead of just bling:

Jack Pitney, the head of global marketing for BMW, which has actually expanded market share since the financial crisis began, talks about BMW being a technology and environmentally friendly company—while reminding that the BMW is still the “ultimate driving machine.” The company’s response to the current crisis consists of both that message and, eventually, new products reflecting that message. Pitney is emphatic that the BMW culture of high-technology and fuel efficiency-especially a new generation of high-performance diesel engines—will drive away yesterday’s notion of BMW as a status symbol and vehicle of choice for certain type of aspiring alpha-male. “Brands that have substance and integrity and that are authentic and recognize what has brought them the success and don’t deviate from that will weather any economic recession best,” Pitney says. “What luxury products do need to do in the short term is to allow customers to rationalize their making that investment in a premium product. You need to make them feel good about the fact that they’ve gotten value, that it’s a smart buy.”

- from Salon