From strategic gaming ventures to unexpected collaborations, Deniz Keskin reveals how Porsche drives growth by prioritising emotional connections before purchase intent – a luxury marketing blueprint that’s redefining industry fundamentals
A 1970s Porsche advertisement made a tongue-in-cheek claim: “Nobody needs it. Everybody wants it.” Half a century later, this very ethos has propelled the Stuttgart-based manufacturer to become a €40 billion global powerhouse. In a world where luxury brands often hide behind carefully manicured facades, Porsche’s Global Director of Brand Management & Partnerships, Deniz Keskin, speaks with refreshing candour about the irrational nature of desire that drives their success.
Seated at Soho Farmhouse during an exclusive interview for The Luxury Society Podcast, he traces the company’s remarkable journey from sports car specialist to lifestyle juggernaut. Keskin reveals how Porsche’s partnerships – from Italian espresso machines to gaming initiatives cultivating tomorrow’s enthusiasts – all serve a singular purpose: transforming desire into devotion.
In today’s marketplace, where consumers are bombarded by messages from countless brands, resonance has become paramount. Unlike consumer goods where necessity often drives purchases, luxury thrives in a different realm altogether. “At the end of the day, what drives the desire of the consumer is something emotional and something irrational,” explains Keskin.
The emotional appeal of Porsche has been a key driver in the brand’s remarkable growth trajectory. Porsche has seen its revenue grow dramatically from approximately €10.9 billion in 2011 to nearly €40.1 billion in 2024. While traditional automotive sales fluctuated globally between 2016 and 2019, Porsche’s luxury vehicle deliveries continued to rise until the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily disrupted the market.
Yet even amid global economic uncertainty, the company bounced back impressively. In 2023, Porsche delivered 320,221 cars worldwide, representing a 3% increase over the previous year. This resilience demonstrates the power of emotional connection over rational economic considerations.
“If you buy one of our products, you do that because you want to express something about yourself, like with any luxury product,” Keskin observes. “And hopefully that is a positive message, a message about enjoying life and a message also about performance and design.”
This emotional connection with consumers has allowed Porsche to thrive even in challenging economic conditions. The company’s 2023 results reveal an interesting geographic pattern: while sales in China declined by 15% due to the region’s challenging economic situation, the brand saw growth in Europe (12%), Germany (10%), North America (9%), and other emerging markets (16%). These numbers tell a powerful story about the universal appeal of the brand’s emotional positioning across diverse markets and economic conditions.
For Porsche, maintaining relevance and expanding reach means engaging in meaningful partnerships that tell authentic stories. “I think brands are not definitions that you put on paper. Brands are dialogues. Brands only exist because people like myself in marketing, and the whole Porsche company, try to have a dialogue with the consumer in the market,” says Keskin.
In a luxury market saturated with collaborations, Porsche takes a notably selective approach. “Theoretically, we could partner up with any brand in the world, if we wanted to, but I don’t think these forced constructions, if I may call them that, really work,” he explains.
This discriminating strategy has led to several standout partnerships. One of the most recent successes is Porsche’s collaboration with La Marzocco, the prestigious Italian espresso machine manufacturer founded in 1927. Launched in late 2023, this partnership produced two special versions of La Marzocco’s Linea Micra espresso machine – one in Slate Grey Neo and another with MARTINI Racing livery. The limited run of just 911 units (in reference to Porsche’s iconic model number) quickly became a collector’s item.
Another significant collaboration was with Pantone, the global authority on colour standards. Together they developed “Turbonite,” an elegant metallic grey with subtle bronze undertones, designed specifically as the signature colour for Porsche’s high-performance Turbo models. In September 2024, Pantone took the unprecedented step of including Turbonite in its influential Fashion Colour Trend Report for Spring/Summer 2025 – the first time an automotive colour has been featured in this fashion industry guide.
Porsche has also established a multi-year partnership with Soho House, the exclusive global membership club for creatives with more than 40 locations worldwide. This collaboration began in Europe in 2022 and expanded to the United States in 2023. The partnership includes sponsorship of key Soho House events, as well as the “No Passengers” film series that celebrates key creative visionaries who are at the forefront of culture and innovation.
These partnerships exemplify Porsche’s commitment to working with “the absolute best in their respective fields,” as Keskin puts it. More importantly, they serve as sophisticated entry points for new consumer segments that might not otherwise engage with the brand, creating pathways to the next generation of luxury consumers.
Porsche’s long-term growth strategy hinges on creating positive early brand exposure, particularly among younger audiences. Keskin notes that most enthusiasts trace their passion for Porsche back to childhood: “If you talk to an existing Porsche customer and ask them where their passion started, in most cases you will find a childhood story somewhere.”
As these formative connections shift into digital realms, Porsche has adapted accordingly. “We have to be really active in digital, in virtual worlds too,” Keskin explains. “We want people to understand that Porsche is special as early as possible.”
Gaming has become the cornerstone of this strategy, with substantial investments across multiple platforms. The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup, which offers $200,000 in prize money, stands as one of virtual racing’s premier competitions. Meanwhile, the professional Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team competes at elite levels in both the ESL R1 series and Le Mans Virtual Series.
Moving beyond traditional racing simulations, Porsche partnered with Blizzard Entertainment in spring 2024 to integrate branded content into Overwatch 2, reaching millions of players worldwide. At Gamescom 2024, this collaboration expanded further, allowing players to outfit characters with designs inspired by the electric Macan and Taycan models.
“Gaming is something we approach very strategically, not only in racing games but across multiple genres,” Keskin emphasises. “The passion of driving a Porsche virtually becomes the perfect segue for that generation into our broader activities later on.”
This approach represents a fundamental shift in luxury marketing: while competitors chase quarterly acquisition metrics, Porsche cultivates desire decades before purchase intent. This patient capital investment in future consumers may prove the ultimate competitive advantage in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
This forward-looking strategy has positioned Porsche to capitalise on emerging trends while maintaining its premium identity. As the automotive landscape evolves toward electrification, the company’s early investments in this space are already bearing fruit – the all-electric Taycan surpassed 150,000 global deliveries in early 2024, outpacing initial projections by nearly 30%.
For luxury executives, Porsche’s playbook offers a valuable lesson in balancing heritage with innovation. By prioritising passionate engagement over transactional relationships, Porsche has built a foundation that offers resilience across economic cycles, while enabling strategic risk-taking in new categories. The result is a brand that remains simultaneously aspirational and accessible – a delicate balance that continues to separate industry leaders from the pack.
Listen to the full interview with Deniz Keskin on Episode 4 of The Luxury Society Podcast on Apple, Spotify, and other major podcast platforms.
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