30 intrepid Saatchi & Saatchi people have been out again Xploring, this time living in the world of high net worth and luxury in 20 cities around the globe. From New York, Paris and Shanghai to Mumbai and Moscow, Sydney, Cape Town, and Buenos Aires, we met tenacious entrepreneurs, optimistic business owners, scarred and weary investors, heirs to old fortunes, and designers and stylists to the rich-and-famous.
The backdrop is that world’s 8.6 million high net worth individuals – each with investable assets greater than $1 million – have dropped an average 20% of their combined wealth. And despite the fountain of youth appearing in luxury advertising, the core consumer base is aging and feels stressed.
Luxury remains a $225 billion dollar global business, so it can breathe out. We also know that consumers have reframed – less spending beyond their means; not buying stuff they don’t need; and no more shopping on autopilot even as spend returns.
Our Xplorers set out to harvest insights, language, and creative directions which can be applied to luxury brands and retailers. Here are 10 communication points.
1. Embrace the Challenge
Many luxury consumers own their own companies, and they are moving forward with determination. Reflect this confidence in your communication. Think challenge not crisis, excitement not fear, tenacity not tragedy.
2. Hold Luxury to True Values
Create experiences that deliver enduring priceless value. It’s about surprising with the obvious. Hermés and Coach are launching stores for men. Who would have thought?
3. Rediscover the Beauty of Feeling Human
Think how your services, products, packaging, marketing, advertising, everything can touch people in essential and elemental ways. Use Mystery, Sensuality and Intimacy – the three ingredients of Lovemarks – to enthrall people.
4. Romance the First Time
Firsts are unbeatable. Frame the emotion of “the first time” in your offerings, communications, relationships and environments. Calibrate past, present and future to unlock emotional states.
5. Step into a Better Future
A lot of re-evaluating has taken place. Many people are changing for good what they did beforehand and focusing on the important things in life: family, health, harmony, sustainability, longevity, legacy, contribution. More centered, less manic; involving social entrepreneurship, career reinvention, giving and sharing, becoming creative.
Think about how you can lead people out of themselves and into an extraordinary moment – it could be an in-store sanctuary; a bespoke online offering; it could be valuable information that provides an a-ha moment. Create the “experience opportunity”.
6. Find Luxury in the Real Thing
We’ve come to think of luxury as something that must be created, packaged and transacted. But luxury exists in the essence of life. People value a moment of peace amidst the chaos, a new friendship formed, a glimpse into a child’s imagination. Some luxuries don’t come wrapped in tissue paper. They’re simple, essential and sometimes elusive, yet just as valuable. Create a world that is authentic and genuine, the real world we live in, not a fantasy world.
7. Make an Understatement
Right now, ostentation is out of place. People still want to express their individuality and celebrate their achievements, but in more subtle and genuine ways. Be simple and refreshingly unpretentious. Under-promise. Over-deliver.
8. Investing as the New Spending
Ultra affluent consumers are still spending, but expectations have changed. They want to purchase beyond ‘this season’, and sustain what matters. This is about transforming expensive purchases into treasured items. Being “Purpose inspired, benefit driven” is a relevant and potent concept. Help your customers find new ways to create a better future.
9. Embrace the Story on the Inside
Stories build layers of mystery. Focus on hidden gems. The secret pockets, the invisible ingredients, the store within a store, the personalized message. Build positive, mutually beneficial relationships with influencers and storytellers.
10. Generate a High Return on Time
Time is the value equation of luxury – so build dimensions of time into the product, service, communication and experience.
Here are 3 things to do tomorrow:
1. Put every touchpoint to a simple test. Stand in your customers’ shoes and answer one question: “Do I love this?”
2. Whatever you’re investing in digital, double it. Luxury buyers are savvy screenagers. Everyone is connected and fun is serious business.
3. Switch stealth wealth to true wealth. Inspire everyone in your enterprise to take sustainability seriously. When they do, there’s luxury for all.
Fran Clayton is Worldwide Director of Xploring at Saatchi & Saatchi.
See the full text (2400 words) of a presentation “Luxury from the Heart” given in Las Vegas in April 2010 at the American Express Publishing Luxury Summit by Cynthia McFarlane, President Latin America at Saatchi & Saatchi, and Chair, Conill.