Don’t Teach Luxury. Do This Instead.

There is a tendency today to take business lessons literally. That means instead of applying the concepts behind them, the B-school phrase or area of study is presented to the public like we are sitting in our company conference room talking strategy with our team, behind the scenes.

For example, for years I have commented on the luxury sector’s preoccupation with asking, “What is Luxury?” That question is all well and good, but we must go beyond that when marketing to clients. We should be showing them, captivating them, and engaging them, not simply asking the question over and over as part of our marketing efforts.

Often someone will follow me on social media and think because I teach luxury marketing concepts they should do so also. Don’t. If you sell a luxury product or service and use education in your marketing, share the lifestyle available through what you offer. Tell stories.

Craft marketing messages and social media posts that bring your clients into a new world. That’s the world created by your extraordinary product or service. Do it with great words and images. Do it using video. Be exceptionally creative in delivering your message. Don’t just pontificate on what luxury is. Your consumer and even your business audience doesn’t care. What they care about is living better and how what you offer can help them do so.

It would be like the National Football League endlessly asking, “What is football?” Perhaps on occasion that is a subject worth exploring by highly experienced coaches who are talented in dissecting and teaching the game, with a unique and profound perspective. However, the magic is always in the stories. How did that team rise to championship level? How did that player become so good? What is the impact on fans of a winning team, or one they hope will win soon?

If you sell shirts, talk about shirts. If you sell picture frames talk about picture frames. Talk about it in ways that no one else talks about it. When others see you doing this in your industry, they will copy you. But your unique conversation, stories, experience, enthusiasm, and tone will uniquely define you, and enable you to have a one-of-a-kind dialogue with those who prefer you. It is what the broadcast networks used to understand about the evening news. They all deliver just about the same message, but with different personalities at the helm, different styles of communication, different settings, and packaging. I’ve got my favorite, and I am sure you have yours.

Don’t talk about your brand. At least, don’t refer to it as a brand. Don’t use B-School definitions when speaking to those you want to buy from you. They don’t care about value-propositions, and brand essence and all of that. They are looking to be transported to your world of a wonderful life with you and your products and services as their guide.

There is tremendous pressure today to appear profound. Perhaps you have lots of wisdom to share, but do so, in the context of great stories. Don’t teach luxury. Be luxury.

Need help crafting the right stories for your audience? Write me: info@andretaylor.com .

 At Taylor Insight we help luxury and premier businesses excel and grow by attracting, retaining, and growing with affluent clients. We provide exceptional strategic, marketing, sales, and service guidance, and a portfolio of high-impact learning programs.