The Joy of Speaking at The Luxury Marketing Council!
Last night, I gave a speech at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Miami for Chris Ramey, who heads up the Luxury Marketing Council here in the Southeast. My subject: Luxury Marketers are Looking with new interest at DM…with good reason.
They are looking at DM (Direct Marketing) because it is a science, and you can track your results. In the years that I worked at major agencies, many clients looked down their noses at DM, as if their product or service was to “high end” to be sold in that way. Now, things have changed.
First the internet changed the direct relationship between buyers and brands. Now prospects can comparison shop, look at products closely and buy them immediately. It is really direct mail…on steroids.
Second, the luxury brands realize that word-of-mouth advertising is a key element of their success, so they’re popping up on websites, and on social media…like Facebook and Twitter.
Third, Luxury brands want to know what their ROI is, and what’s working and what isn’t. They can’t always see the results of on-page advertising, or even their commercials. In direct mail, email, or website…you see the stats right away ,and can tell how many are converting to sales now. In this time of economic uncertainty…DM is a science that can provide measurable results, and that’s what they’re looking for now.
The second speaker last night is a fascinating man, named Stephen Kraus, who works for the Harrison Group, a market research firm. He’s a co-author of a new book, entitled The New Elite, Inside the minds of the truly wealthy.
He told us about the many faces of the American rich and the diverse factors that drive this high end customer (like the fact that a large percentage of them shop at Target and love Costco). I’m looking forward to reading his book.
All in all, it was an interesting evening. I met an old friend there from New York: Susan Schein, and there was quite a large crowd of really nice marketers at the event.
January 27, 2009 3 Comments
Joy of Meeting Dry Cleaners: National Cleaners Association
I just gave a seminar for the National Cleaners Association, in Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Though the weather was not kind to us, each dry cleaner that attended was focused on learning as much as possible during the conference.
My topic for my three hour seminar: How to Build Relationships With Your Customer Using Your Brand …Virtually! While I was preparing my session, I was wondering: why would a customer want a relationship with their dry cleaner? It is about trust, and delivering great service, and caring.
But, then the night before I was flying out, I tried on my own suit. I couldn’t even squeeze into it. My dry cleaner had somehow shrunk it and I had just worn it to Toronto only two weeks ago. So, I either bulked up two sizes or it was ruined.
I mentioned this to Nora Nealis, the President of the NCA, and Ann Hargrove, who works with her (pictured above), They said it was probably “wet cleaned”, and had shrunk (thank heavens it wasn’t that I’d bulked up 15 pounds), and she said to mail her the suit when I came back to Florida. I sent it out to her today. [Read more →]
January 21, 2009 3 Comments
