In a recent article with Glossy, FarFetch CMO John Veichmanis discussed the challenges and opportunities in marketing luxury brands to affluent audiences. They have invested a tremendous amount in data scientists and technology to get their message in front of the right people. Unfortunately, many brands aren't as lucky as FarFetch to have access to those resources, but still want to target affluent audiences. Reaching higher income earners requires more planning and a more creative approach than when targeting other audiences. Not only do the habits of the ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) differ a bit from the rest of ours, but there is tremendous competition for their attention. Reaching the UHNW requires a little ingenuity, a robust audience profile, and some great tools to get in front of them with messages that convert. One of our luxury beauty brands reached out to us to help with targeting audiences who hadn’t yet tried their product. Although they enjoy tremendous name recognition, the whole culture in the beauty industry is centered around “try before you buy.” To attract the attention of potential customers, we wanted to break out of the typical media buy targeted at women who were between the ages of 30-55 in UHNW households. To ensure that we were targeting the exact audiences that actually would be interested in purchasing their product, we took a more innovative approach to their media strategy. First, we reviewed the client’s data on customers who had purchased previously and their audience personas, comprised of profiles ranging from the married middle age woman to young college students who are supported by their parents. We were able to pair that data with Google Analytics and other profiling tools to start to create a database of attributes of what our ideal audience would look like. To give our media the most impact, we also geo-fenced high-end retailers and paired the anonymous mobile IDs with the persona attributes to start building a list of those who would be the most interested in learning more about the client’s products. Using personalized messaging that aligned to our personas, we were able to tailor the ad messages to align to their interests and needs. In addition to our programmatic media buy, we also included branded and non-branded search keywords that matched how our personas were looking for solutions to their beauty needs, not just specific products. The results have produced increased online sales for the client. Through our innovative approach, the client was able to maximize the efficiency of their media buy, targeting their ads only to people who would have the most interest in hearing from them.

Once a mysterious entity shrouded in secrets, luxury fashion brands have been forced to adapt for the digital age by overhauling their season-based approach to selling, and making goods available immediately via an online click. However, they are now at risk of “devaluing” their brands by bowing to the pressure of younger audiences who are constantly demanding for the new, and instantly. New - now.

Luxury retailers are wise to turn up their noses to Black Friday’s dark temptations. While speculations that “Black Friday is dead” are overblown, the shopping holiday has lost some of its appeal, mostly on the ground level. According to retail analyst company ShopperTrak, customers spent $10.4 billion on in-store purchases on Black Friday in 2015, a $1 billion drop from 2014. The reason for that drop isn’t rocket science: customers can find identical discounts online and in store, so why brave a mobbed mall? Doing away with the customer brawls.

In the beginning, there were gymnasiums. Open spaces in ancient Greece where men trained, often nude, to compete in public games. Now, there is Equinox, a gym that brings the men and women of cities’ top tax brackets under one roof and strips the gym experience of the greasiness and odor. Folks will pay almost any amount of money to achieve the level of luxury they feel suits their lifestyle. Nobody has understood this better than Equinox, which has brought the innocent gymnasium to its evolutionary peak: the E club. You can't lift with us.