The freshly-cleaned upholstery. That pristine-looking dashboard. A properly-adjusted suspension. Up-to-date electronics. And most important of all: that delicious new-car smell.
Then, sadly, almost before you know it, your fancy new ride slides into the category of just a ride. No matter how spendy it was. "As long as they are new enough to capture the driver's attention, new cars are indeed likely to be a true source of pleasure," note the authors of Why don't we learn from poor choices? The consistency of expectation, choice, and memory clouds the lessons of experience in the Journal of Consumer Psychology. "But once they become familiar, other things will dominate the driver's mind."
And whatever happens to be on your mind influences how you feel - and feelings are at the heart of any good luxury shopping experience. Why? Because you don't just buy the item but the ritual involved - the experience. "Experiential purchases," they continue, "have more impact on our feelings than nonexperiential ones." (The takeaway being this: if you're on a budget, splurge on "experiences" like a fancy meal, but be thrifty on items that you'll use while thinking about other things....like getting to work on time (ie, your ride), wicking away sweat at the gym (workout gear) or anything else that enables you to focus on other things.)
And one of the most interesting ways that luxury brands are increasing the "experience" component of their offerings is using video on Social Media to bring people along to experience what life is like if you, say, drive a Maserati (hint: Heidi Klum, leather pants, sunny climes). "By creating content that is far richer than today’s aspirational blogs, videos and magazines, luxury brands will increasingly become media channels," predicts Tammy Smulders of Havas LuxHub in London. The goal? To paraphrase Joe Boxer: create the amusement park (the brand) in order to sell the souvenirs (the merch itself).
In short: merch second, dream first. "There is a certain kind of dream that we sell, and it’s never just about the clothes," confirms Stefano Tonchi, EIC of W Magazine. "One of the things that we do is that we photograph clothes in a way that is different from anybody else. We put those clothes, that desire, that trend, whatever it is, in a context. We try to recontextualize them, give them new life and try to be very inspirational, try to create a dream around them. It goes beyond just showing them for what they are. It’s about creating desire and creating an atmosphere. Our readers, they come to us to know what is the mood, what is the trend, what should I have, who do I want to be?"
- Lesley Scott
(illustration: Arturo Elena)
This post was about the Supremium fashion tribe - spendy, style-conscious fashionistas that enjoy jetsetting, globetrotting and shopping their way across the globe. For more of my posts about the Supremiums, CLICK HERE. To learn more about each of fashion's four mega-tribes that I track, START HERE.
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