Luxury brands are finally joining the social network parties. Remy Martin, a cognac that sells for over $1,500 a bottle, Remy Martin's Louis XIII's customers are looking beyond traditional media for marketing. They are planning a big marketing push with a by-invitation-only social network aSmallWorld for an experiential campaign that extend into offline events targeting clients with a fifth over $1 mm annual income. These private gatherings allow members to sample expensive cigars, fine hors d'oeuvres and share a bottle of Louis XIII. The idea came from MEC Interaction's (a WPP unit) community activation team, a division that looks for opportunity to generate word-of-mouth advocacy, hit upon three-year-old aSmallWorld as a perfect place to find global influencers for a high-end luxury product like Louis XIII. The by-invitation-only social network is based squarely on exclusivity, not much different from by-invitation software beta trail.
aSmallWorld is an invite-only space for wealthy jet setters and celebrities. ( I believe Tiger Woods is a member) Membership has its privileges. You'll need to know someone on the inside. The idea is that most people in the world are separated by no more than six degrees, but to get into aSmallWorld, you need to be within three degrees of the elite. Once you are a member, you can gain access to private villa parties in Capri, masked balls in Shanghai and special wine taskting in Nappa Valley.
This is an example of how luxury brand can take niche brands that once might not have garnered much in the way of marketing support into the web 2.0 world. I believe there are plenty of opportunities for luxury brand to take advantage of social networks, it will take some bold thinking. The much-anticipated diminishing return of advertising (including interactive ad) is not yet here, signs are showing that we're moving that way. If anything, the industry seems to just be looking for alteractive medai. In fact, advertising revenue on social networks alone is projected to reach # billion by 2010. Most will agree that advertising isn't exactly going anywhere, marketers are increasingly puting emphasis on brand engagement over brand awareness. Finally, thank God. To foster this deeper engagement, agencies are investing in experiential marketing campaigns. According to MICE Group, an experiential marketing agency, 87% pf the world's top 100 brands rank experiential marketing as one of their top three marketing activities.
In the meatnime if you would like to join aSmallWorld please let me know, we're planning a private food tasting gala at Burger King next month.
