A creative, well-made product is not enough to surprise a discerning luxury customer today. Brands need to design exclusive offers and clubs that helps build strong customer relationship and engender loyalty.

Dinner Party Held at FENDI Casa in Miami

Years ago, luxury brands offered services like an interesting personalized shopping experience to a select few clients. However, these services are now offered to anyone who chooses to be a buyer of a luxury product. Each client, after all, is important in these years of economic recession. So, what can the luxury brands do to elevate the shopping experience for their VIP customer?

Some luxury brands have come up with innovative and creative offers and ideas to make these customers feel special, because ultimately that is what the luxury shopping experience is about – not just about getting that Birkin bag or the Gucci dress, but also about the kind of time you have had while purchasing it. Many offers prove to have an enormous influence on how a customer associates with the brand and continues to stay loyal to it.

As a result, companies are seeing an increased growth driven by the offers and the experience. In India, one of the most relevant examples is the Oberoi Belvedere club, a by-invitation-only club, initiated by The Oberoi Hotels & Resorts. Members, who are whetted by Mr BRS Oberoi himself through a long process, are offered special privileges like access to all-equipped meeting space, concierge services and a lot more.

Louis Vuitton-Dinner on Rodeo Drive

Most Indian luxury retail brands not just have exclusive offers for their top clients, but also luxurious salons where guests are made comfortable and unique products are showcased to them in complete privacy.

A few brands have been creative enough to go a step further, like Ganjam, the luxury Indian jewellery brand, which not only invites customers for special previews but also extends an invite to their annual events like ‘Ganjam Jaipur Polo Trophy’ in London and ‘Flights of Fantasy’ in Bangalore. Their retail team brainstorms on the event/launch and invites clients based on their interest.

Last year, India also played host to the Amber Lounge for the first time, right after the Grand Prix F1 races. Amber Lounge, across the globe, invites the elite to hobnob with the racers in a unique, one-of-its-kind celebration after the races. Sonia Irvine, founder and owner of Amber Lounge, says, “What really makes Amber Lounge unique is the service and attention to detail. We treat everyone like a VIP. There are no cornered-off areas or queues on entry, and all drinks, including the world’s most prestigious Luxor and Belvedere, await your arrival.”

The phenomenal response last year has got Amber Lounge to come back to Indian shores once again, this time at The Claridges Surajkund. The sponsor for 2011, Mercedes-Benz, will sponsor the lounge, which had Lady Gaga performing. This time, it is going to be even bigger we suspect!

“I wanted to create a special event for the F1 community, where they could have a good time. I knew there is a need for a VIP nightlife experience where the teams, drivers, sponsors and guests could all enjoy together. It had to be private, glamorous and fun,” says Irvine.

Louis Vuitton store in Fuzhou, China

Spinning the Web

Ever luxury brand is facing the same dilemma: how to sell more and yet remain exclusive. In an era of economic turmoil, walking in either of the two directions might spell doom. Louis Vuitton, among the most copied and sold luxury brand in the world, has found a creative answer. The company has created a purchasing experience for customers that psychologist, consultant and author Peter Collett calls “fantasian.” “The surrounding is as important as the product,” Mr Collett says. The idea is to mix art and luxury to “create a little bubble” to make the clients feel special.

Based on this thought, LVMH has created a luxury apartment above its New Bond Street store in London. Louis Vuitton’s most valued customers now have exclusive access to this luxury apartment with three lounging areas adorned with artworks such as American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Napoleonic Stereotype Circa 44 and pieces by London-based artist duo Gilbert & George. Lavish dinner parties are hosted and private suites are used for viewing products, with personal stylists available for advice, in this apartment, even as you sip on a drink. Of course, you have access to the apartment by invitation only.

Similarly, Fendi organizes shopping brunches for their top clients, where new collections are launched and limited edition products showcased. International high-end department stores are a part of the game too. Bergdorf Goodman’s ‘Incircle’ is a rewards system under which the more you shop at Bergdorf Goodman or Neiman Marcus, the more points you receive, which ultimately leads to an elevated status within the exclusive Incircle. The circle four and Presidents circle, called the ‘In’ crowd within the Incircle, receive one-of-a-kind private offers related to shopping, travel, exclusive invites, gift cards and many other benefits.

Luxury connoisseurs even have their very own social network now. After all, not all want to join the ‘herd’ that Facebook represents! Best of All Worlds – an invitation only website – caters to the affluent and the wealthy. Users can meet other world travellers, make business connections and find services such as nannies. But, of course, you cannot just go online and join – you have to be invited.

Gucci Store

The Need for Such Exclusivity

Most of these exclusive concepts are not overtly marketed. They mark an innovation in service delivery, elevating its value to appeal to a select group of customers. It’s a marketing strategy that helps create an unspoken loyalty program that the dedicated luxury shopper finds of great value. Such ‘clubs’ are good for clients who shy from media gaze and the general public. The elite experience they promise to provide, with tight privacy controls, helps them to stay loyal.

Creating exclusive clubs not only urges your clients to buy, but also offer brands an opportunity to nurture a relationship with them, which would not have been possible otherwise. The consumer ends up feeling satisfied that are getting true worth for their money. So, when Amber Lounge offers Luxor, champagne with actual 24kt gold flakes, you know your money is well-spent. The Indian luxury consumer, especially, doesn’t mind spending money as long as each rupee is justified for. Exclusive clubs and offers make helps nurture the feeling of loyalty towards a brand.

Besides being a ploy to increase sales, these strategies are well-designed, elegant marketing plans that help create brand value, which cannot be replicated or duplicated by competition. It’s a creative way of saying ‘Thank You’ to a shopper who spends huge amounts and leads to relationship building and brand association with the shopper. It’s the finest form of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) activity that only a luxury brand can afford to indulge in!