The L Report – Lilian M Raji | When You Know It's Time For More

Attracting High Net Worth Customers in the Digital Age

msraji — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 17:40:49 +0000

Attracting High Net Worth Customers in a Digital Age

Luxury brands were the last few to get into ecommerce. Their argument was that luxury is about experience. They couldn’t reconcile how to create online something as intimate as a customer’s visit to a Cartier boutique to find something deeply meaningful. I mention Cartier specifically as they were one of the early adopters of ecommerce. As someone passionate about the brand, I can attest my emotional experience during my first visit to the Place Vendôme boutique was nothing like my first visit to the website, where I spent hours making a wish list.

Where on the website, I could fantasize about how a Ballon Bleu would look on my wrist or a Panthere de Cartier necklace would grace my décolletage, being in the store made fantasizing and wishing unnecessary. As any skilled salesperson will tell you, the easiest sales happen when your customer wears the item. My purchase was immediate once I fell in love with the salesperson’s recommendation.

So how does this now happen in the digital age? How are luxury brands growing the loyalty of high net worth individuals?

Unable to continue ignoring its value, once defiant luxury brands have now embraced ecommerce, doing so with the help of two additional Es: emotion and experience.

The pursuit of luxury is a passionate endeavor. Emotions override all logical sense when a customer evaluates a Timex against a Patek Phillipe. Both tell time, but the Patek also makes the customer feel something very intimate, very personal. Brands understanding how emotions influence the pursuit make storytelling a priority in their site design.

A visit to the Louis Vuitton website can elicit excitement, romance, and of course, desire. They achieve this through frequently updated videos, which tell new stories with every visit. While luxury has always been defined by exclusivity, the LV site encourages a sense of inclusivity – possible, of course, only if you make a purchase. The videos persuade you into believing owning a Louis Vuitton item is entering a world of glamour and prestige. Your purchase gives you access to this exclusive world. For those who value that access, the money exchanged is well worth the price of admission.

Further into the site, you find product pages sharing in-depth stories, both visually and written, providing thorough details so customers can easily determine if the product meets their demands. If not, the site’s user experience is so engaging, customers can’t help but continue searching until they’ve found the right item.

Yet purchasing online is only possible for items under a certain price point. After a price, most luxury brands will insist on a personal interaction. This is how they’ve reconciled the in-person experience with the limitations of online.

When it comes to HNWIs, the URL will never defeat experiences offered IRL (In Real Life). To buy that $25,000 necklace or handbag, you’ll have to speak with someone, either by phone or by visiting a boutique. This takes the online experience offline and creates an intimacy that can’t be achieved by website alone.

This article first appeared July 22, 2022 on Glossy.co.

Finding Your Design Inspiration

msraji — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 01:36:42 +0000

Finding Your Design Inspiration

There’s a certain state of mind you must be in before you should try to engage a public relations professional. The best professionals – the ones who focus on results more than how much you can afford – will check to see if you’re there before accepting you as a client. Some will even help you get there before they begin contacting press on your behalf. For me, this is the only way to do business, where your vision and your focus are just as important as your talent.

In my last article, I discussed what is required to engage a public relations agency. Here, I’m going to let you in on how I choose which companies I represent.

A few months ago, I had a consulting call with a jewelry designer who knew precisely what she wanted from life. In our pre-call survey, she wrote about the lifestyle brand she was going to create, with her jewelry line being the beginning of what was sure to be a multibillion-dollar empire of jewelry, clothing, handbags and more. Intrigued, I awaited our scheduled call to see how I could be of service. Within moments into our call, however, I realized immediately this woman only had a dream.

The reality was that she’d only produced four pieces, with just two available to show me via photo. She had sketches for more, but she couldn’t say when she planned to produce the remaining collection — yet she continued on about this empire she was building that would make her the next Coco Chanel.

There’s a general belief that you should never awaken someone who is sleepwalking out of fear it could cause them harm. I found myself in this situation where I had to determine if I should awaken this delightfully deluded woman or let her continue along in what must be a beautiful, uncomplicated dream world where things simply happen without effort.

Continue reading at The PR Advisor…

This article first appeared on the Halstead blog July 2022

Hiring a PR Agency

msraji — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 00:57:16 +0000

Are You Sure You’re Ready for Your Close-Up?

When people talk about PR, they are really talking about media relations, which is a subset of public relations. A publicist is a media relations expert; a PR professional, however, takes a 360-degree approach to your business by developing communication strategies to persuade potential customers to buy from you. Dealing with the press (or media) is one these strategies, but so is social media, branding, influencer outreach, special events and more.

Many companies are not ready for a public relations agency no matter how long they’ve been in business. Unless you’re generating a certain amount of revenue, PR should be the least of your focus. As a PR professional, I’m often telling people they’re not, in fact, ready for their close-up.

Continue reading at The PR Advisor…

This article first appeared on the Halstead blog, May 2022

Why Victoria’s Secrets Is Losing Customers

msraji — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 01:41:06 +0000

Consumers now expect to be able to get things, talk to someone, and do what they want at any time. That’s led to a divide. Some companies and products provide such a perfect, seamless experience that it has raised the bar. In fact, it’s so easy and seamless that we kind of forget to be impressed. But what they’re doing is making the ones that don’t deliver that kind of great experience all the more obvious. – Susan Weinschenk, Chief Behavioral Scientist and CEO, The Team W

Your Looks Alone Won’t Keep People Loyal

In lieu of Victoria’s Secret recent troubles, I’m brought back to an article I wrote a few years ago called “What Makes a Luxury Brand?” If you haven’t heard:

“Victoria’s Secret, perennially #1 or #2 in the Apparel Retail category in Brand Keys’ Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, dropped to #4 in 2016, #6 in 2017, and #10 in 2018. This year it sank to last place in the ranking, #19.” – from Media Post

I wrote in the aforementioned article, “For something to be truly luxury, it must first be something that is wanted, coveted by an audience that feels its price – whatever that may be – is worth it. And to be worth it, that item must be made of the finest quality, with substantial attention to detail, and a clear understanding that this item will last a lifetime.”

My opinion hasn’t changed. And may I be bold as to state that it’s the merits of this opinion that has Victoria’s Secrets in the conundrum it now faces.

For the men reading this, let me enlighten you on the secret of Victoria’s Secrets: the bras are poorly made, the staff is inadequately trained, the fit is awful.

I’m convinced the reason most women are wearing the wrong sized bra is because they likely walked into a Victoria’s Secret and were told by the staff they were a 36B or 36C – one of the only two sizes my informal survey of friends were told was their size by an employee of Victoria’s Secrets.

But Lilian, you’re thinking, surely Victoria has done something right? How could she have existed for so long?

And you’d be right to think that.

The answer is simple: Victoria’s gotten far because of her looks.

And when I say “looks,” I mean her marketing. Next to Rolex, I think Victoria’s Secrets has one of the most ingenious marketing departments in the world.

I’ll prove it. Every man reading this knows about Victoria’s Secrets. But how many men know about Intimissimi?

Intimissimi can be equated to the Victoria’s Secrets of Europe, although they’re slowly coming Stateside (thanks, coincidentally, through a relationship with Victoria’s Secrets). I came to understand just how poor VS’s quality is when I first shopped in Intimissimi’s Paris boutique almost ten years ago. I also discovered then exactly how a bra should fit (and learned I was most definitely not a 36C) by a staff that took time to properly measure and fit me.

Most luxury lingerie stores will do this, with the staff being especially dedicated to making sure you leave with the right fit. Victoria’s Secrets, in my experience, does not.

But back to VS’s marketing. The team did such an extraordinary job in making VS look good that they didn’t bother to invest in properly training their staff nor in producing a superior product. Then, the company started increasing the price of their ill-fitting bras without ever addressing the quality issue.

Now, along comes the #metoo movement, where more and more women are no longer comfortable with being objectified, and VS’s biggest marketing vehicle – the runway show – now becomes radioactive to a brand that grew from telling women to be sexy.

What’s the lesson here?

If you want to call yourself a luxury brand, make sure the quality of your products fit your image. Marketing can take you far, but eventually, someone’s going to ask what exactly they’re paying you for.

Thoughts? Let me know.

See you in two weeks.

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Build Customer Loyalty

msraji — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 00:08:25 +0000

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb

Madness, Yes?

Several years ago, I was inspired to write an article called “When is Luxury Worth It?” after reading one of New York City’s most expensive restaurants lost a star when the New York Time’s food critic found the dining experience far from worth the price tag. He didn’t complain about the food as, apparently, the quality was still there. But the service left a lot to be desired.

I continue being fascinated with the luxury industry and you should be, too, whatever industry you’re in. It’s a world where logic and common sense have no place, up is down, out is in, and $1.6 million gold toilet paper makes sense to someone.

From the manufacturer, “As you use the toilet paper 24-karat gold flakes will fall onto the floor and your behind taking you to another level of sophistication.”

Uhm, okay.

Continue reading on The PR Advisor…

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Strategy Development Process

msraji — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 21:22:34 +0000

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” —Steve Jobs

Money Has Made You Lazy

I think enough time has passed for us to unemotionally discuss one of the greatest television shows ever. If you’re a fan (or perhaps after that controversial final season, were a fan), you know I’m talking about Game of Thrones. If you’re in the minority with the willpower to have not gotten sucked into the cultural phenomena, stay with me nonetheless.

(And perhaps look into how you can bottle that willpower of yours as a remedy for addicts of every kind, including perpetual procrastinators like myself.)

When you’ve spent your entire life single-mindedly pursuing one goal, what happens when you finally achieve it?

For the Dragon Queen of Games of Thrones, she decides to pursue an even greater goal, refusing to take even a second to look at what she’d finally achieved.

Continue reading on The PR Advisor…

Image Courtesy HBO

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Increase Social Media Engagement

msraji — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 02:22:30 +0000

~ It is an absolute perfection to know how to get the very most out of one’s individuality. – Michel de Montaigne ~

“If I Build It, They Will Come” is Not an Effective Social Media Strategy

My National Jeweler monthly column, Dear Lilian: The PR Advisor, went out on Tuesday, where I answered a reader’s question on how to create influencers within your own company. It’s going to be a two, maybe three-part, series as the answer to this question isn’t as simple as it seems. You can read the first part here.

There’s a huge difference between a company with over 10 million followers on Instagram, and someone like Chiara Ferragni, whose 16.7 million followers earn her $19,500 every time she shares her opinions on Instagram. That difference is engagement.

A lot of brands look at social media as an additional form of advertising, sharing their latest and greatest with followers who are already fans of the brand. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this and it’s necessary to keep an increasingly distracted audience focused on what the company is doing. Yet most brands, even with their significant following, lack a voice that makes these followers act on command.

Hence why people like Chiara can ask for $20,000 to write three sentences.

I watched a client try and fail at creating in-house influencers for his company. For however deep his pockets ran to provide his staff with the state-of-the-art everything to build a mini digital fiefdom, his vision never factored human behavior.

“If I build it, they will come” has never been an effective strategy.

You need to give people reason to come. And when it comes to social media influencers, it’s all about personality. Those social stars have kept a pulse on what they’re followers want and kept giving them more of it, going straight to the bank with their innate understanding of human motivation.

I’d love to see a brand for one week turn over their Instagram accounts to a random employee and allow that employee to show followers both the inner workings of their company and a bit of their lives outside the company.

Humanize your company by showing the reality of the people who love to work for you.

Continue reading on The PR Advisor…

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The L Report – Lilian M Raji | When You Know It's Time For More

Attracting High Net Worth Customers in the Digital Age

Attracting High Net Worth Customers in a Digital Age

Finding Your Design Inspiration

Finding Your Design Inspiration

Hiring a PR Agency

Are You Sure You’re Ready for Your Close-Up?

Why Victoria’s Secrets Is Losing Customers

Your Looks Alone Won’t Keep People Loyal

Build Customer Loyalty

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb

Madness, Yes?

Strategy Development Process

Money Has Made You Lazy

When you’ve spent your entire life single-mindedly pursuing one goal, what happens when you finally achieve it?

Increase Social Media Engagement

~ It is an absolute perfection to know how to get the very most out of one’s individuality. – Michel de Montaigne ~

“If I Build It, They Will Come” is Not an Effective Social Media Strategy

Hence why people like Chiara can ask for $20,000 to write three sentences.

“If I build it, they will come” has never been an effective strategy.

Humanize your company by showing the reality of the people who love to work for you.