Maybe the consensus of philosophers and economists were right all along – that it takes anger or sadness to change minds, attitudes, verbiage. And what has changed through seven month’s time is a movement from a recession (small case letters, November 2008) to a Recession (in caps, May 2009) with an accompanying movement from resignation to an irritating resentment that, like the Swine Flu, seems more viral than ever before. The severity of the economy, accentuated by bank bailouts of such horrendous proportion that, it is said, all of our children will be indentured servants for years, and the emergence of the Madoff story, showing how trust and trusts, can be Ponzi-ed into oblivion, have changed attitudes of resignation to attitudes of anger in ways we are just beginning to understand.
Those who work in the luxury field, whether it is in luxury hospitality, hotels, branding or shared residences, have noticed a sea change, a movement from objectifying to personalizing, implying the idea of luxury is neither changeless nor timeless, nor above the fray as once thought, but scalable and adaptive to present cultural norms. The vocabulary, especially the definition of luxury, is moving away from the Wall Street model of conspicuous consumption – cars, watches, diamonds – to a softer version, one that gels more with Main Street – family, authenticity, the scarcity and primacy of time.
“I have strongly recommended to my clients not to even the use the word luxury. It has become so overused. For some projects we have worked on, we actually went through the press releases to soften the word or remove it,” says Linda Bruno, Managing Director for Consultare, a consultancy group for the luxury hotel industry.
Softening and removing might not have been as much of an option a few months ago as it is now. In the Pre- Madoff/TARP world, it could be argued that defining luxury moved along a more objectified BRAND bandwidth, with high end magazines telling us what to buy, where to go and what to wear. But now – how many luxury print publications have ceased? Executive Living, Executive Decision, Ocean Drive, Trump, Trump World, Ascent, Distinction, the list goes on. According to Folio, ad sales in recent months have faltered consistently in many of the high end shelter magazines. What can be inferred here? Only an arguable possibility: that aspirationals may be getting tired of seeing the brand stuff of which the inspirationals lives are made.
In one of the last issues of Portfolio, another magazine that will publish its last issue soon, an article was written by a TARP wife, a woman whose luxurious lifestyle was underscored for years by her wealthy banker husband, whose bank has been given billions in bailout money. Understandably, she prefers to remain anonymous. Her Essay deals with how the meaning of luxury has changed for her: “I haven’t even looked at Spring clothes. Keeping up with fashion seems somehow decadent in this new era, like getting Botox injections or catered dinners.” How does she see her life now? In addition to turning down invitations to gala events where they will be asked for donations they don’t have extra for anymore, eating out less frequently, combined with having to actually cook, staying home and watching TV reruns, this is what defines her life — a life, she says, of relative luxury. This means her house is not in foreclosure, and they can still afford things they need. Of course, she is angry, not only because of this turn of events, but also because of her husband’s turn from good physical health to less so, a man who now apologizes each day for losing so much of their money and making so many mistakes.
Given such a scenario, how do you think they feel when they receive in the mail, glossy, elite lifestyle and home magazines, touting the brands they had last year, and have no longer?
Due to such a nagging irritant, the root systems, definitions and presentations of luxury are changing. What is emerging, due to the shock and awe of the world economic collapse, Madoff, and the bank bailout, is a something, well, positive.
New thinking – with the touch points of authenticity, honesty, transparency, genuineness, mindfulness of brand and product has begun to replace the old words of luxurious, extravagant, lavish, elite, one of a kind, dreamlike.. and the like. The luxury experience used to mean selling the dream, but now it is in process of becoming more an offer – to obtain a transformatory experience of awareness, of eco-sensitivity, of education, perhaps a green experience, or, one of philanthropic substance and consequence – something that changes a person from the inside out, not vice versa.
There are some companies that get this, and have changed their marketing and sales messaging to reflect this growing awareness – one that has done this so well is Exclusive Resorts, the largest and best known Destination Club now in existence, with a $2B Real Estate portfolio and over 3000 members. Their online and print advertising defines luxury through the scarcity of time. Time with children before they grow up, time with grandparents so children will remember and time that can be crafted into significant memories. These ideas are the new definitions of luxury.
Abercrombie & Kent Residence Clubs, a dimension of the famed tour operator Abercrombie & Kent, also has the ability to carry their members to places that will create eco-sensitive, educational memories. Other companies, Exquisite Safaris being the major one, takes their clients to areas in Africa where they can come to know the villagers, and create a strong understanding of their needs, allowing new forms of philanthropy to ensue. In all of these cases, luxury is being redefined not in terms of how much but of how well, not in terms of artifice, but of authenticity, thereby beginning to redress the antagonisms of our ailing systems.
