Ahead of the Luxury Society Keynote on 28 November, we sat down with speaker Francis Srun, author of “Luxury Selling,” about appealing to high-value clients, influencing the customer experience and building lasting relationships.
EVENTS
LS Keynote 2018 Speaker Introduction: Francis Srun, Author Of “Luxury Selling”
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Credit: This is the featured image credit
Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.
PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.
In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”
The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris
Ahead of the Luxury Society Keynote on 28 November, we sat down with speaker Francis Srun, author of “Luxury Selling,” about appealing to high-value clients, influencing the customer experience and building lasting relationships.
What is the one misconception that brands have when it comes to selling to today's young consumers?
Young consumers are very well-Informed, truly Independent and even irreverent. But brands still very often adopt a Top-Down approach, telling young customers: “Listen to me,” and worse: “Love me, you have to.” Young consumers want to have the freedom to choose; the feeling of making a choice. Brands should adopt a persuasive approach rather than a convincing, dominating approach. What does this mean? Brands should focus on adopting an influential approach with what I call "Persuasive Marketing."
What would you say is the most important factor in influencing a customer's decision-making process when shopping for luxury products?
The most important factor is the brand and what it represents for me as a client. Brands need to have different facets in order to succeed. The history and DNA is important of course, but it needs to go beyond that. Does the brand “mirror” me? Am I the brand or not? Is the brand for people like me, or is it a brand for my mom?
How can brands build lasting relationships with consumers?
Lasting relationships for everything are based on trust. Can I trust this brand? Brands should be able to keep consistent contact with customers. Most luxury brands underestimate the incredible value of sales advisors. They are the face of the brand, not the CEO. I believe that the best brands are represented by the best sales advisors. And the best brands know how to train and take good care of their brand ambassadors. The most valuable sales advisors are always able to keep lasting relationships, and keep brand satisfaction.
Has technology affected the way wealthy consumers buy luxury?
Instead of the digital age, I would rather talk about the information age. Because clients are very well-informed, their expectations from sales advisors are different. Tell me something new, tell me some secrets, tell me something that is amazing. They appreciate being able to interact with sales advisors, as a pair. They want to feel that they are a part of the brand.
How have customer expectations shifted and what are some of the ways brands can address them?
Brands should not give information anymore, but create experiences – relatable experiences. Brands have to succeed in each encounter, whether its in the luxury space of the boutique or on a corporate website. Don’t tell me who you are, make me feel who you are.
Learn more about consumer needs and the information age at the Luxury Society Keynote 2018. Seats are going fast, so register for a spot here now! We can also be reached at [email protected] for all other enquiries.
For more on the psychology of luxury brands, check out Francis Srun's book, Luxury Selling.
Writer at Luxury Society
Before joining the editorial team at Luxury Society, Meaghan was based out of New York City writing for CBS New York and NBC Universal. A Washington-D.C. native, Meaghan also wrote for Washington Life Magazine while studying journalism at university. After moving to Switzerland in 2016, she went on to contribute to Metropolitan Magazine and CBS affiliates before joining the LS team.
