Putting Luxury Customers in the Driver’s Seat
A couple of nights ago, I thought I’d give my email-mad fingers a break and take a few minutes to putt around Golf magazine. But before I could even get to the article that promised to drop my handicap by five strokes, I was struck by the true profundity of a line in a Lexus ad. (You might say I’ve been in the business too long when I think wisdom is to be uncovered in two-page 4-color advertisement for a pile of sheet metal, but I say, find it where you can.)
“At Lexus,” the line read, “we never forget who’s in the driver’s seat.” That simple statement of customer-centricity could easily be dismissed as typical ad puffery. But since the rest of the ad explained how Lexus’ buyers could now customize all their electronics settings, this was not the case. Rather, it spoke to me of the overall need for marketers—especially luxury marketers—to focus anew on their customers, offer individualized experiences and build on-going relationships with them.
Now, I realize that focusing on your customers is not a new idea. Marketers have been saying this for years. Yet in the luxury market, in particular, you still hear stories of how in an effort to “protect the brand” from being acquired and tarnished by the “wrong” people, customers are turned away. It’s only recently that the salesmen at Silicon Valley Porsche dealerships have started to figure out that the guy who walks in wearing ratty blue jeans might be Steve Jobs or one of his cronies, and not a snub-at-all-costs low-life. And it’s about time. As hard as this is to swallow, Mr. Marketer, “the game” just isn’t about you anymore. It is about your customers, each one of your customers. Not affluent baby-boomers. Not over-achieving Gen-Xrs. Individuals—with the desire to be treated as such.
Who do we have to thank for moving the marketplace in this direction? In large part, it’s online marketers—who have made this kind of personalization practically expected. When I log on to Amazon, I’m happy to see my homepage filled with books I might be interested in based on past purchases. I’m even happier to be able to buy them with one click. Nike ID’s website allows me to customize my athletic shoe of choice more or less from the sole up. I particularly appreciated being able to change the medallion on the heel to one that suits my style—one of the choices would have killed the deal for me.
Not every marketer can build this level of customization into their products. But they certainly can build it into their marketing. There are a number of notable examples of this in non-traditional marketing spaces like online and events. Burger King’s over-hyped Subservient Chicken website—designed to reinforce Burger King’s overall promise of delivering a fully customized sandwich, chicken or otherwise—is certainly an example of creating personalized experiences. Absolut Vodka has also created a number of customizable online applications over the years. One of my favorites was a simple music player that allowed non-musicians like me to produce melodies that even my hypercritical kids had to admit were cool.
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