Luxury brands have long been the gold standard for customer service. In recent years, shifting consumer attitudes, a tight economy, and the massification of luxury have forced luxury leaders to up their game, establishing new ways to attract, connect, and retain customers. Fallon planners Savanah Brihn and Jeanine Lilke will explore how affluent consumers are placing a higher expectation on the value demanded from luxury brands as well as how luxury leaders are directly responding. Through trend analysis, case studies, and expert interviews, they will demonstrate the values and approaches that will lead luxury (and mass brands) forward. Listeners will take away new approaches to maintain the standards of luxury customer service in a way that fits the values, expectations, and behaviors of today's affluent consumer.

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3. Why customer service will save luxury.
March 8, 2011

4. Meet Savanah and Jeanine.
Savanah Brihn Jeanine Lilke

5. And, you’ll also see two other faces via Skype.
Peter Rose Mark Guarino
Senior Vice Senior Auto and
President Entertainment Analyst

6. Agenda
Three Stages of Luxury
Shifts in Consumer and Brand Behavior
Examples of Modern Luxury Customer Service

7. What if I don’t work on one of those
fancy-schmancy luxury brands?
Customer service is becoming
increasingly important for all brands.
And historically, mass brands adopt
the behaviors of luxury brands forcing
luxury to continue to raise the bar.
So this is your time to learn from the
masters and plunder.

8. Luxury customer service is no longer confined
to one-on-one interactions with sales people
Mobile Social Media
In-Store Online Experiential

9. Act I: The Boom

10. Few were invited to partake.

11. It was truly a lifestyle
with its own social cachet.

12. The best money could buy.

13. Made by artisans,
not assembly lines.

14. Sold by experts.

15. With personalized
and attentive service.

16. Not for Everyone
Personalized Service
Part of a Larger Story
At its core, luxury was… Made and Sold by Experts
Exquisitely Crafted
A Social Experience

17. Act II: The Fall

18. Consider your status when traveling.

19. “The saddest thing I can imagine
is to get used to luxury.”
— Charlie Chaplin

20. And that is exactly what we did.

21. When luxury went corporate,
the primary objective changed.
From: To:
Creating the finest Making money,
things money could buy. lots of money.

22. Consumers overextended their credit.

23. Offered entry-level products
to reach aspirational customers.

24. Reduced the quality to turn
average profit margins into luxury margins.

25. No longer hired experts.

26. Traded individualism for homogenization.

27. Holiday Inn
Began to expect luxury-style service
in non-luxury environments.

28. Began to expect luxury-style service
in non-luxury environments.

29. This triple threat brought luxury to its knees.
1. Big conglomerates homogenized brands to increase profits.
2. Consumers expected a piece of the luxury life.
3. Mass brands incorporated luxury services.

30. And the recent economic recession certainly
didn’t help luxury retain its appeal.
38%
of consumers reported they reduced the amount
of their luxury purchases in the past year
Source: Mintel, Consumer Attitudes Toward Luxury Goods, U.S., March 2010.

31. And the recent economic recession certainly
didn’t help luxury retain its appeal.
In the first half of 2009,
worldwide sales of luxury goods fell
20%
Source: Bain & Co. Consulting, May 2009.

32. Act III: The Comeback

33. In other words,
they needed to return to this…
Not for Everyone
Personalized
Part of a Larger Story
Made and Sold by Experts
Exquisitely Crafted
A Social Experience

34. In a way that isn’t this…

35. The only way to modernize luxury is through
customer service
and customer service is bigger than you
think it is.

36. Affluent consumers view customer service
as an essential part of luxury.
57% of high-income shoppers
identify superior customer service
as a defining quality of luxury goods.
Source: Luxury Institute, September 2010.

37. Yet, that’s where luxury falls apart.
50% of high-income shoppers
have noticed a marked decline
in the customer experience.
Source: Luxury Institute, September 2010.

38. Here are some impactful ways to draw on
the classic codes of luxury in a modern style.

39. FROM: Brand validates customers
TO: Customers validate brand
Burberry: Teamed up with Facebook to create a social networking fashion
blog that revolves around the famed Burberry trench.

40. FROM: Brand validates customers
TO: Customers validate brand
Burberry: Teamed up with Facebook to create a social networking fashion
blog that revolves around the famed Burberry trench.

41. FROM: Inaccessible to most
TO: Accessible to many, but truly rewarding the best
Ritz-Carlton: Through collaborations with like-minded partners,
Ritz-Carlton awards the best customers with exclusive experiences.

42. experience.
FROM: Personalized one-on-one services
TO: Use technology to personalize all service touchpoints
Bloomingdale’s:
Engaged shoppers with an interactive and individualized experience.

43. environment.
FROM: Guided discovery
TO: Self-directed discovery
BMW: Transformed the traditional dealership experience to create
a more welcoming environment.

44. FROM: Guided discovery
TO: Self-directed discovery
MINI Cooper: Extended the campaign into new markets by offering
distinct experiences in the public space.

45. FROM: Product experts
TO: Lifestyle experts
Lululemon athletica: Community Ambassadors lead classes and
experiences unique to the lululemon lifestyle.

46. Tiffany & Co.—Engagement ring app effortlessly connects mobile to in-store.
FROM: Singular customer interactions
TO: Seamless customer interactions
Tiffany & Co.:
Engagement ring app effortlessly connects mobile to in-store.

47. FROM: TO:
Brand validates customers Customer validates brand
Accessible to many,
Inaccessible to most
but truly rewarding the best
Use technology to personalize
Personalized one-on-one service
all service touch points
Guided discovery Self-directed discovery
Product experts Lifestyle experts
Singular customer interactions Seamless customer interactions

48. Three things we want you to remember
about luxury customer service.

49. 1.
The old ways of luxury laid the foundation
for the modern luxury market.

50. 2.
To stand out today, luxury brands must use
customer service to reinvent their identity.

51. 3.
In order for continued success,
luxury needs to out-behave,
not just outperform, the competition.

52. Thank you.