Runway Waiters is a staffing agency that provides high-end brands with agency-signed models for hosting, bartending and event promotions. It operates in Los Angeles, Miami, New York and everywhere in between. Luxury businesses have their advantages over traditional businesses, chief among those being their higher profit margins. But they also present unique branding challenges. Marketing methods that work for normal businesses could be ineffective and even turn off audiences in search of luxury products.
Runway Waiters
Runway Waiters, an agency that provides fashion models with service skills to staff events, recently published a guide on what it takes to build a luxury brand.
Ernest Sturm, the president of Runway Waiters, says that “When analyzing the most successful luxury businesses, including the established brands and the young upstarts that recently made a splash in the market, we were able to spot some key attributes those businesses had in common. They all focus heavily on product quality, they nail the exclusivity factor and they know how to reach their target audience.”
When Runway Waiters researched luxury businesses, they found several characteristics shared by luxury businesses in how they brand themselves. Being aware of these characteristics can help luxury business owners boost sales and improve brand awareness.
- Branding Starts With Quality
A major factor in branding for a luxury business is making people believe in the quality of the product or service. Contrary to popular belief, slapping a high price tag on something doesn’t fool consumers of luxury goods. They’re a discerning audience who have learned how to tell what is truly high quality.
The top luxury brands all built their reputations on high-quality products. As a luxury business owner, it’s important to invest the necessary money into product development or the brand’s reputation will never gain the reputation needed for success in a crowded luxury market.
- Luxury Brands Require Exclusivity
In certain areas, luxury businesses must take the opposite approach of a traditional business. Product distribution is one example of this. The typical business develops its brand by getting its products in front of as many people as possible. Getting stocked in more stores is always a plus.
With a luxury business, part of the brand’s appeal is that customers can’t find its products just anywhere. It’s imperative to be selective about where to sell products, in order to separate the luxury brand from non-luxury brands.
- Marketing Affects Your Brand’s Status
Every business must use marketing to build its customer base, but the usual marketing methods won’t work for a luxury brand. Most people either won’t be in the luxury brand’s target audience, because either they can’t afford the products or won’t want to spend much money on what is being sold.
Successfully marketing a luxury business requires an understanding of where to reach the right target audience and how to pique their interest. Ads will need to emphasize luxurious elements, such as quality, craftsmanship and style, over price or other elements traditional brands would focus on.
To view the entire guide, check out Runway Waiter’s A Complete Guide to Building a Luxury Brand in Any Economy. Interview requests and press inquiries should be directed to Media Moguls PR at Blair@Blair-Nicole.com.