But Luxury Travel Connoisseur Karen Weiner
Escalera says Value Added Alone Is Not Enough
Karen
Weiner Escalera, president of the KWE Group
in Coral Gables, one of the most insightful thinkers on luxury travel, told an
industry newsletter in an interview that, "Early in 2009, many marketers
thought that offering "value adds" would be enough - i.e. a
four-night stay for the price of three, a resort credit, a free dessert when
ordering an entrée, etc. As the year progressed, it was obvious that these
initiatives weren't enough. The overall rate had to be priced right as
well."
Escalera
continued, "The winning combination is value add and the right rate.
I am not accustomed to seeing such verve from parent
paper Wall Sreet Journal, but editor Tina Gaudoin gave us a treat with her take
on The Changed State of Luxury. My favorite nuggets:
..."Luxury
goods houses will have to rethink the way they appeal to us, the
consumers, in order to survive. In which case, we're talking better value
and maybe even lower prices. But will this approach ultimately devalue the
meaning of the L word?" PS > Editor Gaudoin thinks not.
...‘People
want value for money in every single market, says Chloe' CEO Ralph
Toledano. 'Pricing is a key issue we are working on'.
...
"You couldn't go to a cocktail party and say you just bought a $25 million
dollar apartment. Now you can---as long as you got 30% off'.
...'It's
just a question of time before China will be a luxury car market on par
with the U.S.,' says the VP of marketing for BMW in China
Advertising Age Report of June 29 says "the age of interruption is over." Why? First, the film jury handed its sole Grand Prix to the interactive film Carousel, from Tribal DDB Amsterdam. Next, a PR campaign for Queensland, Australia, broke the record for winning the most Grand Prix in a single festival
To put it bluntly, Cannes was "swept by PR, Integrated, Internet Winners", says Ad Age editor Laurel Wentz.
"The way the world is heading is voluntary engagement", according to David Lubars, president of the film and press juries
The headline said "Guilt trip; Luxury travelers are toning it down, keeping it quiet or canceling vacations to avoid flaunting wealth in hard times". The story in March 6 USA Today was by Jayne Clark, who ‘carried it off' in splendid style. Here's the saucy essence, followed by the link to the full treatment.
"In a time when posh has become a four-letter word, forget about keeping up with the Joneses. It's more socially expedient to stay down with them. Economic turmoil is giving luxury a bad name, it seems, and not just among the private-jet set, either. The desire to tone down consumption is affecting how some Americans vacation -- or at least how they say they vacation." Much of the anecdotal material in this USA Today piece comes from travel agents -worth the trip.
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Karen
Weiner Escalera, president of the 
