Attracting New Luxury Consumers

Via the Inertia Beverage blog and then via Wines & Vines, this is a great article about "the sustainability of luxury brands" and an excellent workshop that I'm sorry we missed.

There are some spot on observations that I believe strongly reflect our values and views here at Vino Vertitas on the importance of craftsmanship in our facilities and our software interface. Some of my favorite and most relevant bits are:

One way to set your product apart from the competition is by establishing brand authenticity. Luxury consumers want to feel like the products they buy are made according to tradition, Amspacher said, using artisan methods.

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Rather than choosing products for status reasons, "new luxury consumers" focus on pampering themselves with high-end experiences. "There has to be an intangible element of your brand" to connect with this consumer, Bryant said. It must make an emotional connection to the consumer, and have rational support to back it up.

This category of consumers doesn't shop according to price, and is more likely to spread the world about a brand or experience via the Internet--a characteristic that makes them particularly influential. Consumers in the "new luxury" category are also enthusiastic wine drinkers--a recent survey showed that 24% of participants consumed 4-9 glasses within the previous week.

(Read the whole article here)
As our own earlier research indicated, this reinforces that the clients & customers we will be serving (luxury markets) are also the folks who are enthusiastic wine drinkers.

Nice fit:)