Interview with Lorre White, "The Luxury Guru" an internationally recognized Luxury Marketing Specialist, in MENA Luxury Travel Magazine.

Jan 2015 interview with Lorre White, "The Luxury Guru" an internationally recognized Luxury Marketing Specialist, in MENA Luxury Travel Magazine.

Lorre White, CEO, White Light Consulting

Lorre White, CEO, White Light Consulting, also known as The Luxury Guru, in an exclusive interview with Emily Millett, sheds light on the lifestyle of the ultra-high-net-worth individual, kindly sharing her insight on the mind-set of the elite and advising on how to best capture this highly-exclusive and almost untouchable market.

TTG: With your knowledge and understanding of the spending habits of the ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW), what are the types of cultural activities and events that this market would travel for and why?

Here are some of the Top International Jet Set Events:

Monaco Yacht Show (Yachts)

Monaco Grand Prix (Racing)

Top Marques Monaco (Luxury show)

Paris Fashion Week (Fashion)

Milan Fashion Week (Fashion)

Cannes Film Festival (Film)

Venice Film Festival (Film)

Venice Carnival & Masquerade ball (Experiential Party)

Cartier International Polo, Windsor UK (Polo)

Wimbledon Tennis, London UK (Tennis)

Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival Classic Car, UK

Voiles de St Tropez Regatta, France (Sailing)

Art Basel Miami USA (Art)

Concourse d’ elegance Pebble Beach USA (Collectable Cars/watches)

NY fashion week USA (clothing)

Ft. Lauderdale boat/yacht show USA(Boats/yachts)

International Polo Club Palm Beach FA USA (Polo)

Sundance Film Festival Park City, USA (Flim)

What all of these events have in common is that they are peak in their fields globally and they take place in destinations that are fun with beautiful surroundings, five-star hotels, great restaurants and bars. They are attended by other people of approximately their own financial net worth. Yachts, art, polo, antique cars, among other things, are all luxuries that only the wealthier can afford.

TTG: As an expert in luxury marketing, how would you market an event or cultural activity to the UHNW customer? 

Peer to peer is the best way to reach the UHNW. They are most influenced by someone they know and trust. They are least affected by advertising. Unless it is a trusted source they are familiar with, they run too great a chance that their expectations and standards may not be similar to that of the source. There are very few media sources that actually reach the UHNW.

It takes more than just pretty pictures to reach the wealthiest demographic. It takes bringing them information that is relative to them by someone that they trust, be that a known influencer, or another UHNW individual. This is why my luxury blog ‘Lorre White, The Guru Of Luxury’ has been so successful

The luxury demographic, just like any other group, has predictable actions and responses, it is just different than that of the mass market. Tossing the word ‘luxury’ in your verbiage and showing pretty pictures is only going to fool the demographic that you are not seeking.

There must be a commitment upfront to marketing dollars for the event. Trying to start in the middle and work your way to the top is a very middle-class perspective and will not work. The wealthier demographic do not respond the same way as the mass market does, and so their marketing is ineffective on this group. 

It costs a lot more to catch a whale than it does a minnow. In luxury, marketing is everything. Make sure that you are using a marketing specialist in the luxury sector. Luxury marketing is almost the antithesis of mass marketing taught at 99.9 per cent of universities. It takes much more money up front to reach this group. It is not like a mass market where you can tweak things and improve them along the way. Image is something that is built over time, and is a collection of many actions, and the brand, like a reputation, can be blown in just one bad act. The class market is not forgiving. You cannot launch mid-level and put more money into it later when the business gets rolling and climb into a luxury status.

The use of celebrities is very successful in reaching the middle financial levels, but not in reaching the UHNW that could financially buy and sell most celebrities many times over. The celebrities aspire to be the UHNW, not the other way around. So when you see so called luxury media that focuses on celebrity gossip, you know that it does not have a wealthy following. Do you think Warren Buffett aspires to smell like Michael Jordan's or P. Diddy's cologne? Build an event that attracts the UHNW and the celebrities will follow. 

TTG: What is it that really influences the travelling habits of the UHNW, and how can destinations in cultures such as the Middle East work to attract this market?

I think the number one thing that the Middle East can do to attract western travellers is education. 

Part of that is to use marketing photographs that include people in them. The Middle East uses many photos of buildings, hotels, cars, but they seem to take out all the people. To westerners this is very unfriendly looking. Photos with people in them will go a long way with helping to educate potential tourist. 

The way to combat fear and ignorance is through education. Because there is so much cultural diversity in the region, countries and cities need to showcase to travellers what they can expect at their location. Tell them and show them, what they can expect. 

Can both men and women sit at the hotel pool in bathing suits together? A picture is worth a thousand words. Answer the unasked question instead of shying away from it. They need to explain what they have that makes them special and different from their neighbour. Do not assume that they already know.

Luxury is about the quality of life, not simply amassing quantity. Luxury is the cutting edge that is always advancing forward. It has an inherent quality, and supplies a profound emotional component. Among the UHNW, TIME is valued as the greatest luxury.

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