How to Position and Sell Your Luxury Brand, with Special Guest Elizabeth Solaru

This week on The Digital Download, we're tackling the intricacies of positioning your brand and selling to the right clients in the luxury market. Our guest, Elizabeth Solaru, is a luxury business strategist, author of “The Luxpreneur: How to Start and Build a Successful Luxury Brand,” and the CEO of Diversity in Luxury. Elizabeth brings a wealth of experience, helping brands navigate the high-stakes world of luxury marketing and client engagement.

We’ll address questions such as:

* What are the key factors that drive luxury purchases?

* What are the distinct types of luxury clients, and how do they differ?

* How can businesses position themselves to attract the right buyers?

* How can you think like your ideal client to create stronger connections?

Elizabeth’s work empowers brands to craft compelling strategies that resonate with a diverse range of high-end clientele. Her book provides practical insights into understanding luxury client mindsets and building scalable, authentic luxury businesses.

We strive to make The Digital Download an interactive experience. Bring your questions. Bring your insights. Audience participation is highly encouraged!

This week we were joined by our Special Guest -

• Elizabeth Solaru, is a luxury business strategist, author of The LUXpreneur: How to Start and Build a Successful Luxury Brand

This week's Host was -

• Rob Durant, Founder of Flywheel Results, a proud DLA Ignite partner

Panelists included -

• Tim Hughes, CEO & Co-founder of DLA Ignite,

• Adam Gray, Co-founder of a DLA Ignite, and

• Bertrand Godillot, Managing Partner, Odysseus & Co, a proud DLA Ignite partner

Transcript of The Digital Download 2024-12-06

Rob Durant [00:00:02]:

Good morning, good afternoon, and good day wherever you may be joining us from. Welcome to another edition of the Digital Download, the longest running weekly business talk show on LinkedIn Live. Now globally syndicated on TuneIn Radio through IBGR, the world's number one business talk, news, and strategy radio network. Today, we are talking about positioning and selling luxury brands. We have a special guest, Elizabeth Soleroux, to help us with the discussion. CEO of Diversity and Luxury, Elizabeth's work empowers brands to craft compelling strategies that resonate with a diverse range of high end clientele. But before we bring Elizabeth on, let's go around and introduce everyone. And while we're doing that, why don't you in the audience reach out to a friend, ping them, and have them join us? We strive to make the digital download an interactive experience, and audience participation is highly encouraged.

Rob Durant [00:01:12]:

Alright. With that, Tim, would you kick us off, please?

Tim Hughes [00:01:16]:

Welcome, everybody. My name is Tim Hughes. I'm the CEO and cofounder of DLA Ignite, and I am the, famous for writing the book of spiritual telling techniques to influence bias and change makers.

Rob Durant [00:01:30]:

Excellent. Thank you very much. Adam.

Adam Gray [00:01:34]:

Hi, everybody. I I never normally show up to this intro bit with props. So today, I have got props. So Tim is famous for writing this book, and before it, the first edition, this book. Rob is famous for writing this book, and I'm famous for writing this book and this book with Tim. So, all things considered, there's there's a and and, I believe Elizabeth is an author as well. So there are all sorts of so Bertrand No pressure. Yeah.

Adam Gray [00:02:08]:

You you need to write a book, my friend.

Rob Durant [00:02:11]:

And here's the beauty, Bertrand. You can write it in French, so I won't know anything that it says. Yeah. Welcome, Adam. Thank you for that. Bertrand.

Bertrand Godillot [00:02:25]:

Yeah. Hi, everybody. My name is Bertrand Godillot. I am the founder and managing partner of Odyssey and Co. We work with, customers to generate more ICP conversations, And I brought a book with me today, and that's that's to do with what is it that you should be doing with idiots. And that applies that that obviously, you know, sometimes applies to me, but not so often. I'm delighted to be here.

Rob Durant [00:02:54]:

Excellent. Thank you very much. And myself, I'm Rob Durant, founder of Flywheel Results. We help start up scale, and I am a proud DLA Ignite partner. Okay. As I said, this week on the digital download, we'll speak with Elizabeth Soleroux. Elizabeth is a luxury business strategist and author of the luxpreneur, how to start and build a successful luxury brand. Let's bring her on.

Rob Durant [00:03:27]:

Elizabeth. Welcome.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:03:29]:

Thank you so much. Thank you. I'm really, really delighted to be here.

Tim Hughes [00:03:35]:

Elizabeth, by the side of you, there's a pile of books. Yes. Could could you just pick one up and and and could we just see it? Yes. Is that your book?

Elizabeth Solaru [00:03:46]:

That's my book. That's my new book called The Luxpreneur.

Tim Hughes [00:03:50]:

Hold it up so we can all see it. That's it.

Tim Hughes [00:03:54]:

Brilliant. Excellent. Well done, you.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:03:57]:

Thank you. Thank you. My new baby.

Tim Hughes [00:04:03]:

Congratulations.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:04:04]:

Thank you.

Rob Durant [00:04:07]:

Elizabeth, let's start by having you tell us a little bit more about you, your background, and what led you to, where you are today.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:04:14]:

Oh, okay. So pot of history, ex scientist, I used to be a microbiologist. I worked with the NHS for about 13 years, then I left, did an MBA, became a headhunter, and I worked in the city for a number of years. I recruited chief execs, chairman, private public sector, charity sector, and I had a lot of fun. And then 2,008, the market tanked as we all know, and I decided to fulfill a childhood dream and that was to open a cake shop. And I opened the cake shop and before you knew it I found myself making cakes for royalty, many royal families around the world, billionaires. I was very lucky. A lot of people came to London, so I was able to work with lots and lots of luxury clients across different cultures.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:05:15]:

And before I knew it, I got flown out to make cakes in a number of countries. I was delivering cakes all over Europe, Africa, India, America, etcetera, and then COVID hit as it does. But before then, while I was doing the cakes, I usually got invited as a speaker to talk about luxury, luxury clients being my specialty because I've always maintained that there are different types of luxury clients. And that's what really has led me to write in my book and to start in my other business.

Rob Durant [00:05:54]:

Fantastic. Thank you for that. So, Elizabeth, let's start with a foundational question. What are the key factors that drive a luxury purchase?

Elizabeth Solaru [00:06:06]:

Oh, okay. There's a long answer and there's the short answer.

Rob Durant [00:06:10]:

We have an hour.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:06:11]:

Okay. The the the short answer is emotion, but that looks different in different types of luxury clients. So what do I mean? So we all know the famous meme of Ozzy Osbourne and King Charles. That's been circulating for a few years. They've both been married. They're both born in the same year. They both live in castles. They're both white men, etcetera, etcetera.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:06:41]:

However, they represent different types of luxury clients. Can a brand sell to both of them? Absolutely. But the brand needs to tap into what it is that emotion looks like in both of them. So for somebody like King Charles, I call him a comfort first, risk averse, security conscious. And Ozzy Osbourne, on the other hand, he's an innovator trendsetter. He's done things with bats that many of us can only dream of. So they're different, when it comes to the psychographics. And I think that is the difference.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:07:19]:

That is how, that is what the emotion and the motivation to buy luxury looks like in different types of luxury clients.

Rob Durant [00:07:29]:

I I love that explanation. Myself, I teach intro to marketing at Northeastern University. And one of the things that we talk about is demographics and psychographics, and you just gave a brilliant example of the difference. Demographically, those two people look identical. Yeah. Psychographically, they behave completely differently. And as a marketer, as an entrepreneur, as a salesperson, you need to recognize that, and you need to address the particulars of each separately. So thank you for that.

Rob Durant [00:08:09]:

I'm going to find that clip and and send it to my students. So what are the distinct types of luxury clients, and how do they differ?

Elizabeth Solaru [00:08:23]:

Okay. In my book, I I speak about 8 types. And off the top of my head, I can probably remember about 5 or or 6. Now the easy 2 to remember are the millennials and gen z's, and that's because for the first time, they're behaving differently towards luxury than the other groups have. Because in the past, it was all about luxury telling us, this is how you I don't know, eat caviar. This is how you drink your champagne. This is how it's chilled, etcetera. But the Gen z's are saying, what rule book? Tossed out the rule book.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:08:58]:

The millennials are saying actually, Gen z's are saying, we're we're writing our own rule book. Millennials are saying, we don't care about the rule book. So the other types in my mind, I mentioned earlier, King Charles, he would be what I call the comfort first, security conscious, security, risk averse. Then you've got what I call the only the best. So they only want something that represents the best in class. That's not because they're, you know again, some people might say, oh my god. Old money. They behave a certain way.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:09:31]:

No. It's not necessarily due to old money. It's more as a signifier that I've made it. I've worked hard for my money, and I deserve the best, and rightly so. Because I say we should be grateful to that type of client in luxury because they keep us in business. Then you've got the aspirationals. The aspirational class, they're all about, having heroes, having people they emulate. They are what I call the only the best that haven't quite grown up yet.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:10:00]:

So they are aiming to become only the best or some other type in that category. Then you've got another type, who are my favorites actually because they did dictate and determine, the culture of luxury to a certain extent. I call them the aesthetics. So it's all to do with how they see things. So it's not necessarily just the fashionistas. You can even have people that do food. It could be music. It could be words.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:10:32]:

People who organize and see the world via how things look and how things fit into their world. So and they don't particularly care about labels as such as long as that label fits into their aesthetic. And then you've got what I call the innovator trendsetter. So that would be somebody like Ozzy Osbourne who they march to their own drumbeat, they do their own thing. However, the funny thing is their friends tend to be people like the, the comfort first because both of them have something to gain from each other. So the innovative trendsetter, they like the sense of security and the seek, the comfort first. They like the the innovative trendsetter because they're they can live vicariously through them. And then the last category are the ethically conscious luxury consumers.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:11:32]:

So they would, take they they wear big brands as well as little known brands, but they would make a conscious effort to put the little known brand on the map as long as they meet the criteria of ethical consumerism or sustainability, etcetera. Now I think that category, and I could be some somewhat controversial here, the nature of luxury means they're producing new stuff all the time. So if you're truly, truly sustainable and ethical, you shouldn't be buying new stuff all the time. That but that's all I have to but then they keep luxury in check because they make us think deeply about, greenwashing and some of the fancy things that luxury does to make it seem ethical. And, yeah, those are the different types.

Rob Durant [00:12:27]:

As they fly in their private jets.

Adam Gray [00:12:29]:

Exactly. So the the interesting thing about the world of of luxury is that it seems like it's expanding exponentially. Now maybe it's driven by social media and my glimpses into your lifestyle of your yachts and your room full of expensive watches or whatever it may be. But it it does strike me that that, there seem to be an awful lot of people spending $1,000 on a on a sweater, which, seems very much at odds with much of what's going on in the world at the moment. So is this a shift? Are are we seeing a polarization of of spend and and acceptance of high quality, high cost items in the marketplace? Or is it just more apparent now because people get platforms to talk about this stuff?

Elizabeth Solaru [00:13:21]:

The question is a great one because it's a yes and no answer. So if you look at the data, the luxury market apparently is worth $1,400,000,000,000 or pounds, and yet Bain and Co tell us that, yes, the the market is, you know, a lot. However, luxury has actually lost 15,000,000 people. 50,000,000 consumers have been lost because many are jaded, many don't just wanna spend, spend, spend, many are rethinking, and also luxury brands are failing to deliver. So the quality for some of them is not that great, and yet the prices keep going up and up and up. And to your point, yes, there's a lot more exposure on social media. I know TikTok, for example, there's a luxury TikTok, and it's all about gawping and looking at all these people living these lavish lifestyles. So there's something around things being a bit more apparent or obvious.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:14:25]:

It's been now brought to our consciousness. But on the other hand, the data is telling us that luxury is actually flatlining at the moment, but some brands are still holding strong and are still doing really, really well despite the economy.

Adam Gray [00:14:42]:

Yeah. So I I guess that if if 15,000,000 people that did buy luxury brands and no longer buying luxury brands, we've got fewer people each spending more money in that sector. And, and again, you know, we all sort of scroll Instagram or whatever. And and often, I see pictures of people buying handbags or watches or whatever it may be, where they're they're they're spending £30,000 on a in fact, Tim and I met somebody that had just spent flown to to, LA to spend £30,000 on a a Kelly bag. And, you know, these people have got a wardrobe full of these things in many instances. So so they're and and I think, again, you know, often some of these ultra luxury brands, you only get to come and buy my products if you are already an existing customer and have bought many of my products before. So it it seems to be becoming like a very very much gated community almost.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:15:44]:

That's, again, another brilliant point. I know the brand you're talking about. They do a Birking or a Kelly, and this is the, the the folklore or the legend that they built around their products. So number 1, extremely controlled scarcity. So you can't just walk in and get a bag. You've gotta be on the waiting list for 2 years. You have an appointed, a sales assistant or sales executive that helps you every time so they know what you like, what you don't like, the colors that you like, etcetera, etcetera. And then after 2 years, if they think you've spent enough with them, then they might deign to present a bag and it might not even be the color or or what but then you've gotta snap it up.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:16:29]:

But, people who are buying are not stupid. That's because the if you manage to get a handbag and you walk out the store, the value goes up, if the value automatically doubles, and then you can go round the back and resale that, give it to a resale person, they will sell it on for you, you get you some money, they make some money, and then you can go back, and either get a bag straight away or go on the waiting list. So, a lot of people are now buying those bags as investments. Rightly or wrongly, it's not the bags are not being treated like art in some cases. Can't open them, gotta be in the box, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. So this particular brand, they literally weathered the storm of, the the the the economic, difficulty that we're experiencing right now. Having said that something interesting is happening, a tiny wrinkle and I think it can become a big tear. 3 people are suing this brand in America because they feel that they have breached some sort of, I don't know if it's antitrust or competition law, and they feel that they shouldn't be controlling their products or making people spend or coercing people to spend before buying their products.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:17:54]:

So 3 women are now suing this brand for the right to buy a handbag and that is interesting. Now people laugh at the lawsuit however, this is a matter of law. It it it can these women prove, have they got the receipts? So I think it's gonna be interesting because that might open the floodgates to a couple of other things.

Rob Durant [00:18:21]:

So how can a business position themselves to attract the right buyers?

Elizabeth Solaru [00:18:29]:

Another great question. So in my book, I talk about the 5 pillars of a luxury brand. And the reason I kind of, like, went into the book was because there are loads of luxury business books, written by professors and analysts and experts or people who have worked for really big brands, but there's not really anything written from the perspective of a founder. So if you if you're like me and you start with £40 and a secondhand mixer, how do you then end up selling to royalty? So I looked at 5 pillars and, I'm not gonna bore you with all of them, but central to all the pillars in my view is storytelling, perception, and your business model. And I've got craftsmanship and I've got something else which I can't remember at this minute. So if you look at storytelling, when people walk into Chanel, nobody tells you that, oh, Coco Chanel was dumped in an orphanage when she was 10 and abandoned by her dad, and she learned to sew, you know, from the nuns, etcetera, etcetera. They talk about the fact that she's invented the little black dress. They talk about the fact that, the perfume number 5 was a 5th bottle that she smelled, etcetera.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:19:46]:

So the story builds and builds and builds, and what that does is actually give people the idea and the sense of building their story, the story of her in their head, whether true or not. So you need to be able to tell your story in such a way that people see themselves in in in your brand. It's that emotional resonance. If there's no emotional resonance, what's the point? I give the example of a jar of peanut butter in Tesco's. It's jar of peanut butter. But if you take the same jar and you position it elsewhere, say one of the famous stores in London, and you tell a story of how these peanuts are grown on a special terroir, handpicked by virgins at 5 AM and shelled in an exquisite way, and you build and build, and you talk about the jar, and only a 100 are gonna be produced, etcetera, etcetera. Before you know it, you've got a luxury brand. That is if you tell the story right and if the product and the and you can prove that the craftsmanship and the product is excellent.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:20:59]:

Also, there's something around the business model that you choose. So you may choose to price because price is a signifier. Just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's luxury, but by the very nature of luxury, the price will be high and very expensive. So, again, price. How how have you positioned your pricing? Is it on the upper end? Is it in the middle? Or is it at the lower end? So, again, these are some of the things that luxury that a brand needs to have, in my view, to be considered luxury.

Rob Durant [00:21:38]:

I'm I'm curious. I would presume many luxury sellers do not come from a background that affords luxury. So how can one think like your ideal client in order to sell to your ideal client?

Elizabeth Solaru [00:22:00]:

Okay. So in order to think like them, again, I was particularly lucky. I've been exposed to a number of these clients when I was a head hunter and then when I started selling cakes, which again, the barrier to entry for selling cakes is really low. Anyone can bake. You have a half decent oven. You've got the ingredients you can bake. But then I realized it wasn't just about that. It was about, okay, where's the best place to find these people? So I can only share my experience.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:22:30]:

I did a couple of things, simple networking. So networking, networking, networking is key. Second thing is to read what they read, or go where they go. So read what they read. What do I mean by that? A simple thing. So for example, if you can find a journalist that writes about the rich and famous, follow that journalist because you know the content is gonna be about people, people, people. Being an ex scientist, I love reading psychology magazines, sociology, etcetera etcetera. That gives you an idea or a picture of what drives people and how people behave.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:23:15]:

And then, another thing that I did is to talk to people who serve, or to high net worth people. So the gatekeepers, for example, I mentioned earlier one type of luxury client, which is a comfort first. They are more likely to have gatekeepers, so you can't just get to them. It's gotta be someone who knows someone. It's gotta be by referral. So get to know the gatekeepers. That that that, does wonders because you get to learn what they like, what they don't like. And who are the gatekeepers? Easy gatekeepers are people who run family offices on behalf of their clients or people who run concierge services, because they're in contact with clients and they know client habits all the time.

Bertrand Godillot [00:24:05]:

Alright. Elizabeth, just a question. Obviously and you described that luxury, goes through very high quality products. I at least that's the expectation, but also through an exclusive experience. And I'm just wondering how do we how is it possible to generate, exclusive experiences in the digital age?

Elizabeth Solaru [00:24:32]:

Oh, that's a great another great question. Now that is where luxury is having a bit of difficulty right now because it's like that personal touch versus online. So that but what I would suggest is there are certain platforms that seem to be doing it really well. So, a platform that and again, this is backed by data. They seem to be doing well selling, etcetera, etcetera. And one thing I've noticed about this particular platform is that the chief executive is not just a chief exec. When he needs to be a salesperson, he's a salesperson. When he needs to be, a chief exec, he's a chief exec.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:25:17]:

So MyTeresa, does it really, really well. They seem to have married the ex experience part with the digital part. Another chief exec of a brand, the brand that sells Kelly's, but he's based in New York. And what he does is that he actually said that 60% of their products are sold online. So Hermes does really good online experience, but what he also does is that every Christmas, every weekend, he works in their flagship store in New York. But nobody knows that he's the chief exec because he's just there as a sales assistant. So, again, this is why, he he's able to then talk to clients, feedback, and then have a really good digital platform. So those are some of those are two examples that I know of that seem to be doing marrying of the digital with a personal really, really well.

Bertrand Godillot [00:26:19]:

And and I guess that is for, incumbent brands, we could say, where I can understand that this is a true challenge because it's a change in practice. But what do do you think that the the the barrier entry into this market has actually lowered because of the, of, you know, the the digital, capabilities. You see what I mean? So that's all of a sudden you could see someone coming from nowhere

Tim Hughes [00:26:48]:

Yeah.

Bertrand Godillot [00:26:49]:

Mastering networking and, just, you know, hit the roof.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:26:57]:

Absolutely. I think it's a yes and no. In certain in certain luxury categories, no, because you still need to have a shed load of money and connections. But for certain things, the answer is a yes. So a brand like, for example, Jacquemus, I think. I I don't know how you pronounce it properly. Jacquemus. They, again, he set it up in honor of his mom, probably 2009, something like that.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:27:24]:

And he is doing phenomenally well because he knows his audience, their Gen z's. He he his mission, his vision aligns with a lot of their values. So he seems to be doing amazing things, and I think he's definitely one of the brands, to watch for 2025 because he's doing incredible stuff. So for example, for the London launch of the shop, he invited everyone to come to the shop for a cup of tea, and then he used the least likely TikToker that people didn't expect, everyone's favorite auntie on TikTok. She all she does is video herself with buses. It was such a weird, you know, pairing. Everyone was like, oh my god. You know, we love this brand because they, you know, the brand seems to understand, and really capture the zeitgeist of their client.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:28:24]:

So, yes, there are and the one thing about coming in with nothing to lose is that I've seen some really young kids just literally come in, go for it, and make a go of it because they've got agility on their side. They make the decisions. They're not waiting for corporate to, you know, send me the brand guidelines or whatever whatever whatever. They can make the mistake. And also if the mistake is huge, it's huge. If they get canceled, they get canceled. They'll come up again, but a big brand is too much of a risk. So I think this is where luxury is getting exciting nowadays because you now have that flexibility due to the digital age that we didn't have maybe 20 years ago.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:29:09]:

So this for me is an exciting, space. And another thing I'm gonna mention as well is culture, because all of a sudden there's like a resurgence of people taking pride in their own culture, and people going back to roots and that sort of thing. Again, it's making the luxury space very, very exciting.

Adam Gray [00:29:32]:

Okay. I've I've got an interesting question. Stroke challenge, and, and you might turn around and say, don't be such an idiot. You you wouldn't you wouldn't be the first as these guys do.

Tim Hughes [00:29:45]:

You are allowed to say that.

Adam Gray [00:29:47]:

Yeah. So, now these these were all French brands, because obviously, Bertrand is French. Uh-uh. So do. But, Hermes, Chanel, LVMH, Chateau Petruse, Dior, Cartier, Bugatti are all French brands. They're all at the very top, at the very pinnacle of the luxury world. And when we think about luxury brands, you know, whether or not it's French brands like that or it's Rolex or BMW or Aston Martin or whatever it may be, all of those are b to c brands. They're consumer brands and they're selling to the heart rather than the head.

Adam Gray [00:30:26]:

We operate exclusively in the business to business space. Now in this space, there are most there are not many brands. Most businesses are fit for purpose. They did a job, and you're you're selling to somebody's head rather than their heart. There may be some snobbery involved. You know, no one ever gets fired for buying IBM or I'm gonna engage McKinsey as our consultants because they are recognized as being the best. But they are on it is irrelevant here. This it's they're recognized as being the best.

Adam Gray [00:31:02]:

But none of these b to b operators, us included, has been able to become a luxury business to business brand. So we are really expensive for what we do. We are exceptional value. We're better than anyone else in the marketplace, and we sell based on the fact that we provide a better return on investment and better results than anyone else that operates in this space. But I still wouldn't say that we consider ourselves to be a luxury brand. So how do we or any other business in the b to b space position themselves as a luxury brand where people want to buy from us because we have the right logo, because we are the choice of royalty? Is that a possibility? Is that something that businesses can do?

Elizabeth Solaru [00:31:54]:

Oh, absolutely. I mean, because when you were talking, I I'm mind I'm reminded of, of, investment houses and, and and and banks that don't necessarily, they're not b to c, but there are certain investment banks and banks that are b to b, and they're considered and they're considered luxury. Because when you were talking, I'm I'm thinking, but why not? Why wouldn't you consider yourself luxury? Because if it's about, because I think, like you said, if you're looking at results, so we deliver results, we're amazing at delivering results. Right? But luxury is not just about results. Yes. A handbag's a handbag. A handbag is a bit of leather, to be honest with you. That's been dyed.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:32:40]:

It might be crafted by these incredible craftsmen who've been doing it for 700 years. That's great. But, ultimately so you say, no. You know, we deliver results. It's like you're reducing what you do to we get x for you. But if you then break it down and look at the process, the hand holding, the the the the, telling the the the, preventing clients from being from being idiots or, you know, you've gotta save them from themselves. There's a lot that goes into it that can be romanticized, that can be a heart thing, that can be deemed as luxury and get a you may get the right logo, anyone can get the right logo. And like I said, it's a story that you tell yourself about your brand.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:33:26]:

So if you if you've determined, oh, because we're b to b we're not luxury, then great. But if you do the logo, the swishy brochure, the the getting people to see 10 people before they can see you, the thing is we we're all capable of setting up these processes. But my question is, do you really want to if you are getting the money? I think, you know

Bertrand Godillot [00:33:48]:

Well, my

Elizabeth Solaru [00:33:49]:

you know, my question was what they were saying you.

Adam Gray [00:33:53]:

Yeah. I mean, my question was not just about us. My question was about b to b brands generally, you know, because I I I think that that, you know, we all, to a greater or lesser extent, wake up in the night in a sweat thinking about that new pair of shoes or that new handbag or that new car or whatever it is, the dream thing that we're about to acquire. And I wonder whether people do buy in the same way or can, buy in the same way, in the b to b space where it's very much a fact driven. Clearly, there's relationship and personality and everything in as well, but it it's it's often largely a fact driven purchase. And, and the idea of creating luxury b to b brands is not something which is immediately apparent in the marketplace. And and I I was just wondering whether or not this was something that was because it isn't possible or just because nobody's bothered yet.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:34:53]:

I think it's possible and I think that's an interesting challenge and I think this is the kind of scenario where I would love to create something just for the heck of it even if it doesn't exist. Let's think of a service that doesn't exist and let's create it together. So let's think of a b to b. I don't know. What I mean, what kind of b to b do you have in mind? Let's create something right now. I think that's a challenge.

Rob Durant [00:35:21]:

So so picking up on this, so it's a crucial element, scarcity. Because with luxury, those bags, only a few bags are made relative to the number of people that want them. With software, I have an infinite number of clients that I I can sell to and an infinite number of software licenses I can deliver. Now b to b services, time is finite. So it is that what we're talking about here? Does it need to be a service or something else that is driven by scarcity. Is luxury about scarcity or is there more to it?

Elizabeth Solaru [00:36:07]:

It's partly scarcity. It's partly rarity, but it's not the whole. And I think that access to you, for example, yes, you've got a lot of software that you can license to multiple people, but you can also create bespoke software per client. Again, there's I I don't know. I I don't believe there should be a ceiling, to be honest with you. Because one of the exercises I give some of the people I coach is go away and create a £1,000,000 product, a £1,000,000 product, and a £100,000,000 product. Let's see what we can break in terms of our mind barrier. For example, with your software, you might say, okay.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:36:52]:

The software is a basic product, but maybe it should be delivered to the client by maybe not online, but maybe somebody should go around to their offices and have it delivered by a supermodel. I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud, but there are because at the end of the day, what luxury is sometimes is the whistle and the bells. It's not necessarily the core product. It's all the extras that they tag on top of it because a core product is a core product. You know, a handbag is a handbag, but it's what it represents to the person. So if, for example, you get a handbag and it makes you feel like you finally belong to a certain club, you can create software where there's only 2 people in the world who has this software. And I think you might think, okay.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:37:40]:

But with the way things are, somebody might develop better software. To be honest, that's irrelevant. I'm sure there are better constructed handbags out there, but it's about creating that particular brand around what you've done and saying, I'm sticking my name to this. This is a one of a kind. This is the only one of its type. Blah blah blah blah blah. Because a little bit of luxury is also about hype. And it's not just about being factual.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:38:11]:

Oh, this is a product and you put your stuff in it, and you lug it around. Again, when Hermes created the, travel trunk, it wasn't rocket science. It was a fact that he noticed that a lot of trunks had rounded edges, you know, the the the curve on top. So he said, oh, how about we make it flat? Boom. That there it was. And there were other trunk makers making trunks, but he just put his logo all over his. And all of a sudden, you're buying an LV trunk. So again, you know, think about your software.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:38:48]:

Is there something you can do to it? Is there, I don't know, several iterations later, and you're like, yep. This is it. A $1,000,000, that's my software, and you refuse to sell to, you know, everybody else?

Tim Hughes [00:39:02]:

You refuse

Adam Gray [00:39:03]:

I think it's it's really interesting because I think that actually with you saying those things, I I think that that it's quite interesting about how it's your relationship with the brand and the product that determines whether or not you think it's quality. Yeah. And, perhaps an interesting example of this is that most of the music streaming services do not appear to be, luxury brands.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:39:31]:

No.

Adam Gray [00:39:32]:

So whether or not you use Spotify or you use Apple Music, you know, you you've got your choices of these different platforms now, and they're all very utilitarian and deliver, identical services, really. However, Calm, the app, you know, for meditation and stuff, that does feel to me like a a luxury purchase. Now maybe it's because I don't have to have it. Maybe it's because the way they present the interface or the way they talk about it, but that does feel like much more of a quality product even though it's, a, not expensive, and, b, not restricted in use in any way at all because everyone in the world could download it if they chose to.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:40:14]:

I think, you've hit on an amazing point there about luxury being personal. Lots of people have tried over for 100 of years to try and define luxury. It's a state of ease, state of comfort, blah blah blah blah blah. It's opulent. It's spending money. It's whatever. But I think, once we you get into the digital age or once you get into things that didn't exist before luxury goods or products or whatever, then it's a bit more difficult to define. So for example, what if you had the the Calm app and you had the option of choosing the voice of your favorite actor or actress to read those affirmations to you.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:41:01]:

Would that be more of a luxury service? Or if you're listening to Spotify and before each track, you have the artist who sings on the song saying, this is what I was going through when I wrote this song. This is why I did this blah blah blah blah blah. Again, we're talking added value. Will that be more of a luxury product? You know, if you're able to access, and again, this might be possible through AI. Who knows? If you're able to access this particular digital twin of this celebrity, that has been cloned, obviously licensed, blah blah blah. So my point is, I think it's about thinking beyond the very obvious of what we think luxury is as we go more and more and more into products that probably didn't exist way before, luxury goods, etcetera were created.

Tim Hughes [00:42:01]:

I think Calm is an interesting one because, there's a charge, isn't it? There's an annual charge. So it's not like Facebook where you get it for free.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:42:08]:

Yeah.

Tim Hughes [00:42:08]:

And the interesting thing about that was that they went to organizations like American Express, which is would be deemed as being more of a luxury, credit card.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:42:18]:

Yeah.

Tim Hughes [00:42:18]:

So you could get it if you you could get it free with a code from American Express. So there was there was clearly some thought there in the car the calm, branding department about the type of person that they wanted to, to to use it.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:42:34]:

Exactly. So they were you know, people with money, because ultimately, when it comes to anything luxury, that is the aim, really. You wanna sell to your ideal target person, and it's somebody with money, but it's how you get them to part with the money. That is the interesting thing depending on who they are and depending on what's motivating them to buy from you. Yesterday, somebody was talking about, now organizations are not just talking about mental health anymore. They're not talking about organizational health. Mental health issues in the workplace would have been seen as a luxury even 10 years ago. Now it's part of organizations are saying, actually, it's not just employees separate mental health is now part of organizational health, and they're putting in metrics and measures.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:43:30]:

So is that luxury? Who knows? We

Tim Hughes [00:43:36]:

Many years ago, Adam and I went to see a a luxury. It was a a designer who was starting up, and, he had a place not far from Harrods in London. So so I I did what I would normally do before I go to the meeting. I thought I'd read up on luxury brands because I I I I certainly wasn't an expert. And so I found the top ten things for doing with luxury luxury brands. Within 2 minutes of getting into the meeting, it was very clear that all of those ten things were wrong, and everything that you would have done for taking to market, a box of soap powder was completely the opposite.

Adam Gray [00:44:14]:

That's right.

Tim Hughes [00:44:15]:

So so this person had, the average person spent £20,000 when they came through. He didn't have any shops. Mhmm. It was, you you had to be, referred. And one of his problems was that nobody would refer, not because it was bad, but because what they were expecting was that, daughter would go and mom would go and or mom would go and daughter would go. But because what they because the stuff was so exclusive, they would say, I'm not referring anybody because I'm gonna be the only person that's gonna wear this down at Gail's coffee bar. And, and that's where we met the person that she's been, what, £30,000? Oh, she Yeah. Flown 1st class to get a £30,000 bag and flown 1st class bike again.

Adam Gray [00:45:08]:

But but when we when we went there so so, you know, we've had some exposure to luxury products. But when we went there, they were talking about some of the clothes they had. And, I said, how much is that? And it was a t shirt, a white cotton t shirt, and it was £250. And Tim and I kinda looked at each other and sort of sniggered and said, that's ridiculous amount of money for just a plain white t shirt. And he said, so Hermes, as you know, is like one of the most expensive, highest quality brands there is. He said the quality of this material is so expensive that Hermes cannot afford to buy this. And then he passed the t shirt to us to feel, and it was just I have never felt a it was just cotton. I've never felt a material like this.

Adam Gray [00:45:54]:

It was just breathtaking. And, you know, when you experience that sort of thing, you think, okay. Now I see what the difference is. It's like people that say, you know, I can't tell the difference between good wine and expensive and cheap wine, but that's because you've not ever had good wine. And if you do, everybody can know the difference whether you're a connoisseur or not.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:46:14]:

I love that. And you've used the word experience, and I think that is an a really crucial thing when it comes to luxury buyers because the again, the experience of something, Once they bought a certain brand or they've fallen in love with a certain brand, they've it's difficult for them to go back and not be with that brand. So, again, it's about the experience, the brand experience, the brand loyalty that that creates, and that emotional really emotional resonance. So I'm sure you're talking about that t shirt, and it's one that you you've never forgotten and is an experience that's been very, very memorable. And that's one thing I say all the time. It's not a matter of, oh, that was expensive and you walked away, but it was you felt it and it was like, wow. Now I get it. So that experience is absolutely crucial to luxury.

Tim Hughes [00:47:15]:

He he had a, there was a Pashmina scarf that he had, which and and it's a £1,000

Elizabeth Solaru [00:47:22]:

Yeah.

Tim Hughes [00:47:22]:

Per scarf.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:47:23]:

Yeah.

Tim Hughes [00:47:24]:

And, and I said to him, oh, I bet you I bet this is made from, sustainable material. He said, no. No. No. We actually make it from an animal which which is endangered, which goes back to your, point earlier on, which is that sometimes it's about sustainability and sometimes it's not.

Bertrand Godillot [00:47:43]:

Absolutely. And and and by the way, that that that rings a bell now. So

Adam Gray [00:47:48]:

Well, you go on. What what

Bertrand Godillot [00:47:50]:

what what are the the the the biggest challenges that, that luxury brand need to overcome today, from your perspective, Elizabeth?

Elizabeth Solaru [00:48:00]:

Oh, okay. The plenty

Bertrand Godillot [00:48:04]:

That might be one with with with with

Tim Hughes [00:48:06]:

with with with

Elizabeth Solaru [00:48:06]:

the correct. Yeah. The main one is around credibility, and authenticity. So if you are producing, producing, producing, with no thought or no care, and you and you're moving away and away and away from your own values because you're saying, okay. We're exclusive and we're this and that. I mean, you mentioned earlier, for example, the guy said, oh, even this cotton is too expensive for Hermes. Right? Now everyone expects that the highest quality that this is that the other, and then you discover that's not quite the case. So there's there are credibility issues cropping up for a a number.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:48:48]:

All you have to do is go to certain forums online and you have very dissatisfied, customers saying, I bought this. Money is going up, but the quality is shocking for what it is. You know? Why am I buying this logo? And people begin to question. That is a massive thing that they they need to overcome. Another thing that, luxury brands need to overcome right now is retaining. And this is a really tricky thing. Retaining the clients with money. So boomers, Gen Xs, while at the same time trying to appeal to the Gen Zs and the millennials because some brands have done themselves a disservice by ignoring the older demographics and they're running after the younger dem and they're getting it badly wrong.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:49:42]:

It's like saying, hello kids, you know, I'm cool too. No. You don't Strictly. Yeah. Exactly. You know, you don't do that. So I think that is a challenge as well because, in the workplace right now, according to, studies, there are 5 generations in a workplace. So that makes the work place very interesting.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:50:04]:

And it makes brands also very jittery because it's they're thinking, okay, what do we do for the best? But the cool brands, the brands that Gen Z's actually love are using older people in their, in their, advertising or promotion, etcetera. So it's all about getting the balance right. So I would say credibility, appealing to a number of generations, and also things around ethics and sustainability, if I can say so, you know, small. Ethics and sustainability because some of the practices are shocking. The Italian police raided a factory that made brands from a certain that made handbags from a certain brand, found slave labor, found that the bags were made for, I don't know, a few dollars compared to the 1,000 it was set it was sold for. So those are some of the challenges that they need that and also you've also got the flatlining of luxury as well. So they need to sell more to to maintain position, but at the same time, be mindful of the economic reality of a number of people.

Rob Durant [00:51:24]:

I wanted to bring up a comment from Jonathan Young. He says, can you please go back to building a luxury brand Elizabeth wanted to do a few minutes ago? I'd love to see you guys go through the process. And, Jonathan, so would I. However, because this is just a come as you are very casual conversation, we went off in a completely different direction. And just like that, we've sort of run out of time.

Tim Hughes [00:51:52]:

Sorry, Jonathan.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:51:53]:

Sorry, Jonathan.

Tim Hughes [00:51:54]:

You need to come back, Elizabeth, and we'll

Adam Gray [00:51:56]:

do it. Yes. Absolutely.

Rob Durant [00:51:58]:

Yeah. Along those lines, Elizabeth, this has been great. How can people learn more? Where can they get in touch with you?

Elizabeth Solaru [00:52:08]:

Okay. I'm on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is my I love, love, love LinkedIn. I'm also on TikTok occasionally and on Instagram, but LinkedIn, connect with me on LinkedIn. Every day I post something around luxury lessons, and I use topical issues, but more importantly, get my book. Get my book from Amazon, and I I take you through the brand building process, Jonathan, in the book. So yeah.

Tim Hughes [00:52:35]:

Hold your book hold one of your books up, Elizabeth.

Adam Gray [00:52:37]:

Sorry to hear.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:52:38]:

Thank you. Very good.

Rob Durant [00:52:40]:

We go. Excellent. Thank you.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:52:43]:

Thank you.

Rob Durant [00:52:43]:

We now have a newsletter. Don't miss an episode. Get show highlights beyond the show insights and reminders of upcoming episodes. You can scan the QR code on screen or visit us at digital download dot live forward slash newsletter. On behalf of the panelists, to our guest, Elizabeth, to our audience, thank you all for being an active part in today's digital download, and we'll see you next time.

Adam Gray [00:53:15]:

Bye, everybody. Bye bye.

Elizabeth Solaru [00:53:17]:

Bye.

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