Advertising in print, web and branding for the luxury market

This is the summary of a presentation made by Tracy Datlen at the Florida Yacht Brokers Association Charter Seminar in 2009 on the topic of how to combine print, web and branding for the charter yacht market.

Here are a few positive strategies and concepts you can use to get print, web, and branding working together to reach your customer base. Your market is the segment of the population that can afford tens of thousands of dollars on a one-week vacation—the very top end of the luxury market. These potential clients have personal and corporate staff to screen their mail, emails, phone calls, and personal contacts. Let’s see how print and web and branding can get through to this audience.

Print media—and no, print is not dead—is an established and effective way to reach your customer base and establish your brand. Magazines can provide you with an interested and qualified readership. These potential customers may be qualified by income, interest, and method of distribution. Being in the right magazine title that reaches your customer base gives you three advantages. 1) Distribution. It gets you into the hands of the reader. If a person subscribes, they will get that publication. 2) Your brand will have a halo effect from being in the same pages of higher profile luxury brands, like private jets, wristwatches, jewelry. 3) Recognition. The cost of running a magazine ad provides a barrier to entry. Your customer base knows that advertising costs money. They recognize that your ad, just by being there, signifies that you’re a player in your industry.

The printed pieces you create, such as postcards and brochures, are second type of print media that remain effective. Unlike magazines, you bear 100% of the responsibility and costs of distribution. Usually these pieces will go to customers you’ve identified or qualified in some way.

You have two advantages when you create these pieces: you control the message and you control your brand. The primary advantage to the recipient is that the brochure speaks directly to their interest with evocative photography and informative information. To the interested reader, it’s enjoyable, easy to use, portable and engaging.

Take the cue from other luxury brands such as jet manufacturers and high-end automakers, they are still advertising in print and still distributing dynamite brochures. The reason is, they’ve been proven to work. Custom yacht brochures are unique to your industry and—if done right—perform two functions: 1) it builds a relationship with the owner and 2) creates a desire in the recipient. Custom yacht brochures give you a unique chance to tell the story of a specific yacht, highlight the yacht’s best attributes, sell the charter experience and affiliate your company with a quality yacht. A custom yacht brochure enables you to focus the customer’s attention and capture their imagination.

It’s important to consider exactly how your internet presence conveys the equivalent characteristics of luxury. When a potential customer gets to your web site, what is their experience? Your website is probably clean, attractive, and easy to navigate. But what else is there? Do visitors to your site find a list of boats with a list of features and a list of price points and a list of destinations and a list of things to do?

This aspect of many websites resembles hotels.com which is a list of hotels, a list of rooms, a list of locations, and a list of price points. Lists are not a luxury experience. The web is great for data. But keep in mind that every luxury customer thinks their needs are special. Every yacht owner thinks their boat is uniquely the best. The charter industry stands alone in providing a vacation experience that offers exclusivity, privacy, and extreme personal service. That means your internet presence must go beyond lists and prices. Your brand is built of your expertise, your experience and your ability to guide qualified customers. When a potential customer comes to your website, they are qualifying YOU. Another travel option is just a click away.

You need to engage your customer. Use your website and blog as a platform to showcase your knowledge, your skills, and your opinions. You need to demonstrate that you go beyond lists and price points. When your market is the top of the luxury market, your customers need to see your brand as an expert professional service, worthy of their trust and time.

Keep in mind that anything you distribute must contribute to your brand. Every item in print or digital media must be of the highest quality.  No single element is going to do all the work for you. Print, web, branding do not stand alone but work together.

It’s like building a bonfire. Think of it this way: one stick doesn’t make much of a fire. Consider that one magazine ad is one stick, a web site is another stick, a brochure is another stick. Add a blog, an email campaign, postcards, and now you’ve got the fuel for a bonfire. But it doesn’t do any good if the potential fuel is randomly scattered about. You need to assemble all of these elements into one place—a cohesive strategy that defines your brand. Now you’ve got everything in place, working together, you can ignite interest in your message and in your brand.


-- Tracy Datlen, Laser Advertising Inc.