Luxury brands, such as Christie’s and Conde Nast Traveler, have been creating mobile travel applications according to a recent article by Luxury Daily.

These applications, or ‘apps’, form an alternative to guidebooks and printed travel-maps. They are beneficial to consumers as they are practical and easy to carry around, and they make good market sense for luxury marketers who can both create their own apps and get their services, products or hotels featured on third-party guides.

Conde Nast Traveller App

Affluent consumers, the article points out, are likely to look for and trust advice coming from luxury brands, so are able to arrive in a new city and quickly look up everything they need to know from a trusted source.

The article lands on a point that I think is key:

“By creating a mobile city guide, a luxury brand can connect with consumers in a way that does not seem overly-promotional but that helps the user make lifestyle decisions.”

I think this is really important when dealing with luxury consumers in any setting, not just in creating apps.

Rather than actively selling to customers, I believe luxury marketers should be developing relationships with their target audiences, positioning themselves as trusted advisors not just as salesmen. For me, marketing luxury means encouraging the consumer to behave according to their own personal values – not trying to dictate to them what these values are.

This is the approach I take with Kahro, a Raleigh jewelry store which is dedicated to marketing diamonds as a luxury. The staff act as advisors – rather than trying to sell diamonds, they try and understand what it is the customer wants from a diamond, and help them to make the right decisions.

Be it an application or in-store service, it is important for luxury brands to remember that it is not always about the hard sell. Creating apps that give the consumer what they want – without asking anything directly in return – is just one way for brands to set themselves up as ‘trusted sources’, and this is invaluable in a crowded market place.

Attention luxury travellers:

British Airways has been running an interesting series of podcasts about sleep. Hosted by ‘Dr. Sleep,’ BA’s resident sleep expert Dr. Chris Idzikowski, the series discusses sleep basics, managing travel fatigue, synchronizing your inner clock, and other related topics.

They’re already four episodes into the series of six, with the next new episode appearing March 28. To listen to the episodes that have already appeared and receive new ones as a podcast, go here (and click on your country, then you’ll be taken to the podcast page).

[via A Luxury Travel Blog]