Recently, the Economic Times reported that German luxury car maker, Audi, is planning to offer premium lifestyle services to its customers in India. This is part of Audi’s 2025 strategy wherein the company will focus on customer centricity besides enhancing product portfolio and sales and service network in the Indian market. The company plans on executing this strategy through the introduction of concierge services for its 75000+ customer base in the country.
People do not usually relate luxury lifestyle services with an automobile manufacturer. But if you give it a thought, this is an excellent marketing strategy to connect with the customers and engage with them on a more personal level. Just imagine getting a call from your car’s manufacturer on a Sunday where the executive offers to get you the best deals on the next concert happening in your city. You could also get assistance on booking a dinner date at a luxury restaurant to celebrate your anniversary.
What does any company gain from providing such luxury services free of cost? On a broader perspective, this approach allows brands to reach closer to the customers’ homes. This penetration goes beyond the traditional reach that is achieved through the sale of products and services. From a customer’s perspective, such initiatives are considered as gestures of goodwill from the brand. Moreover, it makes one feel really special and this helps in building a stronger loyalty for the brand.
Let’s explore at some of the key aspects that offering luxury lifestyle services delivers for any brand.
Getting Up Close and Personal
KYC does not refer only to the verification of identification through supporting documents. The true implication of KYC is actually making the effort to know your customers on a personal level. To understand their preferences, interests and lifestyle indulgences, one needs to look at customers as valuable assets rather than a source of revenue. Only then can a brand think of moving closer, entering the homes of their customers, and becoming a crucial part of their lives.
Just a small gesture of assisting with shopping at a high-end fashion store can create an everlasting impression on any customer. Not only does this strengthen the bond with the brand, but also sends a clear message that the brand actually cares about its patrons. Wouldn’t you like it if your favorite brands become a part of your life and advice you on common lifestyle choices, thereby helping you save time in your daily schedule?
Untapped Opportunities for Brand Alliances
When any brand decides to offer lifestyle services and experiences to its customers, there are very few avenues that the brand can manage on its own. In such cases, brand alliances play an important role. Not only do such arrangements offer opportunities for creating new alliances, but the inter-connected ecosystem of brands from diverse industries helps in delivering a 360-degree experience to a customer who would not have expected anything more than what the brand had to offer directly.
Increased Engagement Beyond Sales Pitch
If a brand only connects with customers with the intention of making another sale, it shows lack of concern and importance being given to customer engagement. Concierge services allow brands to really understand the customers with respect to the brand of perfumes they use, to the weekend getaways that are planned with family members. Such occasions provide a lot of opportunities to actually engage with customers beyond a sale pitch.
In fact, such gestures would make your call even more anticipated and customers will start sharing their lifestyle preferences with the brand. When people accept communication regularly, irrespective of the mode of communication, the brand is equipped with adequate opportunities to subtly put across a promotion without making it sound obvious. These precious moments create the perfect scenario for the company to get repeat sales and the customer doesn’t get fatigued with repeated promotions targeted only towards getting more sales.
Taking On The Role Of An Advisor
Not every friend can be an advisor, but every advisor is definitely your best friend. People today have become subjected to hectic schedules where balancing life and work has become more of a juggling act rather than basic time management. Making decisions in such scenarios becomes quite tedious and one simply gets confused with the multitude of options available for consideration.
If a brand starts advising beyond commercial affairs, for example sharing advice on making the right investments to enjoy financial freedom later, discussing whether to purchase the latest iPhone or trying out a flagship device from another popular manufacturer, etc., then people will open up even more when it comes to their lifestyle decisions. By involving you in their decisions, the customers will provide the brand with a power unlike other when it comes to understanding where to invest their time and resources.
Such increased connection and trust is the end product of various new marketing initiatives, such as offering luxury lifestyle services, wherein brands can explore new avenues of creating value for their customers and making them feel like the kings and queens of this world. Who doesn’t like to get pampered?
Most importantly, these marketing strategies instill confidence and trust in the people with respect to a brand’s capability of breaking the conventional shackles of the sales cycle and creating value on every possible occasion.
What’s Ahead?
Audi’s decision to launch premium lifestyle services for its customers is just one of the changes that will be witnessed this year when it comes to brands going out of their way to connect with their target audience. It won’t be surprising to see other brands follow suite and gear up with other strategies to ensure that they are always ahead of the game. As a marketing professional, I can see new trends being born and the drivers of the industry are already executing plans to extract the most out of the opportunities that will be created.
I would love to know your views about the new approaches in marketing happening in India and globally to have a better understanding on how marketing will undergo a transformation to keep up with technology advancements and socio-economic changes that are expected this year.
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