ISES NY Metro chapter had their annual monthly meeting this past Tuesday the 24th at the W Hotel in Midtown at Lexington and 49th. This meeting was particularly entertaining because of the topic at hand, Luxury goods! ISES teamed up with The Luxury Marketing Council to put on this useful event! The event consisted of some structured networking time over cocktails, then an hour discussion with a panel of experts and a follow-up 2nd hour of more networking. Monitored by Greg Furman, Founder/Chairman - The Luxury Marketing Council, Howard Givner, CEO North America - Global Events Group and Liz Glover Wilson, iStar Financial, the panel consisted of Mr. Joe Ashworth, Bentley Motors Inc. - Head of Marketing, Ms. Whitley Bouma Herbert, Moët Hennessy USA – Director, National Events, Mr. Doug Gollan, Elite Traveler Magazine – President and Editor in Chief, and Mr. Ricky Sitomer, Blue Star Jet - CEO and Co-founder. All of whom are very versed in the fabulous lives of the rich and famous and those that are private money-makers who invest in their products. Ms. Whitley Bouma Herbert had actually just flown back from California where she had walked the red carpet along side the infamous Brangelia couple!
Obviously the main topic of conversation was the current economy which was on the tips of every ones tongues and this group did a great job reviewing the subject. The panel members gave great insight in how they target specific clients and reach out to potential buyers. Many of them said that they hold small intimate gatherings and events where they cater to the specific person, sometimes even holding this events in their homes and people are wanting to remain private with their money and spending habits. They mentioned that the big out-land-ish events are not occurring as often and that it may be useful to us as event professionals to team up with companies that host these intimate events and partner together to target the "best" clients (aka - the clients with the largest budgets). I thought this was a very interesting idea and it was great to hear how a group of professionals handle their special events and marketing when they do not belong directly to our special events industry but are a luxury product based industry.
Topics of relationships with clients and knowing their very needs is the best way to reach people now days, that and showing the exact value of their dollar. People are watching every penny they spend, even if they have more pennies then they can count! It is times like these that we, as event professionals, must fully explain and show to our clients how much our services are worth - that they are receiving the best value for their dollar. That and we need to focus on our relationships, showing clients that we are with them through thick and thin and that we can be creative in hard times. Speaking with some of these panel members after the discussion gave me a lot of motivation to seek out new ways to reach these potential clients that still have their money. Maybe we should start thinking of ourselves as part of the Luxury industry...we provide a luxury of services that are customized for the individual and whatever their special event needs are!
This was a great networking event that really got me thinking! Be sure to check out the Luxury Marketing Council's website!