The Importance of Art in the Luxury Brand Experience
Feature by FerebeeLane
Blackberry Farm: The Wine Tunnel
We seem to be in a time when the world is depending upon science to be the dominant driver of decision-making. The rise of data analysis to predict results has proliferated all aspects of business and now with the wide availability of artificial intelligence that delivers ‘knowledge’ instantly the belief that we can remove significant risk has become the religion of business. The science of data has become the new truth in brand building.
And letting science be the dictator of decisions to serve quarterly financial results is a colossal mistake for a luxury brand.
This is not to imply that data analysis and predictive science is unimportant, it certainly has its place in business, but without art there is no moving of the soul of an affluent consumer. A luxury brand without art lacks the imagination that drives sustainable brands, and it lacks that element of emotional differentiation that can make price insignificant and competitive options seem trivial.
The inventor and scientist, Edwin Land, once said, “Industry is at its best at the intersection of art and science.”
Art, related to the development of a luxury product or brand, is the wonder within the brand.
Science is the craftsmanship, the precision and the technology, but art is that element to a brand that can bring a person to tears or unadulterated joy upon obtaining a particular luxury item.
And that ‘wonder’ will be different for every luxury brand as it can’t be duplicated, it must be a part of the brand itself.
But why does art or wonder matter? Simply stated it’s because we are human. And as luxury marketers we want that human, that consumer, to desire our brand over other competitors, or other options that are significantly less in cost.
And human desire is never driven by the rational mind, it’s nurtured by the emotions that are stirred.
The beauty in the art of a luxury brand is that it can be anything – anything that brings a sense of wonder to the consumer.
The Wine Tunnel
Blackberry Farm, a Relais & Châteaux property for 30 years and a Wine Spectator Grand Award Winner for nearly 20 years, is one of the most celebrated small luxury hotels in the world.
The Bealls, the founding family and proprietors, have built a luxury destination on 4,200 acres that is now no longer limited to the property it resides on. Instead, guests now talk about wanting to have that ‘Blackberry State-of-Mind’ when they leave property (or even fans and followers who have never visited Blackberry Farm still understand and yearn for the Blackberry State-of-Mind).
This state of mind was manifest over the decades by the family’s singular focus on always trying to delight their guests in unimaginable and generous ways.
One such way was the creation of a wine tunnel to hold many of the nearly 160,000 bottles of wine at the destination. The tunnel opened in late 2016 connecting the main dining venue, the Barn, to the intimate and extraordinary event center, Bramble Hall.
Photo Credit: Table Magazine
No science or data analysis existed to justify the investment to construct a wine tunnel and there was no functional guest need it served to move guests from one venue to the other via tunnel, but the late Sam Beall understood the magic it would create by building a beautiful and stunning wine tunnel connecting two beloved venues into a singular, awe-inspiring experience.
This wine tunnel was one of those unimaginable ways that Blackberry Farm delighted their guests, guests who are among the most affluent in the world and can purchase whatever they desire. Yet, they come to Blackberry Farm to experience the things they can never even imagine.
A Lover’s Rendezvous
Watches have long cultivated loyal followings by being objects of beauty and technological pioneers, creating an aura around ownership that have propelled several luxury watch brands to the pinnacle of luxury status.
For many, these brands define what a pure luxury brand should be, something that far surpasses any utility of use to becoming a rare object that is desired simply for what it is and how it’s made.
While there is no denying an element of art within the luxury standard-bearers in the category, there is one brand that is inspiring a sense of wonder and love.
Van Cleef & Arpels, within the Poetic Complications collection, has created a world that fluidly combines the history of this iconic jewelry house through the romantic fairy-tale story of the Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux and Lady Arpels Bal des Amoureux collections.
Photo Credit: Van Cleef & Arpels
Van Cleef & Arpels has created a cinematic scene of two lovers, inspired by the founding love story of Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels, that is not only elegant and romantic but also one that is of great technical proficiency and craftsmanship.
This collection has come to define what affluent consumers should come to expect in a watch from Van Cleef & Arpels and it has moved this jewelry house into its own category of luxury watches. A category that it continues to define and one that is shaped by a charming and dream-like story that every romantic would want to call their own.
Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux and Bal des Amoureux timepieces lead with the art and wonder and is an example of how art and science can join together to create something lasting, valuable, and so very unique among luxury brands across any category.
Small, Slow and Luxurious
The ‘Art’ of luxury can be anything, a wine tunnel, the concept of a collection of luxury timepieces, the narrative design of jewelry, or the service and personal interactions with the people of the brand. The ways art can be infused into a luxury brand is only limited by imagination and frequently, the art ends up being counterintuitive to what affluent consumers expect or think they want.
A Belmond Train is one such counterintuitive example of creating a sense art and wonder to a luxury travel experience.
The fact that the journey is not only the destination, but the near totality of the luxury experience is powerful due to the confluence of non-sensical factors of nostalgia and never actually reaching the geographical destination until the slow travel experience is completely over.
Photo Credit: Belmond
Photo Credit: CNN Travel
The wonder that is created is multiplied because the typical affluent traveller cannot replicate this experience on their own. The traveller is transported to a yesteryear for an immersive luxury travel experience and yesteryear, the romantic notion of how travel was, is part of the art of the Belmond Train. Every detail is considered from the culinary experience to the interior design and experiential opportunities.
The Belmond Train provides affluent guests with the rare chance to live another life, an amazing, care-free life for a few days, and that chance is part of the art of luxury.
Finding the ‘Art’ through Experience Design
Blackberry Farm, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Belmond are only three examples of luxury brands leveraging both art and science to delight and surprise affluent consumers.
These brands understand that to be art it must be experienced either physically or emotionally and if it is, then that brand has the chance to not only claim market share but a share of the consumer’s mind. And share of mind is the most valuable share to own.
For two decades, FerebeeLane has been leading luxury brands and destinations through an Experience Design (Xd and GXd) process that frames out an orchestrated, cross-functional effort to fully activate a brand’s unique story throughout the consumer journey. These narrative, multi-sensory touch points not only dimensionalize a brand, they enrich and deepen the affluent consumer’s experience — they bring a luxurious brand to life in an unforgettably human and meaningful way.
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FerebeeLane is a brand strategy and creative agency that works with premium and luxury brands to engage the discerning affluent consumer. For the past 20 years, the agency has collaborated with beloved brands such as Le Creuset, Blackberry Farm, Miele, The Ritz-Carlton, Baker McGuire Furniture, Vail Resorts, Chimay Trappist Beer, as well as numerous other Relais & Châteaux properties, and other luxury brands throughout the home. To learn more about FerebeeLane or our perspective on the discerning affluent consumer please contact Josh at josh.lane@ferebeelane.com