Luxury brands have been an interesting specimen to watch in the social realm. While plenty of brands have made outstanding leaps and bounds in audience reach (Burberry, the #1 luxury brand on social media, has over 16 million Facebook likes, 2.2 million followers on Twitter, and 61,000 followers on Pinterest), several sources have noted that there has been near nonexistent sales growth stemming from the social platforms.
Meet ASMALLWORLD, also known as ASW and dubbed by some as “Myspace for Millionaires.” The private online community was recently relaunched as a subscription service, aiming at affluent and attractive world travelers. After receiving an invitation, members pay $105 USD per year to take advantage of a network of “like minded individuals,” as well as hundreds of benefits and discounts from ASW partners, such as upscale hotels, clubs, and restaurants.
ASW has no storefront and nearly no physical presence, so how does it build its elite brand image?
By humblebragging about its already existing membership …
Good luck to our member @stanwawrinka at the #USOpen #Globalist http://t.co/ZLuW7Ly1kk #StanislasWawrinka #ArthurAshe pic.twitter.com/JHXsGIg4tH
— ASMALLWORLD (@ASMALLWORLD) September 4, 2013
And gloating about ASW perks and privileges …
And challenging its audience to a game of guess-where.
What seems to be the key to this mind game is to create an aspirational product – similar to $10,000 handbags and 300 foot yachts – that is both out of reach of normal folk (this is where I assume the invitations come into play) but doesn’t try so hard it drives away the target market (hence the relatively modest price tag).
Do you think ASW does a praiseworthy job of capturing the online elite? Are there any other luxury brands ASW should be looking up to?
