The luxury of advertising luxury goods

George Parker's sermonette today (March 10, 2006 ) raises an interesting question about why the hell luxury brands feel the need to advertise. Or, as he might put it, when you put out ten grand for a wristwatch, are you being influenced by the ad you saw in Towne & Country? I've always believed that this is as much of a post-facto phenomenon as it is anything else. Fact is, buyers of expensive toys like to see ads for the high-ticket stuff they just bought, or had given to them. They keep the brochures, too. It validates the purchase. The medium is the message here. People who read T&C, Cigar Afficionado, Architectural Digest, etc., don’t flip through the pages. They savor them -- the photography, the production, the whole tactile experience. You can't get the same experience online. But that’s whole other subject for another post. In the meantime, don’t look for Cartier, Bentley and/or Riva to conclude anytime soon that “the brand sells itself”. It keeps on selling even after the sale. It makes the purchaser feel good, which is what the brand promise is all about.