Words To Stop Using in Luxury Travel Marketing in 2019
Every industry has its own set of buzzwords that everyone is way too familiar with (and tired of!) In fact, a lot of these terms have passed their usefulness. The luxury travel industry is no exception. Read on to see whether any of the words make your list…
True Luxury Whispers
If you want your luxury brand to shout luxury, maybe start being more nuanced in describing your brand.
“In marketing the concept, there should be nuance in tone and language,” — Stewart Colovin, executive vice president and chief creative officer at MMGY Global.
One such nuance is to take out the word “luxury” as a descriptor. Chris Olshan, CEO of a global thought leader in the field of high-end marketing, thinks the word luxury is both overused and misused. Luxury is used to be about rare tradition, great comfort, elegance, and quality. Once all companies in the hospitality industry — hotels of any caliber, restaurants of any grade, start using the word “luxury” in all its marketing descriptions, the very concept of luxury is demeaned to a point where it becomes simply a replicable product.
Luxury brands try so hard to stand out from the competition. Yet in trying they often impose the same criteria of “luxury” on themselves. Everyone talks the same…and everyone ends up behaving the same.
Create Memories
“Experiences” is another one that tops our list.
Any company, travel or not, luxury or not, can create “experiences. Picking up coffee from your local café down the road is an experience. Taking a jog along the road is an experience. Cramming into the underground train during rush hours (Hong Kong folks, you know exactly what I mean) is an experience.
But do these experiences invoke deep feelings of comfort, joy and elegance? Do these moments leave a deep mark within you?
Luxury hospitality should be positioned as a memory creator instead of a place that “creates experiences”. True luxury invokes special, long-lasting memories that stick with you.
Think Before You Buzz
All industries are agog with their own set of buzzwords. Anyone is the startup and venture capital ecosystem like us, for instance, is no stranger to words like artificial intelligence, blockchain, IoT, big data, the list goes on…
And not only you are tired of these words, everyone in the ecosystem, your investors, your competitors, AND your customers, are all way too familiar with these terms. It is important, therefore, for you to think thrice before throwing around these buzzwords in your marketing statements. Are there better descriptors to your business? Is this word accurately reflecting your value proposition? Is this marketing you in a way that stands you out from the crowd?
Ponder on these questions before buzzing about.
A little about Catalyst Ventures: We are an early-stage venture capital firm based in Hong Kong. We invest in the future of travel and marketing. Say hi to us if that sounds like your kind of thing. We love making new friends ;)
