Luxury Research Conference

09.00 Morning registration & coffee

09.30 Extended opening address from the chair

• An overview of current trends in wealth and luxury

Torie Bold, Managing Director of Custom Research, Wealth-X

09.50 Client Panel: Best practice approaches to engaging HNWIs

Hear brands from across a range of categories compare how they approach engagement, customer service and growth of HNWI.

• Examining approaches to gaining a better understanding of HNWIs’ needs
• Discussing how organisations are using data to leverage their brand with HNWIs
• Comparing approaches to customer experience and customer engagement
• Examining strategies for expanding into new markets

Chaired by:

Victoria Thrift, Research Director, Custom Research, Wealth-X

Panellists:

Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management

VistaJet International

Christie’s

Coutts & Co

10.20 What motivates entrepreneurial minds?

Bespoke, global research conducted on behalf of Bloomberg and Credit Suisse reveals, in this session, the psychology and motivations of entrepreneurial ultra ($50 million +) and HNW ($5-$49 million) business leaders across nine markets.

• Understanding HNW consumers: exploring the mind-set, outlook, drivers and behaviours of wealthy millennials through to baby boomers
• Uncovering and defining the fundamental essence of being entrepreneurial, and entrepreneurial human motivations driving this unique group
• Demonstrating to brands how to better understand and connect with wealthy entrepreneurially-minded clients

Adam Isaacson, Director, Ipsos

Phil Robinson, Head of Data Science & Insights EMEA, Bloomberg Media Group

10.50 A Quantitative View on Key Global Luxury Market Trends

Hear key findings from Altiant’s global research on luxury consumers’ attitudes to  ethical and corporate responsibility, omnichannel luxury and the value of emotional connections.

• Ethical and Corporate responsibility: exploring the importance of sustainable luxury and examining key statistical differences between the UK, USA and China
• Omnichannel luxury: how are the multi online-channels and on-store experiences perceived and valued globally?
• Emotional connection: how it influences wealthy customers’ behaviour

Chris Wisson, Knowledge Director, ALTIANT

Lars Long, CEO, ALTIANT

11.20 Morning refreshments

11.40 Understanding the luxury traveller in 2018

COMO Hotels and Resorts offer luxury travel experiences with personalised services in elegant properties, each individually curated to reflect its location. This session reveals the findings from its new study of British and Irish elite travellers:

• Identifying what the discerning traveller expects from a luxury travel experience in 2018
• Better understanding the booking journey and what determines elite travellers propensity to book directly with a brand
• Optimising opportunities for the brand to connect and inspire its customers through PR strategies and the use of social influencers

Richard Barton, Managing Director, RED C Research

Chris Orlikowski, Group Director, PR & Communications, COMO Hotels & Resorts

12.10 Advertising placement & perceived luxury value

To what extent does the airport environment transfer an additional ‘perceived value’ onto any brand displayed there? Comparing brand advertising for both real and invented brands across eight different media contexts, JC Decaux set out to quantify the value airport advertising has on luxury brand perceptions. Hear how airport advertising scored across a range of consumer subgroups.

Steve Cox, Marketing Director (Airport), JC Decaux

12.40 How quality and heritage make or break luxury brands

Kadence International interviewed 5,775 consumers across 13 global markets and 98 brands to explore what drives perceptions of luxury among seven different ‘luxury’ verticals. Hear key qualitative and quantative outputs from this extensive study including:

• How product quality and brand heritage drive perceptions of luxury and how they are incorporated into the narratives, identities and missions of luxury brands
• How these drivers have impacted successes – and failures – of luxury brands
• Country specific insights and cultural factors that may influence perceptions of luxury

Bianca Abulafia, Insight Director, Kadence International

Amy Lo, Insight Manager, Kadence International

13.10 Lunch

14.10 ‘The L Word’: The 60-minute guide to building brands for the new connoisseurs

The most covetable brands of tomorrow aren’t built for ‘luxury’, they are built for curiosity and experiences. For deep, discerning knowledge. They flirt between the ultra-shareable, and the unknowable. They combine exquisite creation with conscience. They speak the language of the ‘New Connoisseurs’: a set of future tribes, each with their own desires and values. 

In this compelling 60-minute workshop, Mash will introduce you to the new world of luxury. With creative inspiration and interactive experiences including:

• Actors bringing the New Connoisseurs to life
• Proprietary research, trends & brand inspiration
• Expert insight from Andrew Grahame, co-founder of Mr & Mrs Smith

Rebecca Wright, Director, MASH Strategy Studio

Andrew Grahame, CEO-Founder, Mr & Mrs Smith

Liana Gregorians, Associate Director, Mash Strategy Studio

15.10 Reinforcing Diamonds as Symbols of Love for Millennials

With new perceptions of marriage and love among millennials, De Beers is leading research into young customers’ language for love in order to stay relevant and nurture millennials’ desire for diamonds.

• Determining how broad millennial trends and emergent themes translate into demand for luxury items such as diamonds
• Using AI to understand millennials’ thinking and language around love and weddings in their natural online environment
• Harnessing research to identify new opportunities for De Beers and determine how to seize them

Jonathan Williams, Founder, Discover.ai

Diana Mitkov, Senior Insight Manager - Group Strategy, De Beers Group

15.40 Afternoon refreshments

16.00 Developing the Clarges Mayfair brand

Hear how British Land, one of the UK’s biggest property companies with a portfolio value of more than £13bn, worked with Flamingo to develop a luxury brand for a new Mayfair development, targeting Ultra High Net Worth individuals looking for luxury residences and companies looking for high-end office space.

• Conducting stakeholder research to understand the aspirations for the brand internally
• Developing an attractive brand to stand out in a crowded luxury property sector
• Bringing together cultural and semiotic analysis of the building and architecture, the premium location and the British Land brand to develop a resonating brand

Alastair Cliff, Head of Semiotics, Flamingo

James Taylor, Head of Clarges Mayfair

16.30 Verticals and Horizons: Cross-Market International Segmentation For Luxury Consumers

Segmentation is always a difficult process, regardless of the market. But how do you address high-earning and high-value customers bent on a different type of experience and quality in research? This session will focus on the hybrid research methodology undertaken by Travel Republic and Emirates Holidays. Together they map out key luxury travel consumer markets and integrate them into a solid international strategy for cross-brand differentiation and roadmap prioritisation.

• Examining how to avoid segmentation pitfalls
• Building a strong business case for different luxury propositions
• Research on your own customer base rather than general studies
• How to enact impact on global strategy and roadmap

Alberto Ferreira, Head of UX Research, Product, Travel Republic (Dnata Group)


17.00 Panel: The Future of Luxury...

• Examining how ‘changemakers’ are re-framing what luxury means to brands, businesses and buyers alike
• Exploring the meaning of luxury to teens and how they engage with luxury propositions
• Consumer perceptions of delocalisation and the impact on future luxury production and brand equity

James Crouch, Partner & Senior researcher, Opinium Research

Dr Yasmin K. Sekhon, Associate Professor, Director Of Postgraduate Programmes (WSA), Faculty Of Business, Law And Art, University Of Southampton

Dr. Federica Carlotto, Senior Lecturer - Luxury Brand Management, Regent’s University London

Dr. Simon O’Leary, Director - Entrepreneurship & Family Business Research Centre, Regent’s University London

17.30 Closing comments from the Chair

17.35 End of conference & drinks reception