PARIS – Las Vegas high rollers expect royal treatment – comp suites, geysers of Cristal, four-star suppers and stretch limousines, not to mention tickets to any show that tickles their fancy.
But they’re not the only ones being pampered these days. Europe’s luxury houses are taking care of their clients as never before, staging exclusive parties and private dinners.
Earlier this month, Cartier invited 500 of its biggest clients – and hardly any press – to an extravagant ball to celebrate the reopening of its historic flagship on the Rue de la Paix here. Guests perused the remodeled and expanded store with stars like Monica Bellucci and Jean Reno.
Outside, the street was barricaded and guests strolled among a dozen tableaux vivant in oversize red jewelry boxes. Vintage cars then whisked them to the Tuileries Gardens, where Cartier had pitched a giant red tent. Under crystal chandeliers, an opulent midnight dinner was spread, followed by dancing to the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
“It’s a huge asset for Cartier to be able to treat our customers like this,” said Bernard Fornas, Cartier International’s president, who declined to say if the jeweler covered the costs for customers’ trips. “Most of them have private planes,” he quipped. “How do you pay for that?”
The evening wasn’t pure frivolity. Thirteen exceptional high jewelry pieces – and another 40 expensive high jewelry pieces – were created for the occasion. With prices starting at 250,000 euros, or $297,000 at current exchange, and topping out at 23 million euros, or $27 million, not many had to be sold to cover costs. And Fornas said “most” of the pieces had new owners by the end of the evening.
Cartier’s festivities followed a similar Louis Vuitton party this October to inaugurate its massive “maison” flagship on the Champs-Elysées. The accessories and fashion house cherry-picked a few hundred of its top clients (those who spend at least $200,000 a year at LV) worldwide to invite to the high-flying event.
Top management rolled out the red carpet and Vuitton’s so-called VICs (Very Important Clients) were lavished with fancy dinners, a private shopping session and “concierge” treatment while they frolicked in the City of Light. They also got a private tour of the Vuitton museum just outside Paris, followed by a lush, sit-down dinner.
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Vuitton said it didn’t pay for clients’ travel. And though in the past it has indulged clients with special parties, this was the first time the luxury firm invited them en masse from around the world to an event. “It brings clients into our universe in a very special way,” said a spokeswoman. “It gives another more tangible and human aspect to the brand.”
Private client parties are hardly new in the luxury world. Houses from Yves Saint Laurent to Hermès – which invites press and clients, for example, to its annual Prix de Dianne horse racing event – often throw galas to drum up support. But lately they are going to new lengths to lavish luxe on customers.
Why? Executives suggest it gives an extra frisson of exclusivity for the ultrarich. After all, luxury’s global rollout means it’s now ubiquitous, as brands have aggressively democratized with access lines and duty-free shopping outposts. What’s needed is an exclusive counterpoint that caters to the very well-heeled.
“There is more wealth today,” said Fornas, “and the rich want to feel special and different.”
Van Cleef & Arpels, the Paris jewelry house, this December invited a handful of its top clients to celebrate the opening of its renovated New York shop. President and chief executive Stanislas de Quercize hosted the closed-door event, where he unveiled a range of extraordinary high jewelry crafted to celebrate the brand’s centenary.
A similar party for clients was convened in Hong Kong in November. It was an unprecedented success, said de Quercize. “Our loyal clients like to be taken care of,” he said. “What they want is an experience they can’t pay for. Money isn’t an object for them. An invitation to a private dinner in our maison in New York fits that bill.”
Executives acknowledged that courting the super rich presents challenges. How do you impress someone who, say, has enough money to buy your brand outright?
“We’re talking about billions of dollars,” said Jean-Christophe Bedos, president of Boucheron, the Paris jeweler. “Some could buy Cartier if they wanted.” He added, “They don’t need you to give them free travel or free hotels. What they want is a personalized experience. They want, quite simply, to be taken care of.”
Bedos cited the importance of sales staff relationships with clients. “Recently, one of my salespeople told me he had spent all day with a client,” he said. “I asked him how that was possible. He said that the client just wanted to talk. That’s as important as throwing a party sometimes.”
But Boucheron throws parties, too, and for top clients it has organized private, intimate dinners in the plush salons of its Paris headquarters on the Place Vendome. “That’s an experience that they can brag about to their friends,” Bedos said.
“A lot of clients become friends,” said Fornas, who equated Cartier’s recent client bashes with the way the Cartier brothers “used to travel around the world” to meet and entertain clients. “We still call on certain clients at home,” said Fornas.
But he said little surreptitious extravagances often are most potent in cultivating relationships. “I ran into a couple – one of our great clients – in Geneva recently,” he related. “I saw them as I came out of a restaurant and I told the maitre d’ to put their bill on my credit card. It’s really a question of opportunity, not price.”
He added, “That is good treatment. It goes beyond the 25 gifts that you find stacked in your room when you go to Vegas. What do they do with all that?
“They’ve got the money to buy it if they want it. They want something exceptional.”