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Reassurance is an underrated, but hugely important quality in luxury. Few luxury brands delve into the emotion of making people feel less worried, less doubtful, safer - and in a curious way NOT standing out from crowd.

Our latest article for Luxury Briefing magazine examines the matter. It's the twelfth in our series and you can read all the others by following the links at the end of the article.

There is a shop in my area offering private health care. Bypassing the UK cash-strapped public health system, it is a luxury indeed. Interestingly, and rather appositely the shop displays an endline outside under its brand name: ‘Specialists in Reassurance’.

Which set me thinking about what an underrated, but hugely important quality, reassurance is in luxury. Few brands delve into this emotion: of making people feel less worried, less doubtful, safer, more contained - and in a curious way NOT standing out from crowd. Everything luxury is supposed not to be. Is this heresy?

However, relaxing in the opulent, spacious interiors of Aman Venice, sumptuous and sensuous amidst Rococo artworks, or reclining in the back seat of a Bentley Mulsanne with its hand-stitched detailing, hand-finished wood veneers, plush carpeting and ambient lighting, you feel a strong protective arm around you. Both are wonderful spaces unruffled by the turbulent world outside. Elegant escapes of good comfortable living, of dignity and importance. They are consoling, glamorous, dedicated to perfection. How reassuring can you get?

If you brandish your Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 42mm platinum watch which weighs in at a huge 346 grams, the heft of an average paperback, or look forward to hearing the solid, heavy, reassuring click/thud sound from your Rolls door as it shuts, you’d feel safer than most.

This is reassurance derived from timelessness and quality.  A luxury product by definition must be well designed and crafted with the finest materials and workmanship known to humanity; and from that comes a unique, intangible, embellishment of how people feel.

A definite upgrade in longevity, safety and comfort. In tough times, wealthy or not, many people feel uncertain. Luxury buyers want to be reassured that they are investing, emotionally as well as practically, in something timeless.

Take the reassuring smell of aged leather with its hints of smokiness and woodiness, and sense of history and nostalgia, as if it's telling a story of its own. Its smell can trigger memories of a first jacket, a first wallet, a leather-bound book, or the interior of an old car, all wrapped in a comfort blanket of familiarity.

Cashmere. Brunello Cucinelli points out that a cashmere knit ‘is like a book. It is something to save and go back to time after time. It is the feeling of an embrace.’

 Tweed has a hand-made, honest quality and a rich, comforting texture. For many, touching it conjures up images of heather scrubland, wet afternoons and cold air. It evokes the British climate more clearly than any other fabric. (Though why you’d want to be reminded of a wet, miserable, grey day in a traffic jam on the M25 escapes me).

Swing a solid handbag like the Gucci Dionysus small GG shoulder bag. Only £2,400. It features a hefty, polished metal clasp – well actually a ‘’textured tiger head closure referencing the Greek god Dionysus, who in myth is said to have crossed the river Tigris on a tiger sent to him by Zeus’.  Surely having a Greek God on your side adds to a sense of security.

In electronics, the Sony Xperia Pro-I’s build combines a metal frame with Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus®. So solid it needs three trademarks.

On the home front there’s a reason why the rich characters in books always ‘slip between the sheets'. If they’re Frette, one does.  Their linens have been everywhere, from the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica to the dining car of the Orient Express, to Royalty throughout the ages. A finest long staple cotton story and a complex process of “gassing, washing, mercerising, ironing and purging”. But you get a good night’s sleep. Dreams not included.

(And, for fabric-interested people, mercerising means treating cotton with a chemical so that the fibres are strengthened, take dyes better, and often acquire a soft shine).

I feel tremendously reassured with the weight, handling and size of my Sabatier. The blade curves up towards the tip so you can rock it when slicing, and it has a beautiful, grained olive wood handle adding a kind of primitive back-to-earth feel.

Brands have used reassurance before. Older readers may remember Stella Artois’ ‘Reassuringly Expensive’ campaign which ran from the 1980’s to 2007. Its objective was to turn the negative of higher prices into a positive. So, they told people that by being pricier, their brew was better than cheaper ones.

Pol Roger is doing the same thing now. They are on a scarcity/quality strategy and are apparently ‘Reassuringly hard to find’, though taking a full-page ad on the back of the magazine makes it a lot easier.

The best luxury brands create desire by understanding what makes a consumer’s heart beat a little faster. Right now, solid, grounded, aspirations may have as much value as a unique virtual experience, or a Snapchat filter that lets customers see your new collection in augmented reality.

As Coco Chanel said, "Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury."

Read more from our Brand Matters series:

  • How privacy and escape from the coarse excesses of the world is becoming more desirable for luxury brand consumers here
  • The enduring importance of craftsmanship here
  • Why craftsmanship's vulnerability will win in the tech world here.
  • Creativity: From Origins to AI here
  • Luxury is ageing gracefully here
  • Thinking luxuriously here
  • How distance creates desire here
  • Why the pursuit of authenticity is paramount for luxury brands here
  • Exploring the symbolism of colour for luxury brands here
  • Why beauty, elegance, timeless high quality, durability and a little self-indulgence can be good for you here
  • Why nature continues to inspire luxury brand design here

A little more on Anew - a London-based luxury branding Agency

Anew’s two founders deliver: insights from market research, strategic brand thinking, new brand names, luxury logo design, messaging, online and offline content, coffee table books and luxury brand websites. We help companies increase brand profitability through sharper insights, distinctive propositions, creative ideas and faultless execution.

To get in touch do drop us an email. We'd be delighted to meet for a coffee, either face-to-face or virtually to discuss your brief.

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