The creator presents a thesis on the evolution of luxury hospitality, arguing that the industry is failing by marketing to boomers instead of the growing Millennial and Gen Z demographic. He contrasts the old definition of luxury (opulence, wealth signaling) with the new (community, aesthetic, point of view), and concludes by advising brands to focus on building a cohesive world and feeling rather than just looking expensive.
Post caption
Luxury hospitality brands are building for a consumer who doesn’t represent the growing market and their demands. And that’s fine.
Their guest experiences are reflecting confusion. And dwindling loyalty is pervasive.
But when brands are wondering why they aren’t growing, or why they can’t capture new demographics, they fail to look themselves in the mirror.
You can’t build a brand — a bar, hotel, restaurant — for everyone. And you shouldn’t. But if you want to position yourself for the future, and timelessness, learning to shift when the market shows you its hand is just smart business.
#hospitality #bar #bars #hotels #brand
Transcript
By tier, millennials and Gen Z will account for up to 75% of all luxury buyers, but the hospitality industry is largely ignoring them. And it's because they're all selling and marketing to the wrong people. For decades, and even now, people are building luxury for one buyer. They're still creating luxury hospitality brands for boomers. I have nothing against boomers, but what they want is vastly different than what the younger generations are after. The younger generations don't care about signalling wealth, and they don't care about pretentious service. For them, luxury is not about proving you're rich. It's about proving you're aligned with a specific community, a specific aesthetic, a value set, a story. So when you build luxury hotels for boomers, you opt for square footage, heavy materials, expensive chandeliers, pretentious service, But younger buyers want cohesive worlds and intentional friction. They want a human touch, but one that's not pretentious and starts informal. But most importantly, they want a point of view. They don't need more things. They live in a time of abundance. They want a sharper image. Millennials and Gen z are only going to increase the amount they're spending on luxury hospitality. So we need to start playing by the new rules of luxury hospitality, not the old rules. If you're building a luxury brand today, it's not about asking worse, how do you make the brand look expensive? It's about asking what world are you building and how do you want your best to feel inside? Because at the end of the day, the younger generation wants coherence. They don't care much about opulence.
