A world of luxury
By Simon Fuller. Web wealth. Remember our round-up of the kind of places where you might find those high-end brands hanging out online? We mentioned then a small number of online destinations which cater for those brands wanting to reach above the heads of the masses and target some rather exclusive consumers. Well, we have another one for you in the shape of ASMALLWORLD.
Launched back in 2004, ASMALLWORLD is a social networking community for the wealthy and successful. The gates are locked to the majority, and to get in, you need to be invited by an existing member. The site features a raft of typical social networking tools, such as event calendars, along with a bunch of city guides – written by those really in the know, naturally – and private forums where members can engage in buying or selling transactions. Handy if you need to offload that unwanted speedboat, perhaps.
And brands haven’t failed to take note, with ASMALLWORLD’s partners including the likes of Mercedes Benz, Rolex and American Express.
“ASMALLWORLD is a private, travel-focused online community of culturally influential people… who are connected by three degrees, so it is an ideal place for luxury advertisers to advertise online,” says Dennis Dwyer, the organisation’s vp of sales. “Advertisers can come to us… to grow brand awareness and spark conversations.”
They do this via touchpoints on the site, which can mean anything from standard display advertising and content in the site’s newsletter, to sponsoring specific areas within ASMALLWORLD’s community pages. Which is precisely what Tudor Rolex did, making shrewd use of ASMALLWORLD by targeting the watch forum with sponsorship.
There’s also what the site calls member opportunity programs. “We allow third parties to come in and offer incentives to our members,” says Dwyer. “We want people to experience the product, talk about it in the forums, then we follow up with editorial coverage. The best testimonial is word of mouth, which is especially powerful when dealing with a group of tastemakers.”
The incentives brands have offered have been pretty alluring too, with Mercedes Benz, for example, allowing some ASMALLWORLD members to test drive cars at their SLR racing school.
So how receptive are the destination’s esteemed users to brand activity on the site?
“ASMALLWORLD members are in the know, and want to remain in the know,” explains Dwyer. “The primary reason they are using the site is for advice and information – which makes them receptive to brand messages. The proof is in the pudding. There’s a 41% open rate on dedicated emails from advertisers.”
But ASMALLWORLD reminds brands that there’s a simple rule to follow when it comes to consumers on the site.
“[No] luxury brand [should] try to lead conversations within the membership,” says Dwyer. “You want members to do that themselves, which comes as a result of experiential marketing.”
