ONLuxury

My Sparkx Widget

St Martins Lane

This is still one of the coolest hotels in London! Have you been there? Add it to your world map! We are translating the website real soon in English, so you will be able to understand the rest of the content!
St Martins Lane

Shared via AddThis

Your own Sparkx world map

It has taken a while for me to update my blog again and that is so against all the blog rules...I know. But I simply don't have the urge anymore since what I liked to share before on my blog is for the largest part seen on Sparkx. We have made many changes and we are still continuously adding features on Sparkx. Sparkx is a social directory, a tool to share the places where you have been in the world with your friends on your own world map.  So you can easily see what hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, holiday houses your friends would recommend (or in some cases what your friends didn't fancy so much).  We are still a small start-up and we need to connect with the larger networks like Facebook, Hyves and Twitter. And preferably we would make an English version. But that is hopefully all to come in the nearby future... So check out Sparkx and see what we have done so far.

Sparkx, sharing quality

Sparkx has launched officially! It's a Dutch start-up that allows people to share companies they love, holiday destinations they're still dreaming of and invite friends to join them to their favorite events.The network also makes it possible to build your personal 'My Sparkx Quality Guide', like a little black book on line. Sparkx is highly popular among professionals and high potentials all style and Quality lovers. We decided it's not necessary to make it 'invitation only' since the right people will like it and others will go somewhere else.Sparkx already has thousands of members and is growing rapidly.

I launched the network together with Andries Voskamp and the Dutch press understands what we are doing which is good news! Nu.nl, Emerce and Marketing Facts. 

Working on official launch Sparkx

I'm currently working on the official launch of Sparkx, a social directory for higher educated people with an above average feeling for quality and style. So I didn't have time to update my blog... But soon more about Sparkx.

Best Luxury Marketing Campaign of the Quarter

Every 3 months TheLuxuryLetter.com chooses the best marketing campaign of the Quarter . This time it highlights the "Truth In The Godfather" spot that ran this past Super Bowl, using the Audi R8, and created a lot of buzz for Audi as the first movers in the idea of "new luxury" in automobiles. The article also features a detailed interview with Paul Venables of Venables, Bell & Partners who is responsible for the initiative. His advice to luxury marketeers "Be authentic to who you really are, ignore what the ads in your category are supposed to be like. Essentially, be original. That's probably what gained you luxury status to begin with". The interview mentiones the results of the marketing campaign in terms of unique audience and visits to the Truthinengineering website . And the video was watched 2 million times on social networks within 5 days after the Super Bowl. But let's not forget how important it is to also measure the success by actual sales or requests to test drive the car. Unfortunately I haven't seen a call for action button after viewing the video and that might have been a good opportunity for Audi.

Luxury Interactive Conference June 2008

On June 18-19 WBR (Worldwide Business Research) is organizing a luxury branding and e-business conference in NYC, called Luxury Interactive.  They have arranged an interesting line up of speakers like Joe Robinson (CEO aSW), Paul Hurley (CEO Ideeli.com), Tim Rendall (Product Manager Facebook), Milton Pedraza (CEO Luxury Institute) etc. And I'd be curious to hear what Estee Lauder's VP global online marketing manager has to say about engaging in social mediums and the web 2.0 space. And there will be a panel discussion about how to increase the success of SEO and SEM campaigns in which Ritz-Carlton, Bloomingdale's and Google will participate. You can check out the conference agenda and the overview of speakers here.

Haute travel talk on 'gated' network Extravigator

People who love travelling in style and want to know the best finds on their trip should visit Extravigator. It's a haute travel network  (still in beta) where savvy high-end travelers can share their experiences and get the best tips from other travelers. For visitors it's open , but to be able to leave comments, set up a profile and/or to start a thread, you have to become a member.  It's free to become a member, you have to be allowed membership by the site owners. But their criteria are not so strict right now. You have to tell them your favourite hotel and they will judge whether you fit the profile of the site. This criterium is questionable of course, because anyone can come up with a fancy hotel I guess. But the look & feel and the type of discussions will attract the right people anyway. The most interesting comments are added to a searchable database, which can be downloaded to Google Earth, offering you a complete bird-eye's view of any referenced properties and surrounding areas. It's a niche aSmallworld for travellers but with less bounderies to get in. It's good to have a trusted source of information, but it still depends on quality and quantity of people visiting and commenting. On my question 19 hours ago if anyone has tips for Lapland..no answers yet.

Connect with Qubers in Qube

QUBE is a complimentary, invitation-only community for members of Quintessentially and their select circle of friends. QUBE offers marketeers an opportunity to target a very niche audience of 20.000+ high net worth individuals via an exclusive global network. 80% holds a board level position, 71% male and 40% is over 40 years old. The fast growing community seems to be most active in London, probably since Quintessentially is a UK company. Quintessentially Group is acknowledged to offer the best concierge service in the world 24 hours per day with membership rates between 750 - 24.000 pounds per year. Cartier, Mont Blanc, Aston Martin and Tiffany & Co already discovered QUBE, often only with traditional bannering. But to really connect to the active Qubers it might be a good idea to host a forum or to sponsor the monthly competition for members. And for a cross-marketing message, or if you are believer of traditional advertising, you can also advertise in the seasonal print magazine for members. But since QE members are allowed to invite friends to QUBE, the question every marketeer should ask, is whether Qubers have a similar high net profile as QE members?

Design hotels in the Provence...difficult to find

Almost every person nowadays uses the internet to find the best deals and flights. But to find a small authentic design hotel in France was quite a challenge, particularly in the Provence. Unless you like to sleep in a yellow and red flower room, you have a hard time to find a place with taste. But I came across two nice sites worthwhile mentioning, Authentic Privacy and Maison d'hotes Design. The look and feel of both is quite attractive, but search navigation is something to work on. And these sites should really implement a Google Earth functionality. I can personally recommend staying in Alegria in Aups, really friendly Belgium couple, in Chateau Beaupré Deleuze north of Avignon with stunning interior from Asia combined with gorgeous modern design. And if you are looking for an affordable luxury stay in St Tropez I recommend going to Le Pré de la Mer which is very close to Le Cave du Roi and the beach, nice design, quiet and your own terrace. But I conclude that there is definitely a market for design hotels in France, or for websites that enable me to find them.