Selling a Lifestyle
- Becky Goddard
- Sep 18, 2016
- 2 min read
It is impossible to sell a lifestyle? No, you cannot simply pick a lifestyle package off the shelf then buy it then and there. Despite this the retailer
implies they are going to sell you a lifestyle through glossy promotion, the aim is to make you feel like your current lifestyle isn't as perfect as the one that they are portraying and if you simply buy their products, then boom you are one step closer to jumping into their glossy, perfectly manufactured lifestyle. I feel that I am pointing out the obvious by saying even if you do buy every single thing off that page and reenact the shot, within 6 months time when a new catalogue comes out then you are suddenly 6 months behind again and need to update your 'lifestyle' to make it current and glossy enough once more. The fear of missing out, the fear of not being current, the fear of not being good enough!
A few examples of retailers that sell lifestyles:
Family Clothing Lifestyle Brand - Boden. Look at that delightful family walking on the beach on Christmas day with the Reindeer. Aren't their outfits cool, don't they look great, you need your family and Christmas day to look like there's too. They sell the lifestyle well.
Lifestyle brand on British High Street - The White Company, well ok they are higher end high street and the white, peaceful and vaguely coastal products nicely curated make you want to trade your uncoordinated messy family home for theirs right off the catalogue page.
Teenage Life Style Brand - Jack Wills, the clothing company for gorgeous and middle class teenagers. Pricier than Toyshop, A 'hand book' (never catalogue' gets sent out to customers each 'term' or 'season'. This depicts not only their 'fabulously british' clothing, the signature navy and pink stripes but also the beautiful teenage models living it up in a manor house having pillow fights in their underwear.
Typical 'customer' - John Lewis/ Waitrose - Clever magazine marketing such as the John Lewis Edit - which effectively is selling a select window of products that fit nicely together; whether it is a trend around the home or a perfect Autumn outfit across the multiple concessions in store. There is the loyalty card named 'My John Lewis card', the free coffees at Waitrose, which is an original touch at the end of your shopping trip.
The above stores all have a very undoutably aspirational and middle class market where 'selling the lifestyle' or 'selling the dream' is key to generating sales and a long term customer base. I personally like watching the portrayal of this, and then noticing subtle shift each season and in product.
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