NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Maintaining a wealthy client's brand loyalty and encouraging them to keep spending during economic slowdowns often requires a vendor to "offer an experience money can't buy," according to Herb Karlitz, President of Karlitz & Company.
Karlitz & Company, founded in 1990, is one of the most diversified lifestyle marketing agencies in Manhattan and makes its living by creating such experiences for clients who cater to the high net worth market.
"At the highest end, they need to provide their customers with experiences that their friends and neighbors will never get a chance to enjoy at any price...give them bragging rights," Karlitz points out. "In our business, it's about providing 'access' and an opportunity to tell a story; we have to differentiate the experience from anything else out there.
"High profile concert experiences, which we have produced for almost 20 years, can work, but only if the experience includes a backstage visit and a photo opportunity -- meeting the artist differentiates the experience from what someone else can do on their own, and getting the picture is the proof to show to their friends! We produced a small concert for 200 people in a townhouse with Tony Bennett. They stood around him while he sang, eating caviar and sipping Dom Perignon: That's special."
Another example the 51-year-old entrepreneur points to is food and wine, one of the most popular platforms for unique styles of entertainment. "People genuinely love to eat and drink, it's a bonding experience, but anyone can throw a dinner party. In this day and age, that's not what wealthy customers expect. What we might do for our clients, for example, is invite their key customers to Restaurant Daniel, Daniel Boulud's flagship restaurant in New York. The restaurant might be closed for the evening to everyone except the chosen few. That's access!"
"Before the guests even get to their exclusive table, Chef Boulud might greet them in person and explain the menu. Daniel may also be handing out one of his signature canapes. Everyone is treated like family...there's contact," Karlitz says.
"When everyone's seated, perhaps Robert Parker -- arguably the most famous wine critic in the world -- is on hand to pour wines that he and Daniel have personally selected to accompany the special menu. Anyone can buy Parker's newsletter; however, most people can't sit with him, in person, across the table at a meal like this," Karlitz says.
Herb Karlitz is a resident of Bergen County, NJ, and has been a pioneer in lifestyle marketing for more than 30 years. Before forming Karlitz & Company, he was at Burson-Marsteller where he headed the firm's Entertainment/Event Marketing Division. He has worked with personalities from Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder to Thomas Keller of Per Se and The French Laundry, and Robert Parker -- hooking them up with many of his blue chip luxury clients, whose clients are interested in offering these experiences to their customers.