Over the course of the pandemic the Communicating Luxury team have been thinking a lot about ‘luxury’, our relationship with it, how it adapts to the future and which brands have the ability to ride the storm and emerge strengthened. We’ve collected our thoughts and we will push these out live later this week but for the moment we wanted to share the Founder’s recent experience with Globetrotter.

Globetrotter is one of those heritage luxury brands that you either know everything about or you know nothing about. It is a brand bordering on a cult where we guess that the customer retention rate is probably so little off 100% that it makes no difference.

So what is the appeal ? Well beyond the design and the backstory their cases are virtually indestructible. The patina they collect over time enhances their appearance as they become ‘gently worn’, like their owner as they travel the world.

But back to why we are writing about Globetrotter today.

The case in question is 10 years old, bought for about £425 with the first bonus in a new role it’s probably flown around 850,000 miles. The impact corners had become worn and on one of them lost altogether. And after many years of overpacking one of the lock catches had lost its a key component. All wear and tear that would have happened much sooner with an inferior case.

With no pending travel it seemed like a very good time to drop the case off for repair - which was duly done at Globetrotter’s Burlington Arcade store.

That’s where Globetrotter’s customer contact strategy started and shone throughout.

Touchpoints are so vital for luxury brands. Purchase frequency can be low so that when the brand has an opportunity to interact with the customer it has to be exemplary.

In the boutique the case was received with ‘love’, diagnosed, and estimate given, a receipt handed over, a time estimate (3 weeks) and an explanation as to what happens next.

A tired looking case on the way for some TLC.

Exactly 3 weeks after dropping off the case I received the following email;

We’ve removed the sender’s name but the communication is absolutely spot on. Warm with an informality which is on the right side of professionalism. An explanation of what had happened and the cost. And then a solution identified with a specific date. In such a short email there was a lot of precision not to mention it arrived in line with the estimate without any chasing required. It also felt warm that the boutique was still handling the issue and had passed the communications over to the workshop.

We decided to collect the case since we were walking through town on the way to dinner that day. This was confirmed and then almost immediately a response came back;

We said yes immediately - airlines hate those redundant barcodes but we never quite get round to removing them ourselves. This offering was ‘going the extra mile’, it wasn’t essential but it was welcome and it showed attention to detail.

We got to the store to a restored and gleaming case and the chance to speak with the sender of the emails.

Every Globetrotter owner has stories and the boutique staff are always happy to hear them. In person and on email the brand’s representative spoke the language of the brand. Turning what could so easily be a mundane and frustrating repair process into a joyful experience. That’s the narrative that makes ‘price’ vanish as an issue to be replaced with ‘value’.

It’s why we are relaying the story today. As important and the physical product is the purchase and repair experience is vital.

We just can’t wait to pack the case and get back in the air.

PS for fun we took the original cost and the repair cost and amortized that over the number of trips. Every time we packed and left on a trip the case ‘cost’ was just under £3. The price of a cup of coffee and hopefully that’s it good for another 10 years.

About Communicating Luxury

Since 2013 Communicating Luxury has been efficiently and effectively helping companies get the very best out of their brands. Our aim is to bring a fresh perspective, energize teams, provide actionable recommendations and delivery. Our Founder, Mark Izatt, has over 25 years’ experience within the luxury spirits, technology, goods, and service sectors.