New Luxury Briefing supplement aims to build connections in luxury industry

November 1, 2011

London-based publication Luxury Briefing announced the launch of a quarterly magazine supplement called Luxury Connections during its Wealth Summit last week in London.

The latest publication is meant to act as a “little black book of suppliers to the luxury industry” and features about 400 service suppliers. The supplement will be provided free of charge to all Luxury Briefing subscribers.

"We recognized that there were many companies supplying goods and services which struggled to get past the door when it came to luxury brands, [which are] notoriously protective,” said Kate Patrick, editor in chief of Luxury Briefing, London.

“Equally, we recognized that we could provide our subscribers, luxury brands, with a service that connected them to providers of goods and services – people who could make anything from a widget to an intellectual law property contract,” she said.

“We figured we could make these connections by creating a directory which would categorize suppliers of goods and services and supply it free of charge to our subscribers so they could get information and make the connection themselves.”

Luxury Briefing is a subscription-only business publication that focuses on the luxury industry. The monthly business publication, along with the new supplement, is published by the Luxury Business Group.

Little black book
Luxury Connections is a collection of the leading luxury service providers across all sectors, ranging from legal and corporate entertainment to digital services and human resources.

The magazine attempts to break down the barriers of entry to the luxury community and allow various service-oriented companies to particpate in the action.

The overall goal is to create a unique channel of communication between companies that supply various services and luxury brands, according to Luxury Briefing.

There are nine major categories listed: corporate entertainment, human resources, information technology, legal and financial, management, manufacturing and services, marketing and public relations, media, digital and creative, and property.

Within these categories, the companies are broken down even more specifically.

For example, within human resources, there are subheads such as executive search, incentive, personal development, team building and training.

The magazine also has three editorial articles in its inaugural issue.

One was a Q&A with experts regarding customer service, another was a feature on fashion houses outsourcing fashion show planning and the last was a first-person view on communications strategy.

Making the connections
Luxury Connections prints the various companies in a yellow-page format, each receiving about two inches of vertical space on a four-column page.

The information includes the full name, address, phone number and Web site for each company along with a one-sentence description.

However, Luxury Connections offers service providers a chance to increase their listing to a page or spread by buying an advertisement or advertorial.

A few brands chose to do this in the first issue, such as recruiting agencies Hudson Walker International and Style Incorporated.

The full-page listings include phone numbers and names of contact people, the founder and year started, the scope of the business, the executive team members and the difference the respective company makes in luxury brand companies.

All of the service providers listed have been researched by the Luxury Briefing editorial team.

The listings are currently only available for European suppliers, but this will change in the future, per Luxury Connections.

The first issue also included a few regular print advertisements from companies such as mobile service provider Nucleus, APR communications, Vista Jets and the Corinthia Hotel.

“It is very difficult to get to the decision-maker in a luxury brand,” Ms. Patrick said. “Essentially [Luxury Connections] is an editorial directory and contains a bit of editorial coverage as well.

“For suppliers, if you want to make a bit more of a splash like the Yellow Pages phone directory, you can talk to our sales department about taking advertorial which we design for you,” she said.

“[This is] a page or a double-page spread which tells everyone a little bit more of your service, your product which you would like to supply to the luxury industry.”

Final Take
Kate Patrick, editor in chief of Luxury Briefing, London