FORTNUM & MASON: SELLING AN EXPERIENCE

Morning!

I'm currently spending the weekend down in London and honestly, it's much better than I remembered.

Don't get me wrong though, I am not a fan of this cold weather. It is definitely going to take some getting used to.

Anyway, today's breakdown involves a cracking story and some great marketing (as always).

Enjoy!

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Let me set the scene for this one...

It's a cold winter's day in England, I'm wrapped up in about 15 layers and the family and I are walking down Picadilly feeling and acting like tourists - as every northerner does when in London.

With the cold slowly getting to us we decided to nip into Fortum & Mason's for a look around and honestly, a chance to warm up.

The second we stepped through the door my dad's pockets tightened, he wasn't for spending any cash in here (sorry dad for exposing you).

But as we pondered around and had a gander at the products across the store, I began to understand why dad's wallet was firmly closed. Everything in the store was 5-10x the price I'd expect for stuff - even in downtown London.

Nonetheless, we spent the next two hours still walking around the store moseying at all the products on offer.

But as time went on I slowly began to realise that we weren't in Fortnum & Mason to do any shopping, we were literally just here for the Fortnum & Mason experience.

We didn't even care about what they were selling.

We were there to experience the hustle and bustle and the luxury that stepping into the store provides.

And that's exactly why they can charge so much for the products in the store. Because people aren't just buying the product, they're buying the fact the product came out of this awesome experience they had in the store.

For example, my Nan actually bought some mince pies whilst we were there.

She knew and I knew that the chances are those mince pies aren't any better than the ones you can buy in Sainsbury's.

Chances are they might even be worse. I mean come on, it's not like they're a bakery right?

But she didn't care, because she was buying the pies so she got to extend that experience. Rather than just looking she got to:

• Purchase a part of F&M

• Take a part of the F&M experience home

• Then share that part of the experience with the rest of her family.

Awesome right?

And honestly, I think it's worth the extra 50% you pay for all of that which you get with it.

But the real winners here are Fortnum & Mason and their genius ability to create such an experience. So, how do they do it?1. Their pricing

Too often, people forget that their pricing is a part of their marketing (moreso their positioning). But a huge part of creating the F&M luxury experience is where they price things at.

No one talks about the TK MAXX experience or the Wetherspoons experience (at least not in a good way) and you know why? Because they're cheap as chips and no one feels cool being in there.

F&M make everything in their store seem premium with their pricing and that immediately sets the tone the second you walk in.

2. Their people

A business isn't the product of its people, a business IS its people.

And there is a reason that when you walk around the F&M store the people look like this:

They're dressed to the nines in suits that would be too smart even on your wedding day. Because they're part of the experience.

They want you to walk into the store and feel like you're the Queen (or maybe King now) of England.

And let's be honest... the Royals wouldn't settle for anything less.

3. Their approach

You walk into 99% of stores and they all do the same shit.

Cool products in the window, nicest gear up front and you walk around with a mixture of men's and women's clothes or whatever they sell all sectioned off.

Long story short, they set you up to buy as much from them as possible.

However, I feel like F&M takes a completely different approach. Rather than thinking about how much money they can have you spend, they focus on adding enough exciting stuff to their store that you could literally spend the whole day there.

• Café

• Sweets

• Clothes

• Hampers

• Cutlery

• Dining sets

• Mince pies

• Photo booths

You could literally spend the whole day there.

That may seem like nothing major, but the differentiation changes it from a classic high street store to that experience I keep talking about.

Put these 3 things together and you have this magical experience that makes Fortnum and Mason.

Positioning, branding, marketing, whatever you want to call it this is a genius strategy and one that everyone should look to take something from.

How?

Simple. Stop thinking about your business as a service or a product and instead start thinking about the experience aspect of it. - How does it feel to work with you? Luxury or budget? Do they feel like the Queen of England when they work with you?- How do your staff interact with your clients/customers? Are they in red-tailed suits or does it feel like they don't care?- What's your approach? Do you feel like just any other agency or business? Or do they want to spell all day working with you?

It may seem like nothing, but just know, people are willing to pay a healthy premium for a good experience - Fortnum & Mason shows that. For those who care, I caved and got a bar of dark chocolate while I was there. We all had a block. Cost £7, didn't taste like £7 worth - wouldn't recommend.

And that's all for today!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

— Niall

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This has been a breakdown of Fortnum & Mason's marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

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