Opportunity?

A series of recent experiences and insights by businesspeople and authors I deeply respect has my mind spinning.

First, my experience.  I was in Mexico City a few weeks ago talking at Expectations 2011, a conference for wedding professionals in the Latin American luxury market.  There I met several of the speakers, in particular, Eduardo Kohlmann from Mexico City and Efrain Salas from Lima, Peru.  Eduardo is the largest caterer/event producer in Mexico and Efrain has a multi-million dollar lifestyle advice and event design business in Lima.  Both Eduardo and Efrain do far more than just events.  They comment on all aspects of their clients’ lives.  Efrain, in particular, provides interior design services, travel advice, fashion styling and, of course, event design and production.

Next, I have just finished Gary Vaynerchuk’s The Thank You Economy, just started Guy Kawasaki’s Enchantment and have been paying close attention to Seth Godin recently.  The common theme among all of them is that it will not be possible to succeed in the future without creating a deep emotional connection with clients.

Last, is BHLDN, Urban Outfitter’s foray into the wedding fashion business.  I know that Urban’s business has suffered a setback recently, but I am still fascinated by what they are intending to do with BHLDN apart from fashion.  These are some seriously smart retailers who have been ahead of trends for a very long time.  In particular, I am interested in the idea expressed in their press release that they intend to provide the bride with advice on all aspects of her wedding – from décor to accessories to gifts.

Together, they have all brought me to this notion: it is a fantastic time to be in a creative business, especially one focused on the social market.  Fashion has been able to transcend its medium for a long time – think how far and wide brands like Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Armani extend outside of clothing.  Now I believe we are coming to the dawn where every creative business has the opportunity to transcend its medium.  Why? The trust relationship, emotional connection and the ability of the work of a creative business to reflect the personal style of its client.  Take weddings, for example.  Twenty five years ago, the ability of the wedding to be a deep reflection of all a bride viewed her style to be really was not possible.  There just was not enough information, choice and inspiration out there to make the wedding as much of a fashion statement as her everyday wardrobe.  Today, of course, not only is it possible, it is almost expected that is what will happen.  The beauty of our on-line world.

The result is that those creative businesses tasked with bringing a client’s vision to reality today now find themselves in a trust relationship far deeper and more intense than ever before.  All of the communication and networking tools available to us today only serve to enhance the relationship.  The deeper and more intense the relationship the bigger the opportunity to carry it further into other business endeavors, especially if your creative business is heavily focused in a particular region.  Lifestyle today means those who know a client best and can help her express herself in areas she may not be most comfortable – be it any kind of design, photography or food.  Once you establish your authority in a particular area it is entirely possible to extrapolate the authority to another area.  As with Efrain, interior designers can comment on travel and fashion.  Event designers on everyday floral styling.  Photographers on health and beauty care.

To me, this is a remarkable state of affairs, not so much to say that the next Martha Stewart is around the corner.  Instead, the idea is that you can be your client’s Martha mostly because you do live around the corner from your client and know her style better than Martha ever could.  Your work with her is a deep reflection of that style.  So now what?