Wednesday, July 18, 2007
22 Days in Africa: $79,850
by
When I emptied the mailbox yesterday, I immediately noticed the large, attractive, 4-color brochure from Abercrombie & Kent. The brochure’s title advertised, “Africa: Desert Kingdoms and Natural Splendors.” A subhead said, “An Extraordinary Journey by Private Jet.” It wasn’t a total accident the brochure found our mailbox. A few months back I had requested some travel literature from the Abercrombie & Kent website, and Africa was one of the areas of interest I had checked.
The brochure was filled with beguiling photos and wonderful copy. What an incredible trip I thought, but how much does it cost? The fact that you travel on a private Boeing 757 that has been converted from it’s normal 186-seat configuration down to 50 seats certainly sent a message this was not going to be an inexpensive journey. So what was the premium for jet setting all over the African continent for 22 days pampered like royalty? Still, I scanned the brochure, but I couldn’t find the price. Finally, after considerable searching, there it was on the “fine print” page: $79,850 per person based on double occupancy. In other words, it would cost $160,000 for my wife and I to sign up for this trip. My first thought was that money would pay for a four-year degree program at Harvard. And my second thought was there is no way on God’s green earth we were going on this trip.
Being in the marketing business, my mind was filled with a number of questions. Why did I get this brochure? Yes, I checked Africa on the A & K website, but I don’t recall any question on the web form I filled out asking if we owned a yacht in the Mediterranean or had recently won the Powerball jackpot. Wonderful, tempting brochure and all, this was clearly out of our league. Did they send this to everyone who checked Africa on their website? If that’s the case, it doesn’t seem like effective target marketing to me.
Why did they make the price so difficult to find? If you’re a couple who can afford three week excursions for $160,000, then I would think the price is something that sets this trip clearly apart for elite consumers in the travel marketplace. Why not give the price front and center prominence? Making the price difficult to find makes it look like your apologizing for the cost. After reading the brochure, I am sure this trip is worth every penny of its lofty price tag. Maybe their reasoning is that by putting the price in small copy on the “Terms and Conditions” page it will simply make it look like it’s “oh, by the way” information. However, I don’t think it is a small, obscure copy item, even if you are an über rich traveler. Price is one of the most important aspects of positioning in marketing, so why not use it and give it more prominence. That’s my two cents anyway.
Lastly, I wondered why an expensive brochure via the mail? I’m on their permission email list. It would have been far cheaper to send me an email and a link to the information and pdf link for this trip on their website. That question at least seemed easy to answer: sometimes there’s no better way to make people feel special than by utilizing a beautiful, professionally-printed brochure personally addressed and delivered through the mail. It made me feel special, and even though it is well out of reach, it now sits atop the “someday maybe” pile in a corner of my home office.
And one more thing. Abercrombie & Kent is now firmly ensconced in my mind as the preeminent brand in the luxury travel category which I assume is exactly what they have intended. It does make some of their more typical itineraries look like outright bargains.
