NORTHERN PLANNER

The Future Foundation has found that in Europe, luxury is no longer reserved for the selected few. A certain level of material wealth is within the reach of more people (half of the UK think they can afford to splash out), so luxury is less about flashy names and more about ‘me time’.

Instead of an obsession with with names and ‘labels’, we frown more on self indulgence. Instead of massing more stuff, we want to try new things and share more experiences with friends and family.

Luxury brands are becoming less about quality and more about quality of life. Like a bottle of wine becoming more about sensuous pleasure and less about the exclusivity of the vineyard. But luxury brands wrapping  more experiences around what they sell presents and opportunity for those that don’t.

‘No frills’ brands like TK Max, Primark, Lidl  and Easy Jet have benefited from offering the same result for less money – by eschewing all the added extras.  Not many have an agenda setting reputation though, most are just ‘there’. Maybe they could stand for spending less on ‘stuff’ and doing all the things you want with the people you want.

Imagine an airline that wants you to spend less on in flight and more on a romantic dinner on holiday, or a clothes discounter that wants you to be able to have that little black dress and be able to go out and show it off more. What do you think, can no frills brands be about living your life on your own terms? About doing the things you never seem to get around to doing?