Alain Wertheimer: Business Sells Pleasure
on Tuesday, October 10, 2017Alain Wertheimer Money Quote saying that luxury goods are rarely about utility, but more about personal perception of success. Alain Wertheimer said:
“We’re in the business of selling pleasure. We don’t sell handbags or haute couture. We sell dreams” — Alain Wertheimer
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In this quote, Alain Wertheimer is describing the luxury goods industry from the perspective of Chanel, the fashion house he co-owns. By stating that the business sells “pleasure” and “dreams” rather than the tangible products themselves, Wertheimer is suggesting that luxury brands appeal to non-material desires through the aspirational images and lifestyles they project.
The interpretation is that Wertheimer views high-end fashion and accessories not as mere commodities, but rather as vehicles to market an intangible sense of glamour, status and fulfillment to consumers.
His message conveys that luxury brands profit not from functional items alone, but from the emotional fulfillment and identity construction they facilitate through the “dreams” of opulence and sophistication associated with their brand images. According to Wertheimer, the real “product” is an idealized lifestyle experience, of which material goods are a means to an aspirational end.