There aren’t many doors money can’t open anymore.
The table.
The villa.
The island.
The jet.
The impossible-to-get-into thing.
With enough money and the right little black book of contacts, pretty much anything can be arranged. Which is a bit of a problem if your brand is built around opening doors.
For a long time, luxury had a pretty good answer. Scarcity. Make fewer of them. Make it harder to find. Make people wait. Make access itself feel valuable.
Then came a different kind of luxury. Access.
The places nobody else goes. The experiences nobody else can arrange. The people nobody else can introduce you to. And we’ve got very, very good at it.
More private.
More personal.
More remote.
More ridiculous.
And we love ridiculous.
But there’s a problem. Access can be matched.
Someone else can charter the jet.
Someone else knows the owner.
Someone else can get the table.
Someone else can get you there.
So perhaps there’s another shift happening.
SCARCITY → ACCESS → AFFINITY
Affinity is different. You can’t manufacture it by making fewer things. And you can’t create it just by opening more doors.
It happens when people see something of themselves in a brand.
Its taste.
Its attitude.
Its people.
Its values.
Its view of the world.
And there are signs that this is starting to matter more.
McKinsey’s latest research into more than 2,000 luxury consumers in the US and China found that emotional connection is now a top driver of brand desirability, ahead of traditional luxury markers including craftsmanship, heritage and exclusivity. That feels big.
Because when what you offer can be matched, what you mean becomes way more valuable.
For businesses built around access… travel, hospitality, aviation, yachting, private clubs, wellness… that raises a really interesting question.
If your customers can get what you offer somewhere else, why would they even choose you?
And perhaps even more importantly… why would they choose you again?
In travel, where every experience has an end. The trip finishes. Everyone goes home. And the next time they want to go somewhere, the choice starts all over again.
Unless the brand gives them a reason not to.
That’s where we think affinity gets interesting. Not just what you can give people access to.
But what you stand for. Who you attract. The world you create around you.
Because access might win the trip. Affinity can win the relationship.
