Yesterday, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars launched a new app called “Whispers” to Rolls-Royce owners in the UK, the US, Europe, and the Middle East.
The luxury British automaker said Whispers — the “most exclusive Members Club in the world” — is a “a gateway to the world’s most rarefied products, services and ideas.”
In case it wasn’t clear: You’re not rich enough for this club
According to Rolls-Royce, its customers are “untethered by common constraints such as time and money.”
And the company’s app — which it says has been tested for 2+ years — is designed to extend the Rolls-Royce ultra-luxury brand beyond cars and into high-end experiences.
But, naturally, Whispers will only be available to owners of new Rolls-Royces.
And the luxury Whispers app looks a lot like normal apps…
Just with more caviar. Or dolled up with diamonds to make them more exclusive.
The deceptively normal-seeming Whispers app includes:
- A social network (AKA, in Roycese… “A Global Community of Like-minded Individuals”)
- An online store (AKA… “An Inspiring and Sometimes Whimsical Collection of Luxury Offerings”)
- Digital media content (AKA… “Inspiring Greatness through Evocative Thought Pieces”)
But though the features of the app may seem familiar…
Whisper’s experiential offerings aren’t exactly subtle
Many of the experiences in the Rolls-Royce app are customizable for each high-end customer. But that didn’t stop the company from making some… suggestions.
Among the app’s ritziest recommendations:
- An expedition to Antarctica
- A private New York Philharmonic Orchestra performance
- Commissioned portraits of favorite pets
- A custom-built personal racetrack
- A personalized Monopoly set incorporating the customer’s own properties and assets
Whispers is another example of “experiential exclusivity”
There’s nothing more luxurious than exclusivity. So social clubs, apps, and other experiences with absurdly high barriers to entry — like Rolls-Royce ownership — offer new ways for the world’s most elite luxury businesses to sell their brands.
Rolls-Royce isn’t the only one in on the action, either: Prada recently launched an event series featuring art, music, food, and panel discussions (available only to its VIP superfans, of course). Ralph Lauren, Gucci, and other luxe-tailers have also moved in the experiential direction.