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Stop calling your brand “luxury” if it isn’t. You’re not helping yourself.

“Luxury” is not a prettier word for nice, expensive or high quality.
Real luxury comes with very specific attributes: rarity, craftsmanship, consistency, and a level of service that feels almost unreasonable in its attention to detail.

Yet today, everything is “luxury”: clinics, burger joints, car washes, mid-scale hotels. And it’s a problem.

Here’s why misusing the word hurts your brand:

• You overpromise and underdeliver. Guests arrive expecting a Four Seasons moment and get a decent three-star experience. That gap becomes disappointment, bad reviews and broken trust.
• You attract the wrong audience. High spenders quickly realise it’s not truly luxury and never return. The middle segment feels “this isn’t really for me” and stays away.
• You hide your real strengths. Maybe you’re actually smart value, stylish and accessible – but the “luxury” label makes you sound generic and unrealistic.

Instead of forcing the L-word, be precise:

• If you are about value and quality → say “premium everyday” or “accessible quality”.
• If you are about design and experience → say “boutique”, “design-led”, “curated”.
• If you are about speed and convenience → say “seamless”, “frictionless”, “on-demand”.

Use words that match what people actually feel when they visit you.

So when can you credibly use a luxury proposition?

• Your pricing sits at the very top of your category.
• Your product or service is limited, rare or hard to access (waiting lists, small production, invitation-only).
• Your service is deeply personal – you know names, preferences, histories.
• Every touchpoint – product, packaging, space, communication, after-sales – is consistent and meticulously considered.
• You build long-term relationships, not one-off transactions.

If you don’t truly serve the top of the market, that’s fine. There is huge profit and pride in being premium, smart, honest and accessible.

But “luxury” is a promise.
If you can’t keep it, don’t make it.

عن جد… إذا كل شي اليوم صار “لكجري”
مطعم لكجري، عيادة لكجري، حتى مغسلة سيارات لكجري…
طيب شو ضل فعلياً فخم و نادر بهالحياة؟

أنا اليوم جايي أحكى مع أصحاب البزنس و الماركتيرز عن كلمة وحدة عم تضر البراند أكتر ما عم تفيده: لكجري.

كتير شركات بتستعمل كلمة لكجري بس لحتى تجذب العملاء اللي بيصرفوا كتير.
بس المشكلة، لما الزبون يجي و يلاقي تجربة عادية…
هون بيصير أخطر شي عالبراند: فجوة التوقعات.

هو متوقع مستوى قصور، بس بياخد مستوى عادي محترم…
شو بيصير؟
إحباط، ريفيو سلبي، و شعور إنو البراند بيبالغ و ما بينوثَق فيه.

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