Luxury brands will soon be friction fiends
GOOD THINKING
Redefining Luxury: The Rise of Intentional Friction
This chapter examines the shifting perception of luxury, emphasizing how intentional friction in consumer experiences is gaining importance over traditional notions of seamlessness. The discussion highlights the emerging consumer preference for curated interactions and the value of delayed gratification in luxury acquisitions. Additionally, it addresses the challenges heritage brands face in modern marketing, advocating for a return to authenticity in a digital age.
Now, the newness continues. As I mentioned, rather than a weekly companion podcast, we’re going to do a monthly round-up of 4 letters, looking at what’s bubbling up.
We’re not calling these trends. That’s way too heavy for a month’s worth of content. These are GOOD SIGNS. Signals, patterns, counter-trends. Stuff that’s emerging, continuing, sticking out, or simply, what we’re finding interesting in the last month.
Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy
1
03:31 — FRICTION FLEX // Friction is the new flex. This isn’t about limited-edition or scarcity. This is brands (and people) deliberately introducing slowness and effort. Making everything less greased for ease. Opting into harder, slower, more friction-filled experiences now signals care, taste, and, yep, luxury. It’s a pretty big flip on the last decade, where the definition of greatness was ‘frictionless’.
Places it’s showing up:
Outline’s print catalog with over-the-phone orders.
Deliberately slow experiences.
Friction-filled Substack strategies.
Invite-only drops, referral-only conferences.
Scratch-and-sniff campaigns you have to see IRL for the full experience.
Pendulum Swing → Without a doubt, it’s AI. We are hurtling towards working with our eyes closed (or with no human eyes at all). But much like self-service kiosks and self-checkout have proven, it’s critical to think about what consumers want ‘eased’. There’s a lot. But it’s not everything. Sometimes frictionless causes friction.
2
17:07 — HARDCORE WELLNESS // We’ve moved past wellness meaning ‘spa’. We’re all-in on wellness to confront the un-fun stuff—death, grief, chronic stress, parenthood, aging, mental load, brain health, menopause, you name it. This isn’t the mental health conversation. It’s a conversation about what ‘caring for ourselves’ really means.
Places it’s showing up:
Eazewell’s AI-powered death concierge as ‘mental load’ relief
Postpartum hotels and beautiful birthing tools.
Longevity dads & health as the new ‘provider mode.’
Pendulum Swing → There’s a growing rejection of the wellness industry as a whole. Meaning? Fewer supplements. Less optimization. For ‘leave me be’.
3
24:50 — INTELLIENT OR INTIMATE? // The ‘I’ in AI might need to change from ‘intelligence’ to ‘intimacy’. We’ve gone from not wanting Apple to track our data to offering a meal delivery business our biometric data and health history. And used ChatGPT to discuss our deepest concerns. Why? There’s value in the exchange. We’re also seeing consumers trust the logic of a bot over the bias of a body. Our comfort with AI's ‘wisdom’ is growing faster than most expected.
Places it’s showing up:
Meta glasses with live translation
Wonder’s biometric meal deliveries
ChatGPT is everyone’s therapist.
Pendulum Swing → A deep mistrust "tech bros" still lingers. And the conversation around he value of intuition and anti-patterning is growing louder every day.
4
31:39 — REAL ROMANCE // We’re seeking human experiences more than ever. And not just basic ones. Core-memory-worthy ones. Intimate-ones. We are completely in love with ‘real’. It’s all about the romance.
Places it’s showing up:
Corona’s Brazilian mega concert
Intimate Uno-filled after parties
Pendulum Swing → Especially for post-Covid teens, online identities now feel more “real” than their physical presence. IRL is ‘fake’ and their online presence is a more ‘true’ expression of who they are.
5
39:59 — GREAT EXPECTATIONS // Maximalist mindsets and max expectations are everywhere. From travel to renting, everything is getting layered with extras. You could say ‘downtime must now do something’, but it’s more about wanting to get the max out of life. We’re squeezing the most out of everything.
Places it’s showing up:
Airbnb offering glam, training, and massage to supercharge travel.
Supplements and skincare minibars are coming to hotels.
In-building amenities as renter requirements (co-working, dog runs).
My own work travel philosophy.
Pendulum Swing → The growing movement of anti-consumerism. Happenstance travel.
ABOUT
Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless and proactive positioning.
Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +14K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack
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