Who said money can't buy love?

I was flipping through Vanity Fair when I noticed one plain simple advertisement, black background with red heart-shape magnet in the middle with the tag line "Narrow the Field". It made me interested what this ad was all about. Then, I saw the name "Gray & Farrar". Without the description, I wouldn't know what the brand offers.

Gray & Farrar is an excellent example of luxury service brand. It is the ultimate matchmaking service where only the most eligible single people are accepted as clients. The success of its service is a result of its success of selection criteria and premium quality of service. Also, Gray & Farrar states firmly that it is certainly not right for everybody, reflecting its core value of exclusivity and luxury. Luxury brand is surely not for everybody.   

It is renowned for being ultra exclusive, personal and client-based, one of the world's best kept secrets, and customers' privacy and confidentiality issue is at the forefront of what they do. There is no internet and computer used in their business but only hand-written blue or pink folders are kept safely as a database for security reasons. Gray & Farrar service aims at millionaires and billionaires who have loads of money but lack of love.

Gray & Farrar has its headquarter located in the area of Berkeley square, Mayfair, London, with business operating internationally as well in Geneva, Brussels, Monaco, Milan, Paris, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and New York. It is owned by Virginia Sweetingham who just recently has her daughter joining, Claire, and they work with a team of professional executive matchmakers. Operating the business for 23 years, they make a fortune from providing romance for those rich love-starving clients. The fee ranges from GBP 10,000 upwards and limitless depending on the bespoke service they are offering. The high price is an indication of Gray & Farrar and clients' commitment to find the right person

They currently have 750 male and 750 female client base, wealthy but single people who are ready to commit and look for loyalty and trust. The median age is around 40 years old with the youngest at 22 and oldest at over 70 years old. The service is not just a casual dating. The most challenging thing is to find the right and compatible partner for clients, providing them with a chance to getting to know new people and enter different social circles in a dignified way. 

One of its interesting elements is the brandname "Gray & Farrar". I personally think it follows the mantra of luxury brands in choosing the name for its business. Normally, brand name often captures the central theme or key associations of a product in a very compact and economical fashion. It is an effective shorthand means of communication because it is closely tied to the type of product in consumers' mind (Keller, 2003). However, for luxury brand, it tends to use fashionably distinctive name or human's name, mostly founder or designer, as a brand name. With Gray & Farrar, the owner didn't want to use their own name and neither the cheesy name that has something to do with matchmaking service. Sweetingham looked through the phonebook and picked two common surnames, Gray and Farrar, as the name of the business. It is the most suitable name as it has nothing involving what they do, subtle and discreetly. They believe the name reflects privacy and sensitivity, reducing the customers' awkward shame and embarrassment in approaching for help.

The requirement and criteria of the service can be extremely fascinating, specific brief that requires bespoke service. One key tool that Gray & Farrar has is the world's lists of most beautiful and available men and women at hand and their expertise. Believe it or not, Gray & Farrar performs successfully in 90% of their matchmaking.

"We can't deliver chemistry. We offer fate and chance. We stage, we don't script." - Sweetingham      

According to ABIA (Association of British Introduction Agencies), UK dating statistics show that 52% of men and 48% of women have used the internet to find a date. It is clearly now that as the world is moving forward and people have all kinds of products and services to serve their needs, it is easy to use money to buy satisfaction, even for love. With dating service on the rise and luxury business growing continuously, Gray & Farrar is one good example of luxury service brand well-performed in the market, with the right positioning and tactic it employes in order to be successful.

It made me think of the movie Indecent Proposal and the old cliché of money can't buy love. Well, in the era of 20th century, I have to agree there is almost absolutely nothing money can't buy, including the big word, L-O-V-E! 

Bibliography

1. Keller, K. (2003). Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity USA.: Pearson Education.

2. GrayandFarrar (2011). Available at http://www.grayandfarrar.com/en/go/welcome (Accessed 14 March 2011).

3. Copetas, A. C. (2011). Lonely Billionaires Roam Globe for Luxury Love Therapy. Available at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-19/lonely-billionaires-roam-globe-seek-luxury-love-therapy-a-craig-copetas.html (Accessed 13 March 2011).

4. BanburyGuardian (2006). Love on Offer to Lonely Hearts. Available at http://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/love_on_offer_to_lonely_hearts_1_587753 (Accessed 14 March 2011)

5. Musafer, S. (2011). The Price of Finding Love: How Much Would You Pay? Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12017394 (Accessed 13 March 2011).

6. Toffsworld (2010). Gray and Farrar, The Ultimate Matchmaking Service. Available at http://toffsworld.com/lifestyle/dating-agencies/gray-and-farrar-the-ultimate-matchmaking-service/ (Accessed 13 March 2011).

7. Association of British Introduction Agencies (2011). Available at http://www.abia.org.uk/ (Accessed 14 March 2011). 

8. The Internet Movie Database (2011). Indecent Proposal Memorable Quotes. Available at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107211/quotes ( Accessed 14 March 2011).