Paracelsus Clinic in Switzerland was facing a challenge: as the world’s most luxurious (and expensive) rehab facility, they were was keen to promote their exclusivity and extravagance, however their target demographic (ultra-wealthy individuals who could afford the staggering £76,000/week services) were notoriously private and difficult-to-engage.
The clinic had tested the waters to enter social media discussions with the aim of featuring the brand alongside outrageous examples of luxury – however, Sophisticated Comms’ audit identified that for the brand to participate in such conversations risked offending and alienating their existing clientele, who would not want to have their drug and alcohol treatment aligned with ‘the world’s most expensive burger.’
Noting efforts toward that end were risky and not making a lasting impression on the notoriously difficult-to-reach target demographic, Sophisticated Comms proposed an update to their existing strategy: masking the clinic’s identity to protect its clientele in order to deliver their humorous take on extreme wealth.
Make it While you Fake it
Sophisticated Comms developed two distinctive characters as the hosts for parody accounts designed to convey key messaging on exclusivity, price and location, in order to connect with high net worth individuals and generate aspirational intrigue whilst laying the groundwork for the PR effort to promote the weeklong ‘Jetset Reset.’
These satirical ‘1% problems’ accounts offered an alternative means of promoting the outrageously expensive as the norm – without ridiculing the clientele.
In the wake of the success of Babe Walker (of @WhiteGirlProblems fame), Sophisticated Comms established a preposterously posh set of services for the facility, which included such treatments as;
- Restorative Slimming Coma
- Remote-controlled Tapeworm Therapy
- Artisanal Blend Scream Mindfulness
- Foraged Hotspring Meditation
- Heirloom Relationship Discovery
- Sustainable Carbohydrate Roleplay
Q: Why employ two different strategies?
A: Because we take parody that seriously.
Sophisticated Comms recognised that for the characters to resonate on different platforms, they would need to be delivering different content – a parody clinic would not sufficiently connect with the Rich Kids of Instagram, a driving force behind the increase of aspirational wealth content in 2017.
However, a mass exodus of youth culture from ‘parent-friendly platforms’ Facebook and Twitter in favour of the visual storytelling of IG meant there was opportunity to connect in those spaces with the older generation, who were more likely to be paying for treatment.
Le Petit Detox
Twitter + Facebook
For these platforms, we wanted a witty, conversational approach to promote content featuring luxury experiences and services from around the world – so rather than using a ‘most expensive’ approach, we used the ‘how to spend it,’ approach.
We created the persona of administrator for a Swiss-based ‘mystery clinic,’ who would never try to be ‘funny,’ – instead, maintaining a dignified tone with a no-request-is-too-much feel, allowing the team to discuss items that high net worth individuals might like, in keeping with our tone of ‘it’s simply reasonable to want the best’ on Twitter.
1%Ughs
On Instagram, we tested the persona of a socialite with ‘one percenter’ problems, including scheduling to attend ‘le petit detox’ to evade internship.
Her personal motto: ‘if you’re detoxing for less than £80K/week, it’s almost not worth it.’
Within 48 hours, using only organic strategies, we had secured Instagram following and engagement from the UAE’s leading yacht brokerage and exclusive Austrian ski chalets in addition to users from the desired demographic – such as heiress and Real Housewives star Elaine Sassoon and luxury travel influencer Scott Eddy, who followed and engaged with our Le Petit Detox.
On Twitter, we further acquired some surprising fans – including UK etiquette expert and former butler to Princes Charles, William and Harry – Grant Harrold.
Sophisticated Comms 