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Claiborne Is Selling Brands, But Why...   What To Wear On Your Favorite Talk Show
Nov 1 2007 2:32PM EDT

Emotional Intelligence: Which Brands Win?

Kudos to the Wall Street Journal for another article which tries to mix science with shopping. They brought Dan Hill, president of Sensory Logic, a company that helps companies "connect emotionally with patrons." To do that he went shopping on Rodeo Drive with a WSJ reporter to use some "facial coding," a technique of reading and using facial expressions, to determine which stores were doing the most to make themselves welcoming. Who failed? Van Cleef whose salesperson practically snarled her "May I help you?" And Yves Saint Laurent, whose mannequins gave out such ominous signals -- palms held outward to ward off customers -- that Hill called it "contemptuous." Who won? Coach, which makes sense since accessible luxury is their whole thing. And the mink-covered VIP floor at Dolce & Gabanna. "Downstairs, it's 'meet the goddesses' and upstairs, you are the goddess," Hill said.

One would think that in this day of mass luxury and the working rich the snob factor of salespeople would be a quaint thing of the past. But no. And I'm not sure it will ever be eradicated. Because when your livelihood depends on selling expensive things to people who have much more money than you, it must feel nice to be able to look down on somebody else once and a while. And at Prada you don't have the option of spitting in their food.

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