If, as good info-gathering marketers, we were to evaluate another brand's marketing efforts solely on their big-picture imagery in glossy magazines, we'd probably miss the point -- for luxury brands (and on down the line, I'd guess).

A new study by Echelon Marketing Group found, among other things, that 85% of luxury goods marketers want to engage in more one-on-one marketing, but that only half of them actually do.

Other study findings mentioned in the Brandweek article by Sandra O'Loughlin include:

- consumers assume luxury brands have large marketing department when they don't necessarily have them.

- email is the least effective way of communicating with luxury buyers, and things like direct mail, phone calls and special events involving consumers are the way to go.

As I prepare for an upcoming presentation for a luxury retailer conference, I have come across some anecdotal examples that would seem to confirm these findings. We've all seen great branding campaigns by luxury industry associations, for example, but the potential for more one-one-one marketing relevance at the store level is nowhere near fully explored. For big-ticket items in an abundant world, there seems to be a lot of opportunity out there for differentiation at a human-scale.

So, where do you shop for luxury items yourself? Do you do a lot of online research (perhaps letting big brand imagery inspire your search), but then buy from the local retailer around the corner (because you just love the family that runs it)?

Perhaps the thought that the big glossy branding campaign is the only way to go is what keeps stores/marketers from more grassroots methods like phone calls, special events and the like. However, when you consider the successful luxury retailers - on a local level (think Main Street, Anytown, USA), it becomes clear that their lower budget, one-on-one connections with the folks that walk in their door, call or email them are what drive the longest lasting loyalties.

So, take this Echelon report to heart, and:

- Give any existing industry-wide brand imagery new legs by also putting some money/effort into that one-on-one approach you've been thinking about, but have never quite gotten to.

- Leverage the fact that you don't have the assumed large marketing department, and customers might even trust you a bit more (!). Use existing customer stories as your marketing department instead.

- Use email marketing more strategically (smaller scale/more focused), while at the same time getting more involved in events and promotions (and causes) that put you in direct contact with consumers. People buy from people, after all.