Robin Leach, the bombastic British announcer is the godfather of Wealth Porn. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, the TV show he barked over, invented the genre that gave us Real Housewives, Million Dollar Listings and maybe even a significant thread in the Hip-Hop world.
I’m talking about flaunting wealth – as proof of power, success, status, magical ability and as a tool of intimidation. If you’re in marketing you have to do it.
You’ve probably heard about influencers renting time on a parked private plane to fake it and that’s goofy. But then again that whole world is too bizarre to be real. But there are people making a living making duck face. For us, we are talking about simple bragging. People want to connect to a winner. Even if you don’t have a Bel Air mansion overlooking the ocean there is a way for you to polish your apple. You lost 45 pounds during the pandemic, you saved a kid’s life, you quadrupled your income in 3 years (I’ve done all those things).
Whatever it is that you have done that communicates power or prowess is something that you have to put into your messaging. My point is, this is part of the landscape and it is expected. I know one couple that sells a self-sufficient home book, and they have been living that lifestyle for a couple decades. So that accomplishment, which is significant in itself and for the purposes of their market, is part of the story they tell in their sales pitch. It doesn’t always have to be about a Rolls-Royce. But it does have to be about power, which is what those shows are all about. As I mentioned in the second sentence it is a significant thread in the Hip-Hop genre, where they are either talking about what they have or what they are going to have and how aggressively they are going to get it.
Again, Wealth Porn is meant to dazzle but it is also meant to impress the audience that you are a force to be reckoned with. That you cannot be ignored or denied – or that you are so powerful you are indifferent to what they actually think about the thing you have just bragged about which is a funny trick that most people don’t catch.
BTW, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is a case study in the How to Create Million Dollar Products book. You should buy it if you haven’t already.
To learn how to package your drive to create a business into a form that works, check out our book, How to Create Million Dollar Products.
This is for the Kindle: Amazon.com: How to Create Million Dollar Products eBook : Giovinazzi, Frank: Kindle Store
This will take you to the paperback: How to Create Million Dollar Products: The hidden formula behind the legendary best sellers of the last 100 years!: Giovinazzi, Frank: 9798843922030: Amazon.com: Books