How to measure a luxury brand partnership

Decide what success means first

A partnership meant to introduce a collection to new people shouldn’t be judged like an appointment programme for existing clients. Write down the result you want before the event, then pick one main measure that a named team can record.

For a hotel and jewellery viewing, that might be appointments requested. For a retail partnership, it might be personal-shopping introductions that took place.

Count each stage on its own

These numbers describe different things, so report them separately. Then you can see where interest stopped.

• Invited: clients on the approved invitation list
• Confirmed: guests who accepted
• Attended: guests who came
• Asked for a next step: guests who requested an appointment or information
• Completed the next step: requests fulfilled within the review period

Count people. A guest who asks for two appointments is still one guest.

A worked example

Suppose 20 guests attend a private viewing and five ask for a boutique appointment. Your appointment-request rate is 5 ÷ 20, or 25%. If three of those appointments take place within the review period, 60% of requests were completed.

These are invented numbers, neither Eva’s results nor a benchmark. They also say nothing yet about revenue.

What event ROI can and can’t tell you

Event ROI is usually worked out as the revenue linked to an event, minus its cost, divided by its cost. In private-client work the hard part is the word “linked”. A client may already have known the brand, may have planned to visit anyway, or may buy eight months later.

Set the review window before the event, and report only what you can support. “Two guests bought within 90 days” is a fact you can stand behind. “The event generated these sales” needs more evidence. Revenue and client details stay with the company that owns them, so partners can share totals and leave the names out.

Ask the hosts what they heard

Numbers won’t tell you that the appointments ran short, or that three people asked a question nobody could answer. Ask the hosts within a few days, and listen for anything you hear more than once.

Residents and visiting guests may also behave differently, since a visitor may not be able to come back within a short review window. Split them only if you have a fair and permitted way of doing so.

End the review with a decision

One page is enough: the objective, the results, what you can’t say and what happens next. That could mean repeating the format with a different schedule, rewriting the invitation or choosing another partner.

If you are still planning, start with how a hotel and a jewellery brand build a partnership. Eva also advises on luxury brand partnerships and private-client events in Dubai.