Michelin-star restaurants’ quiet luxury approach to marketing has to adapt in the era of social media

Chanel, Christian Louboutin and Hermès are names that are synonymous with luxury, signifying elegance, craftmanship and prestige. These brands often use subtle, mysterious signals to communicate their status – things like minimalist designs or the red sole on a Louboutin shoe. Often termed “quiet luxury”, this trend is also seen in the world of high-end dining.

This approach to luxury branding is aimed at creating a desire in consumers to learn these signals. In this way, you become part of an exclusive group that can interpret them. Even if the brands are out of reach price-wise, the ability to “speak their language” brings a cache and status.

But social media has challenged this concept of quiet luxury by bringing brands closer to consumers. More than four billion people around the world use social media, so brands that once felt difficult to reach can now be accessed instantly.

When it comes to the services and hospitality sectors, the “luxury” is embedded in an experience rather than a product. The recent Michelin Awards were hosted in Dublin and saw two new Michelin-star restaurants being added in Ireland and 20 in the UK.

For these high-end dining establishments, social media has raised a different set of challenges for marketers trying to capture the magic of their offering while preserving some mystique. After all, giving too much detail away in a social media post may spoil the eventual experience for the consumer.

For example, the (now closed) Ultraviolet Shanghai restaurant in China boasted three Michelin stars. But its secret location was disclosed only to diners who reserved one of the ten seats available per night.

Going for the soft sell

In our recent study of luxury dining in the UK and Ireland, we interviewed the chefs, owners and marketing managers of 29 Michelin-star restaurants. Specifically, we asked them how they can sustain visibility and engagement in the noisy, ever-evolving world of social media – while preserving the core elements of luxury.

We found that luxury restaurants tend to favour a soft-sell approach to using social media to send these signals of quality. The idea is not to simply state what they offer. Rather, it is about a “show, don’t tell” approach that hints at the signals for those who can read between the lines.

As the consumer, you get a flavour (pun very much intended) of the luxury, which is meant to entice but not to reveal all. It’s about leaving you to speculate on what other ingredients and flavour combinations may await or other clues or hints about the luxury experience.

What also emerged from our interviews was the variety of experiences that these restaurants offer. Michelin (although secretive on its awarding criteria) applies consistent standards across all markets where it publishes its guide to the finest restaurants.

But at the same time, it describes a rich tapestry of varied dining experiences. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to delivering world-class food or communicating the quality of a restaurant on social media. For restaurants seeking to ascend to that luxury level, it’s about crafting a story on social media showcasing their quality and what makes them stand out, while maintaining that mysterious allure.

One of the main takeaways from our study is how luxury restaurants preserve mystery to create excitement and inspire customers to visit. So-called “low-mystery” signals (like in-depth descriptions of dishes) hype up the restaurant. But elements of the experience that mark it as luxury (the service, ambience and ingredients, for example) can be strategically curbed in social media posts – “high-mystery” signals. In this way, the restaurant can hope to provoke a sense of surprise and awe in customers once they arrive.

In the future, agentic AI will undoubtedly play a bigger role in enhancing luxury hospitality by doing things like designing bespoke dining experiences. From a marketing perspective right now, gen-AI tools offer quick and convenient ways of generating social media content. But there’s a risk that this could hinder luxury allure rather than help it. Attempts to prompt gen-AI tools to create a sense of mystery and anticipation could go wrong and produce the opposite effect.

Whether in fashion or food, luxury brands that want to communicate superiority appear to be best served by using the soft-sell approach. High-mystery social media marketing can create desire in potential customers by preserving the mystique and allure of the product or service. Because if you know, you know – right?

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.