A shortcut for how to think about affluent consumers. One of the most important jobs for a marketer of high-end brands is to understand the incredibly complex diversity of affluent consumers in the marketplace. They are not a one-dimensional group, even if the mainstream media tends to portray them that way. “Marketers’ fantasies about […]
Business leaders are the heaviest spenders. Affluent consumers drive the U.S. economy. In an economy where consumer spending accounts for 70% of the country’s gross domestic product, Affluents account for more than 40% of this volume. They are twice as likely to buy, and when they do, spend 3x more than the average household […]
Read More… from Understanding the Most Sought-After Segment of Affluent Americans
Contrasting studies can be confusing, but your job is to remain focused. Sometimes, I am dazed and confused by the variety of reports that come over the transom. In one month, I’ve seen a consumer sentiment study that was bullish, as well as another that was bearish. These contradictions can be confusing, especially to […]
Read More… from Is Consumer Sentiment Improving (Or Not) For High-End Home Brands?
New research illustrates how consumers are engaged by medium. If affluent consumers told you exactly how to engage with them, would you find that information helpful? Might those insights help you sharpen your marketing efforts? A recent study asked affluent consumers about the marketing communications they might see across a variety of mediums and […]
Read More… from Affluents Tell High-End Home Brands How to Engage Them
Be wary of a “one size fits all” marketing approach. Too many marketers believe that affluent consumers behave alike – when in fact, they are as diverse a group as the general population. Researcher Bob Shullman has written, “There are significant differences on many issues depending on their household income, wealth, age, and gender. […]
Read More… from The Dramatic Differences Between Younger and Older Affluents
Going beyond logos and craftsmanship. When marketers of high-end home brands are seeking insights, trends, and inspiration, sometimes it makes sense to look out-of-category, toward other high-end segments such as automotive, fashion, and travel. A perennial source of inspiration for me is the luxury conglomerate, LVMH, parent company of Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Dom Perignon, […]
New tool helps retailers drive sales via Instagram. Social media networks are by their very nature, well, social. They belong to people, not brands, and as hard as brands try, they will never quite “own” social media to the degree that they own other marketing channels. And that sometimes makes marketers nervous. It’s why marketers […]
Read More… from The Missing Link for High-End Home Brand Social Media
Image via Rockwell Group A new luxury concept challenges conventional thinking. When Fred Carl founded Viking Range in the mid-1980s, he challenged the status quo in the appliance world by creating a new category of professional-style cooking equipment created exclusively for the home. My colleagues and I had the great pleasure of working […]
When they come off of the sidelines, they will be different. One of the biggest drivers of the sluggish U.S. housing recovery has been the fact that Millennials – the 80+ million consumers reaching young adulthood around the year 2000 – have been sitting on the sidelines. “This recovery is virtually millennial-free,” says financial […]
Read More… from The Impact of Millennials on High-End Home Brands
You know the story, but do you know the lessons learned from it? Prior to the global financial crisis, affluent consumers spent above their means, in large part due to phantom-like perceived wealth. “Their housing values were going up and their 401k’s were going up, so they felt wealthy and tended to spend above […]
Read More… from Down But Not Out: How Affluents Shop for High-End Home Brands
