Convenience – A New Hallmark of Luxury
This year, we have seen the impact COVID-19 has made across industries to catapult change (whether or not an organization was ready for it). In […]
Getting your brand back on top.
Once it became clear that we would be spending months at home, Affluents wasted no time investing in their spaces. Almost every affluent we’ve talked […]
Do the right thing. Win their loyalty.
It’s June. Months since the global pandemic caused the U.S. economy and life as we knew it to turn upside down. What do we know? […]
Home = Haven: Affluents are spending
As today’s affluents are spending more time at home than ever, they’re coming to the realization – some quicker than others – that we’re in […]
How can high-end home brands adapt to a pandemic?
In addition to following the health and economic impacts of COVID-19, we are considering the impacts to consumer behavior, specifically in the high-end home category. […]
Taking High-End Brands Through Challenging Times
“I think we both believed that we were in a fog we couldn’t see through yet, though in a while, maybe not even a long […]
How smart brands communicate during a crisis.
How to communicate with consumers in uncertain times. Given the rapidly changing situation, knowing when and how to communicate with customers and prospects will […]
Wellness, Affluence and High-end Home Brands
You might ask what these three have in common. I suggest that, if you’re in the category of selling high-end home brands and you’re not […]
The Net Promoter Score’s Lovers and Haters
How high-end home brands can benefit from NPS It’s good to ask your customers for feedback, and even better if you can do it simply […]
The New World of Computer-Generated Imagery
How High-End Home Brands Are Benefiting from CGI It used to be that creating fantasy kitchen photography as part of a marketing campaign for our […]
Push the envelope right into the high-end home.
One of the things I see time and time again is high-end home brands shying away from cutting-edge marketing. They often follow the trends instead […]
The Quest for Connection with the Elusive and Mysterious Ultra High Net Worth Consumer Continues
Over the years, my post about finding and connecting with this group has remained one of the most popular. And a topic I often […]
Seeking the Perfect Convergence of Affluence, Influence and Intent
The aim of marketing is to know the consumer so well that the product sells itself. This idea, courtesy of Peter Drucker, is deceivingly simple, […]
Stakeholders Need Numbers to Realize the Value of Marketing
Sometimes CMOs have to help other decision-makers understand that marketing entails more than advertising—particularly in the case of high-end brands. A recent study from […]
When it Comes to Content, Think Curated-Not Cluttered
Marketers of high-end brands should always prioritize quality over quantity. We live in a world of constant content, to the tune of 500 million tweets, […]
The Down Payment Will Have to Wait
How the Millennial experience continues to impact high-end brands I read an interesting piece recently about Millennials in The New York Times, which demonstrates the […]
Building Brand Loyalty One Relationship at a Time
Affluent consumers need something nonnegotiable from their high-end brand counterpart, and that is recognition. Customers know how much their purchase is worth, and they seek […]
Is the Year Ahead a Threat or an Opportunity?
Is the Year Ahead a Threat or an Opportunity? For Marketers of High-End Brands, the Answer Is Yes Your consumer is evolving in dramatic ways, […]
4 Marketing Trends to Watch for in 2018
This post was written by the Upward Home team. With 2018 right around the corner, it’s time to embrace the marketing trends that are going […]
The Myth of Working vs. Non-Working Dollars
A new way of thinking for marketers of high-end brands Recently, I was asked by a client to lower the fees on a targeted digital […]
Leveraging the Luxury Experience Economy
This post was written by the Upward Home team. The Experience Economy For luxury brands, business as usual is just not enough in today’s economy. […]
High-End Humor for the High-End Brand
This post was written by the Upward Home team Humor is often the key ingredient in an advertising video gone viral. When we associate a […]
Affluent Brands and Cross-Promotion: Is the reward worth the risk?
This post was written by the Upward Home team Cross-promotion can be a mutually beneficial tool for brands looking to expand their footprint and attract […]
Micro Influencers, Major Results.
Find the right social media influencer for your high-end home brand This post was written by The Upward Home Team Luxury brands have been […]
A Tale of Two Cities
High-End Brands Face the Best of Times, the Worst of Times It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it […]
Generational Marketing: Change Your Approach, Not Your Product
Why targeting your marketing to a specific generation produces results. I have always been fascinated by generational marketing and have written about Millenials […]
Launching Your Brand Upmarket
A picture is worth 1000 words. But credibility is worth much more in sales. For the past several months my Ramey team and I have […]
How to Humanize Your High-End Brand
Connecting with consumers is key to success For a luxury brand to succeed in the market, it used to be enough to just be… luxurious. True […]
How to Navigate the Slowdown for High-End Brands
A downturn can sometimes represent an opportunity “The world’s wealthy are shutting their wallets.” I am by nature a glass-half-full kind of person, […]
Are We (Finally) on the Edge of the Smart-Home Revolution?
High-end homeowners are adopting technologies that connect their smart devices with energy-conserving home devices. Is the tipping point near? Affluents, especially the young […]
Are Premium Brands Unlucky in This Election Year?
What this year’s election could mean for your high-end brand. Premium brands were forecast to face a difficult year in 2016, according to […]
Why You Should Ban the L-Word Now
The times are changing—and reaching new affluents requires creative marketing for high-end home brands “Do you like luxury?” Affluent and aspiring-affluent Millennials may […]
How to Find Your Flow When the Market Doesn’t Grow
The ever-developing high-end goods market calls us back to our instincts Growth in high-end home sales may have slowed, bringing the premium goods […]
High-End Brands and Extra-Sensory Affluents
How smart marketers are using sensory experiences to win in the showroom You’ve invested time and money in creating a showroom experience that sets your […]
Your Favorite 2015 Upward Home Posts
We have identified the posts that you read the most in 2015. From digging deeper into the story behind C3 Design to learning that Ultra […]
Where Affluent Consumers are Spending Now
High-end brand marketers can use data to leverage their strategies A recent report from Bain & Co’s Claudia D’Arpizio provides a great perspective on where […]
Millennials Down But Not Out For High-End Home Brands
Why you shouldn’t underestimate this important market segment I continue to be fascinated with the impact that Millennials are having on the economy, not only […]
Inside One of The Most Innovative High-End Home Retailers
Upward Home visits Pirch I have no quibble with “stack ‘em deep and sell ‘em cheap” retail stores. I think that they serve […]
A Picture Worth (Way More Than) A Thousand Words
How high-end brands can win on the “visual Web”. I am a visual person. I love most genres of photography. I rarely meet […]
180 Degrees from Thurston Howell III
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 […]
Understanding the Most Sought-After Segment of Affluent Americans
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 […]
Another Smart Way to Segment Affluent Consumers
High-end home brands can benefit greatly by better understanding consumers. One of the common themes at Upward Home is this: affluent consumers are not […]
Smart New Insights From The Smart Home
What high-end home brands can learn about the connected home. I continue to be fascinated with the concept of the smart home – or […]
The 2015 Checklist for High-End Home Brands
A few thought-provoking questions to help jump-start your year. Most of the marketers I know tend to attack a new year with gusto and […]
Is Consumer Sentiment Improving (Or Not) For High-End Home Brands?
Contrasting studies can be confusing, but your job is to remain focused. Sometimes, I am dazed and confused by the variety of reports that […]
Affluents Tell High-End Home Brands How to Engage Them
New research illustrates how consumers are engaged by medium. If affluent consumers told you exactly how to engage with them, would you find that […]
Shocking Surprises About Affluent Consumers
Research reveals fascinating opinions among millionaires. What group of Americans is concerned enough about wealth inequality that they actively provide financial support to poverty […]
The Dramatic Differences Between Younger and Older Affluents
Be wary of a “one size fits all” marketing approach. Too many marketers believe that affluent consumers behave alike – when in fact, they […]
What LVMH Can Teach High-End Home Brands
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, […]
The Billionaire’s Club and High-End Home Brands
Cracking the code on a very small target group. One of my goals with Upward Home is to dispel myths about affluent consumers, so […]
The Missing Link for High-End Home Brand Social Media
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 […]
Green Drives Green for High-End Home Brands
The growing impact of eco-friendly homes. Not all affluent consumers are environmentally conscious and not all environmentally conscious consumers are affluent. But there is […]
Important Group of Consumers Returns in 24 Months
How Millennials will impact high-end home brands. What if I told you that a group that makes up 20% of the affluent consumer base […]
8 Encouraging Trends for High-End Home Brands
Recovery of the housing market brings opportunities. If you were to chart the collapse of the housing market a few years ago, the downward […]
What Happens When Affluents Retire?
The surprising answer and how it affects high-end brands. Most marketers I know would probably agree with Peter Drucker: the aim of marketing is […]
Meet the “Considered Consumer” of High-End Home Brands
5 questions to ask in order to meet the growing trend of planned purchasing. As more and more consumers carefully plan their major purchases, […]
The (Modular) High-End Home Brand is Here
Image via Rockwell Group A new luxury concept challenges conventional thinking. When Fred Carl founded Viking Range in the mid-1980s, he challenged the […]
At the Crossroads of Mobile and Social Among High-End Home Brands
It’s time for marketers to anticipate what’s next. Despite the misguided belief among some high-end marketers that digital strategies aren’t the most ideal way […]
The Impact of Millennials on High-End Home Brands
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 […]
Down But Not Out: How Affluents Shop for 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 […]
The Elusive and Mysterious Ultra High Net Worth Consumer Among High-End Home Brands
Brendan Howard / Shutterstock.com Yes, they are different, but don’t assume that they don’t consume media like everyone else. The high-end marketplace often […]
How ‘Luxury’ is Evolving for High-End Brands
Affluent consumers think of luxury differently now. Stop for a moment and think about how much marketing has changed for high-end brands during the […]
7 Digital Best Practices for High-End Home Brands
A new report showcases the habits that successful digital enterprises share. The high-end home category was dramatically and fundamentally altered during the past several […]
Magic and Logic are Critical for High-End Home Brand CMOs
Finding balance between creative and analytics isn’t always easy. “My job today looks nothing like it did just a few years ago,” said a […]
Love at First Sight with High-End Home Brands
Customers may fall in love with your brand, but only if you make a great first impression. Perhaps you’ve experienced from time to time an […]
4 Important Digital Trends Shaping High-End Home Brands
If you understand the opportunities, your brand has unlimited potential. Marketers of high-end brands often tell me about the one-two punch they faced during […]
Beyond the Purchase of High-End Home Brands
Buying decisions continue to be made after the actual purchase. Marketers of high-end brands understand Plato’s description of emotion and reason as two horses pulling […]
Seasoned vs. First-Time Buyers of High-End Home Brands
It pays to know the differences between each type of consumer. Two high-end home buyers are considering buying a million-dollar home. One is a […]
Owning vs. Experiencing a High-End Home Brand
Why you should consider an experiential luxury strategy for your brand. Several years ago, I was working on brand strategy with my clients at […]
The (Smart) High-End Home Brand is Here
Get ready for intelligent technology in the home. I remember the first time I came face-to-face with “smart home technology.” I was standing in […]
More Affluent Consumers Planning to Purchase High-End Home Brands
Nearly half of affluent consumers will redecorate, remodel or renovate. Half of the $1.9 trillion that affluent Americans spend annually will be concentrated in […]
Three Surprises about High-End Home Buyers
Affluent consumers drive sales among high-end home brands, so you’d better understand their humble, middle-class values. A few years ago, I spoke to a […]
How to Delight High-End Home Brand Consumers Online
Make sure that you are delivering a smooth digital experience for consumers. Some of the smartest marketers of high-end home brands find ideas and […]
Consumers of High-End Home Brands Do Not Behave Alike
The smartest marketers stay on top of evolving consumer trends. Do you know which segment of your affluent consumer base is nearly 50 percent […]
Good, Better, Best for High-End Home Brands
A high-end home brand that provides options can dramatically impact a buyer’s perception of value. When brand marketers face the inevitable dilemma of expanding […]
The Good News and Bad News About High-End Home Brand Consumers
There are more affluent consumers, but they are harder than ever to find. I’ve noticed a fascinating contradiction occurring within the affluent consumer base. […]
Best Marketing Practices Among High-End Home Brands
Five things you can do to dramatically improve your marketing performance. A few years ago, one of my high-end home brand clients was asked […]
How Men and Women Approach High-End Home Brands
Crafting unique marketing messages to men and women is tempting, but you can’t always trust the stereotypes. Fair or not, marketers often talk to […]
Does Your High-End Home Brand Stand for Too Much?
Your brand may have huge aspirations, but your consumers will have the final say. Every brand wants to live large in a consumer’s mental landscape […]
High-End Home Brands Gain Insight in the Home and at the Factory
There’s much to be learned by visiting (and recreating) a consumer’s home. Have you ever felt that you don’t have a good handle on […]
High-End Home Brand Media Consumption: A “Both/And” Proposition
Affluent consumers enthusiastically consume traditional and digital media. Marketers of high-end home brands had to make difficult decisions during the economic recession. When revenues […]
How Emotions Evolve in the High-End Home Brand Purchase Process
Smart brands work to maximize joy post-purchase. Your consumer has finally decided that it’s time to update the kitchen, redecorate the living room, or […]
For High-End Home Brands, Location is Everything. And Nothing.
It’s not important where your brand lives in the home, but rather where your brand lives in the consumer’s mind. When selling a home, […]
High-End Brands: Understanding the Psychological Symbolism of Home
When high-end brands touch timeless, universal human emotions about the meaning of Home, a deeper connection is possible. All too often, internal discussions about […]
Clickers vs. Converters Among High-End Home Brands
Make sure your measurements match your goals. The young marketing team for a high-end home brand was reviewing the analytics for the company’s latest […]
More Affluent Consumers Are Haggling for High-End Home Brands
If product features cascade downward, might shopper behavior cascade upward? I’ve always bought into the luxury marketing theory that product features launch at the […]
A Surprisingly Effective Targeting Strategy for High-End Home Brands
Tenure of affluence can be more important than net worth. Many home brand marketers have found success targeting affluent consumers who own a […]
Is Your High-End Home Brand “Perfect for Entertaining?”
Brands can prosper by staying on top of evolving real estate trends. If you’ve been a marketer for a high-end home brand for a […]
Five Tactics that Help Big High-End Home Brands Shine on Small Screens
Instead of adapting traditional marketing to mobile devices, realize that new media requires a radical rethink. We live in an age of 110-inch flat […]
Hit or Miss: Evaluating Advertising Design for High-End Home Brands
Design helps any brand create a world that customers aspire to live in, but managing that world takes constant vigilance and a few clear rules. […]
High-End Home Brands Still Command the Lion’s Share of Category Profits
Marketers who understand the 20/40/60 Rule are more likely to raise their returns. Michael Silverstein’s seminal book, Trading Up, made a significant impact on […]
How High-End Home Brands Can Better Track Results
Driving progress towards clear goals can take your brand to a higher level. I remember the first time a client admitted, “I’m not sure […]
Could a Kitchen Cabinet Trend Drive Other High-End Home Brands?
With affluent consumers choosing exotic materials and contemporary designs, the rest of the home may just follow suit. I’ve always believed that high-end kitchen […]
High-End Home Brands Live or Die by Customer Service
How to manage customer expectations when things go wrong. You’ve done everything right with your marketing campaign. Inquiries and leads are up, engagement is […]
High-End Home Brand Productions on a Low-End Budget
While today’s production budgets are tighter than ever, high-end brands need to use proven strategies to project an upmarket image. For most brands, the […]
Can Your High-End Home Brand Triple Sales in Two Years?
How the mindset of one CEO might affect marketing directors across the home category. The CEO of a high-end home brand was visiting with […]
Different Media Means Different Faces for Your High-End Home Brand
While the essence of your brand must remain the same, today’s media choices force marketers to loosen the rules. One of the reasons paid […]
