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In early September Unity Marketing’s CEO Pam Danziger sent this bulletin to her subscribers:
For Luxury Marketers, Manufacturers, Retailers, Advertising Agencies, Investors and the Press…
Why the Luxury Market Will Never Be the Same
“Once the current economic crisis is over, luxury consumers will have undergone
changes that will profoundly affect the way luxury marketers do business
-- Going into the vital fourth quarter, luxury marketers are facing the toughest business environment in recent past. Spending by affluent consumers on luxuries is down and their expectations for future luxury indulgence is weak. Most pundits agree that the luxury market will eventually rebound from the current 'luxury drought,' but in the meantime the luxury consumer market is undergoing fundamental and structural changes. “
“Changes will be so wide-spread and far-reaching”, Danziger said, “ that the consumer climate marketers will face after the recovery will be very different than the one they dealt with before the current luxury drought. It also means that tried-and-true marketing and branding strategies that worked before may not work after wards.”
We were privileged to tune in to a private luxury client webcast that followed later in the month on the subject “Finding the Silver Lining: Rainmaking in the Coming Luxury Drought”. Herewith a few nuggets in that compelling Danziger style:
• Consumer Resistance to Luxury Indulgence - Danziger explains, "After the past decade characterized by indulgence and wide-spread consumption of all things luxury, many affluent consumers have grown tired of excess materialism. They are saying, 'Enough already!' They are drowning in their material excess and starting to feel guilty.
• (The affluent) “are turning from their old 'shop till you drop' and 'he who dies with the most toys' ways toward a new, more temperate approach. They are starting to think about the impact of their consumerism on the planet and for future generations.”
• These consumers are tired of a disposable culture and are looking to restrict their spending to those products and experiences with a smaller carbon footprint, that represent a more responsible use of resources, and that offer tangible and lasting value."
(Next Issue of Luxury Travel 360—“How all this impacts luxury /affluent travel,” and “ Bringing middle class values to luxury travel decisions”-Face to Face with Danziger)
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