Danziger Cites Cultural Changes Affecting Spending On Luxury Goods

Furniture World Magazine

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 indulgenge 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. Those changes will be so wide-spread and far-reaching that the consumer market that 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. On Friday, September 12 at 11:00 a.m. eastern Pam Danziger will present a one-hour webcast for luxury marketers entitled "Finding the Silver Lining: Rainmaking in the Coming Luxury Drought." The webcast will examine the cultural factors that are causing affluent consumers to cut back on their luxury spending. It will present ways that luxury marketers can tap the shifts in consumer psychology to overcome a newly-resistant affluent consumer and create a loyal relationship with them. Luxury consumers' priorities are changing which is resulting in consumers who are resistant 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. "So they 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," Danziger says. In the face of these trends, Danziger will advise luxury brand marketers six specific steps they can take to bolster sales of their brands and keep relevant in the changing luxury market. "Luxury brand marketers are concerned about the declines in spending they see in their customer base. Given the trends Unity Marketing is tracking in the luxury market, it is unlikely that once the economy bounces back that the affluent shoppers will go back to their indulgent ways. That means the luxury brands will need to make strategic changes in their businesses to be relevant in the future. That is what we will explore in the coming webcast, Finding the Silver Lining," Danziger concludes. About Pam Danziger and Unity Marketing: Pamela N. Danziger is a nationally recognized expert specializing in consumer insights, especially for marketers and retailers that sell luxury goods and experiences to the masses as well as the 'classes.' She is president of Unity Marketing, a marketing consulting firm she founded in 1992. Advising such clients as PPR, Diageo, Waterford-Wedgwood, Lenox, Swarovski, GM, Orient-Express Hotels, Italian Trade Commission, Marie Claire magazine, The World Gold Council, and The Conference Board, Pam taps consumer psychology to help clients navigate the changing consumer marketplace. Her latest book is Shopping: Why We Love It and How Retailers Can Create the Ultimate Customer Experience (Kaplan, $27) is in the bookstores now. Her other books include Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses-as well as the Classes, (Dearborn Trade Publishing, $27, hardcover) and Why People Buy Things They Don't Need: Understanding and Predicting Consumer Behavior (Chicago: Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2004). She has appeared on CNN's In the Money, NBC's Today Show, CNBC, CNN International, CNNfn, CBS News Sunday Morning, Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, ABC News Now, NPR's Marketplace and is frequently called upon by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, American Demographics, Women's Wear Daily, Forbes, USA Today, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune for commentary and insight.