Home Furnishings Marketers: Prepare to Get Comforable

The market for luxury home furnishings gets a bounce as the high-end housing market recovers with customers looking for calm after the recession's storm.

August 2012 Stevens, PA -- Finally, the nation's housing market is showing signs of recovery which will bring new opportunities for marketers that sell furniture, home furnishings, appliances, remodeling products and other home-related goods. The National Association of Realtors just released news that existing-home sales rose 10.4 percent in July from last year, while the price of an average home was up 9.4 percent. If current trends continue, that will make 2012 the first year since 2005 in which the number of homes sold and the price they typically sell for rose.

For marketers targeting homeowners at the higher-end of the housing market, there is even more good news in the NAR report. The share of existing-home buyers that are trading up is higher in 2012, as first-time, entry-level home buyers accounted for only about one-third of recent purchasers this year. Historically, first-time buyers make up some 40 percent of home purchasers.

Decorations Are Not Just for Christmas Anymore: New Patterns Emerge in Seasonal Decorating Practices

New Unity Marketing study shows seasonal decorations marketers the way to succeed is to understand the changing needs and desires of the decorations customer.

August 2012 Stevens, PA -- Where once the seasonal decorations market was largely defined by Christmas -- with perhaps some smaller holidays and occasions thrown in - today we have a whole new world. Consumers have added Halloween, Thanksgiving and Easter as major decorating holidays, and they appear to be always on the lookout for new ideas to bring a seasonal flare to their homes, spring, summer, fall and winter.

This is according to the Christmas, Halloween and Holiday Decorations Report 2012, the newest report from Unity Marketing detailing the decorations buying behavior of over 1,200 representative survey respondents who purchased decorations in the past 12 months and comparing this data to previous consumer surveys.

Time Is the Ultimate Luxury -- But One's Perception of Luxurious Time Is Relative

Unity Marketing's Pam Danziger publishes a new white paper that explores how affluents view time and what that means for the luxury travel market.

June, 2012 Stevens, PA -- When we think of affluent consumers, we think of money - how they earn it, how they spend it, and how to attract their spending to particular products and services. But to really understand what all consumers hold most dear, you have to understand how they perceive time.  A new white paper by Unity Marketing president Pam Danziger, "Luxury of Time: A Generational Perspective," helps luxury marketers better understand their customers' different perceptions of time.

Time is the ultimate luxury, and this is true for the affluent as well as for everyone else. Money is fungible; almost anyone can increase their income by working longer, harder, or smarter. When it comes to money, affluent consumers have plenty of it, since they have incomes and personal wealth way above the nation's average. But having all that money to spend ultimately diminishes the pleasure of new purchases.

It's changing consumer lifestyles, not problems with fashion, that are driving changes in the women's apparel market

For several years, women's fashion designers and retailers have celebrated the surge in interest in the fashion accessory. Starting with Carrie Bradshaw's famous addiction to Manolo Blahnik shoes on Sex and the City, and continuing through years-long waiting lists for an Hérmes Birkin handbag, the women's fashion accessory had been the bright spot for designers and retailers during the recession.

Now, however, the women's apparel industry is expressing concern that women seem to be shying away from making purchases of women's apparel, and that the interest in shoes and handbags has masked a change in consumer behavior regarding fashion.

Consumers Find Brands Important in Buying Decision, Ralph Lauren Takes First Place, Uniqulo Makes First Showing with Men

NEW YORK NY June 28, 2012 - Five years ago, when retailers were sent spiraling from the economic downturn, only 8% of US apparel buyers felt fashion brands and logos were of increasing importance when it came to differentiating their wardrobes. However, in the following years Brand Keys consumer research tells a very different story, especially as to how consumers are making their fashion buying decisions.

Since 2008, the importance of brand names has consistently increased, standing in 2012 at 29%, more than tripling in importance over four years. And consumer expectations continue to rise as shoppers increasingly seek uniqueness in their choice of fashion brands. Taking the top spot is Ralph Lauren / Polo, followed by: one’s favorite sports team, Armani, Nike, and Versace, Chanel, tied for fifth place.