Luxury Market Faces the 'Morning After'

As Luxury Consumers Deal With Their 'Hangover,' Unity Marketing Offers Luxury Marketers Powerful Consumer Insights To Predict Market Shifts Like The One We Are Seeing Now

 

For the luxury market the flood of bad news on the luxury front has taken a lot of people by surprise.  Luxury leaders, like Tiffany & Company, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue, have reported weaker than expected results for the vital holiday shopping season.  Even American Express said that beginning in early December their mostly affluent card holders cut back on spending.

This dramatic downshift in luxury spending was not news to Pam Danziger or her clients.   As president of Unity Marketing, Danziger's market research company saw it coming and advised her clients to get ready as research indicators predicted a downturn on the horizon.

"Unity Marketing's proprietary Luxury Consumption Index, which declined sharply for the last two quarters, is a powerful gauge predicting future trends in the luxury market.  Based upon a number of variables that measure affluent consumer confidence, it is also tied to their actual spending, so its predictive power on future spending is unparalleled,"  Danziger explains.

The most vital question on luxury marketers' minds going into 2008 is how to get the luxury consumers, especially the 25 million mass affluent consumers (incomes less than $150,000) who have put a tight rein on their luxury indulgences, to begin buying again.  Unity Marketing offers consumer insights to help  marketers find new strategies that will work in a face of the changing luxury market.

Unity Marketing's Research Focuses on Predicting the Future of the Luxury Market

 "Unity Marketing's unique approach to research gives executives and investors the information they really need to know – what's next, what's coming and what the future holds – so they can be ready proactively with new marketing strategies and tactics," explains Danziger. 

"Our research enables executives to look 'over-the-horizon' to predict the direction that the luxury consumer market is going to take.  We track luxury consumer buying and spending patterns so they can get a historical perspective.  But more importantly Unity Marketing's exclusive Luxury Consumption Index measures the confidence level of the affluent consumers and provides guidance on the future direction of spending."

Track Future Shifts in the Luxury Market Before They Actually Start to Impact Your Business

Unity Marketing's flagship research service for luxury marketers and retailers is its quarterly Luxury Tracking study.   The syndicated Luxury Tracking study gives luxury marketers the ability to anticipate the ups and downs in the market through the only longitudinal luxury panel research study of its kind.

The Luxury Tracking study is a cost-effective way for luxury marketers to monitor their brand and competing brands' usage among their target market.  Luxury Tracking gives marketers the data they need to predict changing patterns of affluent shopping behavior before it occurs, so they are ready with new products and marketing initiatives before the changes and shifts in consumer behavior start to gain traction.

The Luxury Tracking study is a vital tool to give luxury company executives more insight and understanding about the luxury market from one of the world's foremost experts on the mindset of the luxury consumer, Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses -- as well as the Classes (Dearborn Trade Publishing, January 2005).

About Unity Marketing's Luxury Tracking Study and a Special No-Risk Trial Offer for New Subscribers

 New subscribers to the Luxury Consumer Tracking Study can take advantage of a special no-risk offer on a trial subscription to the service that can be rolled over into a full year of the service at a reduced cost.  New subscribers may purchase a trial of a single quarter of the study for $2,500 which will include customization of the tracking study to fit your product and brand preference needs.  This offer carries no commitment to subscribe for the usual year.

Once the subscriber experiences the powerful insights available in the Luxury Consumer Tracking Study, they may subscriber for an entire year (an additional four quarters) for $10,000 – that is a 25 percent savings off the normal annual subscription cost of $12,500. 

New subscribers will therefore get five quarters of luxury tracking for the normal list price for four.  In effect, you will receive one a quarter for free.

What Luxury Tracking Subscribers Get:

 Subscribers receive:

• Luxury Tracking Study quarterly analysis report of what 1,000-1,250 affluent consumers bought in the past three months, what they plan to buy in the next three months, how much they spent and their brand preferences. Each subscriber will have their brands and up to five or six key competitor brands included in the survey. The survey questionnaire is also customized to each subscribers specific product and service categories.
• Luxury Market Report, 2008 - Who Buys Luxury, What They Buy, Why They Buy,  Year-end summary of luxury consumer purchases and spending, covering trend years 2006-2007 consumer purchases. This annual report represents a $3,500 value.

• Access to Unity Marketing's affluent consumer survey panel
• Subscribers can access this affluent consumer survey panel for customized market research projects. Costs to be calculated separately.
• Half-price discount on all other Unity Marketing reports ordered.  To learn more about the Luxury Tracking Study, click here.

For Media:  Charts, tables and graphs are available upon request.

Coming Soon 

• These new research results will be released shortly (early exclusives available to media)  Call 717-336-1600 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information:
• Year end 2007 Luxury Consumption Index & trends in luxury consumer spending in 4Q2007
• Countries that produce the best luxury goods -- How luxury consumers feel about the country of origin of luxury goods
• Latest consumer survey results on giftware and home decorative accent markets

 

About  Pam Danziger and Unity Marketing