Affluent Branding

Affluent Branding

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Theres an interesting article I read recently where the author talked about marketing and branding and how the affluent market is being marketed to like the middle class. Having worked in outside sales for years, and in the lower-income sector, the middle class, the affluent, the super-affluent, and even business sectors, Ive seen a wide range of what makes folks tick. Layton Han for MediaPost writes, More than a decade on, marketing to affluent customers is in a transitional phase. Instead of mass brands buying up luxury brands to gain access to the affluent segment, affluent brands are co-opting mass-marketing tactics. Any company can learn a lot from this transition, and digital marketing is the perfect vehicle for executing these practices. Theres value in that statement. Digital marketing can learn a lot, and he goes on to provide three specific examples of Focusing on the Intangibles, the Experience, and Picking the Right Associations.

When the author talks about BMW and how it now markets across varying socio-economic demographics, it makes a light bulb go off. BMW has always been a luxury brand, but rather than market itself as just a luxury brand, the company has decided to rebrand itself as a company focused on quality and performance. Of course its business model supports a range of options from its affordable 3-series, to its super high end 760 series sedan. Now its marketing is following suit. We all hear hip-hop artists rap about Gucci this and Fendi that, but what if Gucci had an affordable line that was sold at Macys? Its a great example of focusing on the intangibles, and like the author says, purchase behavior, customer attitude and segmentation are not the province of luxury brands.

When discussing the experience, Han talks about Emirates Air and how they changed their marketing in the UK to include various other countries. This seems strangely familiar to Virgin America, whos price point is definitely not catered solely to the affluent. When Virgin America first came on the map, I liked it because I liked Richard Branson, who as the eccentric billionaire owner is cooler than a talking Chia-Pet. However, when I would perform my research on the airline, I was overwhelmed with the focus on the experience and how in flight, we can text other seats, play games, order right from the seat without ringing the button, etc. Granted, they will send the emails Fly as low as $49 each way, etc. much like Southwest, but for me it really was about the experience, and thats why Im praying for the day Virgin expands into my home state. Ill go home once every two months.

Lastly, Han discusses the NFL and how Mercedes inked a 10-year deal to sponsor the Superdome. From what weve all seen on the media, New Orleans has plenty of impoverished, so why would a luxury brand like Mercedes sponsor a stadium in such a city? He writes,

The high-profile events and the success and stature of the buildings primary tenant the Saints are expected to help the marketability of Mercedes-Benz, which has plans to unveil a new fleet of automobiles that cater to a wide-ranging audience. Said Mercedes CEO Ernst Lieb at a press conference announcing the deal: This is tremendous for us. We are basically looking at, Where are our customers, where are we today selling our cars, and we have cars starting at $31,000. And down the road, you will see that we are going to go a lot more forceful into that segment, even below $30,000, which means many of the 73,000 people who are going to come in here for the games actually can afford a car like this.

Not everyone agrees. Jim Andrews at Sponsorship.com writes,

Although I understand the iconic nature of the Superdome and the value of connecting with its feel-good comeback story from the depths of the Katrina aftermath, the main benefits of a naming rights deal are still national exposurewhich I question whether a well-established brand like Mercedes needsand a regional activation platformwhich could be purchased with an official team deal sans venue naming rights. Other benefits being thrown aroundprimarily the connection to Super Bowl and Final Four events hosted at the Superdomeare vastly overrated. Without an NFL or NCAA sponsorship, Mercedes will be blocked from the most valuable assets connected to those marquee properties. Mercedes-Benz is a smart sponsor, as has been demonstrated through their Fashion Week and other deals. They also have a track record in naming rights deals, with their venue titles in Germany and China. My guess is that they were able to get this deal at a price lower than what other NFL stadium deals have gone for. Thats the only way they are going to earn a positive ROI.

Who knows what the deal was for. Who cares. Branding is just as important as marketing and Im glad that the affluent marketing bigwigs have finally gotten the message. We hear you, loud and clear.

About SeedCornPPC: Seed Corn Advertising is an online Advertising Network based in Los Angeles, California committed to establishing new business development partnerships and to grow your search network and ours.Learn more about SeedCornPPC by visiting us at http://www.seedcornppc.com

About the Author:
Seed Corn Advertising is an online Advertising Network based in Los Angeles, California committed to establishing new business development partnerships and to grow your search network and ours. Learn more about SeedCornPPC by visiting us at Advertising Search Engines, PPC Advertising and Search Engines PPC



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