Take a look around to see if you can find some great luxury sites. First off, they are hard to find. It appears that many aren't even doing search engine marketing.
Many are slow to load and hard to navigate. For instance, some of them look so simple in design it's almost hard to navigate to browse, let's say, rings. On the Tiffany's site, you need to know the type of ring you are looking for. In fact, you have to select the type and click on it from a pull-down menu.
Luxury brands need to step up to the plate when it comes to a digital environment. Such wares warrant high-end photography and, well, a certain distinction. There is no shortage of affluent online users in the States, notes a study from Packaged Facts, which provides an overview of the market:
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And here's more from the study on how the affluent spend their money:
Brandweek recently analyzed an Echelon Marketing Group study indicating that "luxury marketers need a better economic study of their target, the U.S. affluent market, and more effective means of reaching them."
"Marketers rely primarily on four categories of data -- demographic, geographic, behavioral and attitudinal -- however, luxury marketers not so much," Echelon President Don Neal was quoted in the article. He noted further, "To understand who can afford expensive products and the impact of money on their attitudes and behaviors, they also need to consider a fifth category based on economic insights" -- which he called "econographic" data.
Additional findings include:
A recent Booz Allen Hamilton study suggested that "with luxury brands, the excellence of the underlying product is merely a starting point."
The company interviewed 40 executives from a variety of high-performing luxury brand companies for the study. In a nutshell, the survey revealed that customers expect a high level of service from luxury brands, and service can clearly be a brand differentiator. Companies like Ritz-Carlton, Nordstrom, and Lexus were mentioned as those that "guarantee service that goes the extra mile... They've programmed their organizations to foster customer-centered behavior in employees at all levels."
Other findings included four principles common to nearly all top-performing luxury brand companies:
So when it comes to marketing to the affluent, luxury brands need to step up to the plate. Who's doing a good job? Who's not? Post your thoughts to the Spin blog.