Commentary

Luxury Brands Through The Eyes Of The Affluent Generations

by Bob Shullman , Columnist, March 11, 2015

Our previous column was the first of two that focus on the topic of luxury through the eyes of three affluent generations: Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers. That column focused on how the generations describe luxury in their own words and aggregated those words into themes by the three generations, listing which themes were among each group's top 20.

In this column, we review the three generations' top 20 luxury brands and find that automotive brands are consistently among their favorites (12 of the 26 listed in total across all three generations), then come the luxury goods brands (11 of the 26 brands), one consumer electronics brand, one watch brand, and one multi-line luxury retailer. Some notable generational differences include the following: Ralph Lauren is unique to the Millennials' list, and Porsche is unique among Gen Xers, while Jaguar, Neiman Marcus, and Apple are exclusive to the Boomers. Notably, of the 26 luxury brands in total that attained the three top-20 lists, 13 were included among the top 20 by all three generations. These brands, in alphabetical order, are: BMW, Cadillac, Cartier, Chanel, Coach, Gucci, Lexus, Louis Vuitton, Mercedes-Benz, Prada, Rolex, Rolls-Royce, and Tiffany.

Affluent Millennials' Top 20 "Luxury" Brands in the World

After we asked consumers to describe "luxury" in their own words, which we reported in our previous column, we then asked them to tell us what they consider to be the "number one luxury brand in the world." The following word cloud displays only the top 20 brands (from a total of about 70 mentioned) that affluent Millennials consider to be the top "luxury" brand in the world.

Affluent Millennials' Top 20 "Luxury" Brands in the World

Eight of the affluent Millennials' top-20 brands are automobiles (in blue), but Gucci (a luxury goods brand) wins out over Lexus for the number one place, while Louis Vuitton comes in at a close third. Notably, one watch brand, Rolex (in orange), is among the top 20. Unique to the Millennials' top-20 list is Ralph Lauren, which is not among the top 20 for the older Gen Xers or Boomers.

Affluent Gen Xers' Top 20 "Luxury" Brands in the World

For affluent Gen Xers, nine luxury automobile makes are included in their top-20-ranked list of "number one luxury brand in the world," and the top three are Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Lexus, followed by Rolex in fourth place. Porsche is the only brand in this top-20 list that does not also appear in the Millennials' or Boomers' top 20 luxury brand lists.

Affluent Gen Xers' Top 20 "Luxury" Brands in the World

Affluent Boomers' Top 20 "Luxury" Brands in the World

Last is the Boomers' top-20 list. As might be expected, automobiles also figure highly in the affluent Boomers' top-20-ranked luxury brands. After Rolls-Royce (notably ranked number one) come Rolex and Tiffany. Jaguar, Neiman Marcus (an upscale multi-brand retailer), and Apple (a consumer electronics brand) are included in the top-20 list among affluent Boomers and not among the two younger affluent generations' top 20 luxury brands.

Affluent Boomers' Top 20 "Luxury" Brands in the World

Our conclusion is that the three generations' top 20 luxury brand listings represent both a clear opportunity and a challenge to luxury marketers. If your brand(s) are on these generations' top-20 lists, your brand(s) are making an impact. And if your luxury brand (Audi and Lincoln among others) is not listed on any of the generations' top-20 lists, it's probably time to get your engines tuned up.

affluent, baby boomers, gen x, gen y, luxury, research

4 comments about "Luxury Brands Through The Eyes Of The Affluent Generations".

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Jill Wagner from MMI Consulting, March 11, 2015 at 11:54 a.m.
While this is very interesting the only cohort that matters is the Boomers. They are the only generation with the disposable income and savings (70% of the entire US disposable income) to move any of these brands products. The Boomers purchase 2/3 of all cars, half of all computers and 80% of all premium travel. THE most valuable cohort in the history of marketing and how much advertising goes after them?
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Jon Currie from Currie Communications, Inc., March 11, 2015 at 2:03 p.m.

Jill Wagner, you know the answer. It is "NONE." Except if you are chasing Meds. Why? Somewhere in a galaxy far far away some marketer said, "Once you've made up your mind when you are 20, you're done. And people over 30, 40, 50 (choose your cohort) can't change anything except their Depends." I have fought this fight for decades. No one really gives a S--t. They are hung up on this get then while they're young mantra even if it makes no logical sense whatsoever. I have started a new business called "Fetal Marketing," and it's tagline is "Get them while they are really young, in fact, get them before they're even born!" The logo is a Keith Haring type ketch of a guy with a megaphone yelling into a pregnant woman's belly. Want to join me. I bet we can make millions on the idea alone. (Note to readers: Please do not try to steal this from me, I already own the idea).

Jon Currie from Currie Communications, Inc., March 11, 2015 at 2:04 p.m.

(I had some typos. No way to edit this after it's posted, sorry).

Ronald Kurtz from American Affluence Research Center, March 11, 2015 at 2:45 p.m.

Bravo to Jill and Jon for challenging conventional wisdom and telling it like it is. It would be interesting to see a distribution of the number of brands named by each of the age groups in this survey.
Our research shows the affluent can name few true luxury brands on an unaided basis.