We know where the affluent customers are. As an industry we have rapidly expanded our ability to get to them with relevant messaging. But the smart companies know that the current economy has created a situation in which customer segments and customer behaviors are fluid at best. The affluent segment is no different. Engaging the affluent customer is still a multi-channel mix of precision display targeting, email, and customer behavior knowledge that feeds the most relevant offer.

Last month, the Federal Reserve Board released results from the latest Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), a triennial government survey that is one of the most definitive sources of information about the financial lives of American families. Conducted in 2010, (and just now released, after two years of government number-crunching), the SCF paints a vivid portrait of how money ebbed and flowed in American lives during the turbulent decade that ushered in the new millennium: 2000-2010.

Most luxury goods companies focus on getting their product right and assumed that the market would follow. Until recently, this philosophy of "if you build it, they will come" has worked. However, China, with its 1.3 billion people of which at least 300 million are luxury goods consumers and whose pipeline increases exponentially daily, has changed this mantra. Now, the Chinese demands are driving the market.