Alongside Brazil, India, and China, other emerging markets, like Iran, South Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia, are set to hit their stride in the coming decade. The significance of flexibility and collaboration will increasingly become key in luxury brand marketing strategies within these areas.

Multicultural marketing has created a marketing economy based on segmenting the population by ethnicity. While ethnicity segmentation has worked for the past several decades, as I pointed out in an earlier column, that foundation is starting to crack. Our industry is experiencing a paradigm shift. As we attempt to make sense of this existential crisis of marketing models, we should consider how we segment and why.

The dealership is no longer a consumer's first stop when researching an auto purchase. While the test drive remains essential, most consumers begin their search online, drastically cutting down on the time they have historically spent looking around showrooms. All signs point to a period in time, not far off, where consumers can buy their cars online and then drive away with the cars without speaking to a salesperson.

This month's column follows up on the many comments we received from readers of last month's column, "Luxury, In The Words Of Upscale Americans," which focused on the differences in how upscale Americans, as defined by their spending power (i.e., their household incomes and wealth), describe luxury in response to the following question: "When you read, see, or hear the word luxury, please describe briefly what you think about."