Class Marketing VS Mass Marketing; It Takes More Than Pretty Pictures To Reach The Wealthy.

Marketing to the masses is very different than marketing to the classes. Many of the new start up companies trying to reach this influential group come from a back ground of mass marketing like Google, yahoo,
American Express, etc. They are use to big numbers of people.

Luxury brands are not so interested in how many people see their ad but in how many qualified people see their ad. They are also not as interested in
sales from an ad as the branding that takes place from an ad…..so the
old pay by clicks does not even fit a luxury marketers requirements. It
is like speaking another language. What attracts the masses and the
classes are very different. For example many sites aimed at the masses
will have lots of surveys, polls, click “yes or no” in an attempt to
make it more interactive. The middle classes are often frustrated that
their voice is not heard, their sphere of influence is limited, so they
find the opportunity to express themselves as empowering and engaging.
The Very Wealthy have great control and enormous influence. They get
paid a great deal of money for their opinions and have spend the most on
luxuries that will help them save time. These interactive gimmicks
don’t work on the wealthy for this reason.

To me it is shocking how so many companies are getting the funding to target this incredibly powerful group of taste makers but the companies have no skill, no
training in HOW to reach the wealthy, what are their target
demographics’ likes and dislikes. To me it seems like it should be the
first question an investor asks….”If I give you money to go after the
wealthy class on line….does anyone in the company have the training to
accomplish this?” From what I am seeing the answer is NO. They are
former mass marketing companies that have general web marketing training
and no wealth marketing. I would say the most important thing to have
is someone on the team that specializes in reaching the wealthy!

Lorre White

Luxury Marketing Expert and Luxury Media Personality “The Luxury Guru”.

www.LuxGuru.Typepad.com

www.WhiteLightConsulting.net