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The Luxury Market Is Going Green -- Luxury Brands Can't Afford to Ignore It
Unity Marketing's latest trend report uncovers strategies for targeting the affluent 'green' consumer
Stevens, PA June 6, 2008 - The typical 'green' consumer is no longer certain to be a fashion-challenged, granola-crunching wearer of Birkenstocks. Today, the consumer looking to go green is increasingly likely to be an affluent professional woman dressed in an eco-friendly and animal-free Stella McCartney power suit with satin pumps. And if you want the affluent green-conscious customer's dollars and loyalty, you need to pay attention to the priorities she finds important when making her selection of luxury goods and services.
Green luxury consumers look for social
responsibility before making a purchase
According to Unity Marketings latest
trend report on luxury, Green Marketing and the Luxury Consumer,
luxury consumers are concerned about the environmental issues that
hit closest to home, citing fuel and energy shortages and the use of
renewable energy sources as top concerns. With gas prices at $4 a
gallon and this might be the summer low even the affluent find it
hard to ignore the impact of filling your tank a couple of times a
week, says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of
Shopping: Why We Love It and How Retailers Can Create the Ultimate
Customer Experience.
However, luxury consumers are also
looking beyond their pocketbooks to larger issues, like protecting
the environment, global warming and avoiding water and air
pollution. And the leaders on these issues are affluent women.
Danziger explains, "In all of the green issues that Unity Marketing
studied, women popped as being much more concerned than men. This
is an important signal for luxury marketers to sit up and take
notice, as women are often the major shoppers for a family, making
the primary decisions about the products and services the family
will purchase. For luxury consumers, an increasing number are
looking to a company's
environmental practices before making a purchase."
Luxury marketers take action: You need
to think of the long term and going green should be part of the plan
"A lot of marketers are skeptical about
the green trend. They don't know whether it has legs or is just a
passing fad for the moment. I am convinced that this issue is only
going to gain momentum in the future, with the affluent consumers in
particular taking the lead as early adopters of green living. So
the call is for luxury brands to connect with their customers who
are increasingly green aware and eco-conscious by making green
marketing a part of their strategy. Luxury marketers can learn by
studying trend-setters who are creating a dedicated following among
green-living luxury consumers.
For example, only a few years ago designer Stella McCartney with her
no-animal policy was considered very much on the fringe of fashion.
Today she is front and center as a luxury designer of
fashion-forward and environmentally-sound style. Donna Karan is
also at the forefront of the green movement through her Urban Zen
initiative which combines a philanthropic foundation along with a
retail arm that distributes a line of natural and organic fashions.
"Saks Fifth Avenue is another
trend-setter in the green marketing category," Danziger explains.
"From converting their extravagant Fifth Avenue Christmas display to
LED lights which drastically reduced energy consumption to their
'Green House -- Home of Eco Smart Style' online initiative where
website visitors can shop for eco-friendly designer fashion, home
furnishings and jewelry made from recycled metals, the company is
putting efforts behind helping their affluent customers live
responsibly.
"Another interesting initiative for Saks is a new sales area just
introduced in five of its stores called 'The Beauty of Living
Well.' The sales areas are devoted to what Saks terms 'natraceutical'
skin care products. What is intriguing about this new concept is
that it is intended as a platform to expand into other healthful
living products, including nutritional products and supplements.
Danziger concludes, "My advice to luxury marketers is not to wait,
but start to plan for green marketing initiatives that will connect
with the priorities of their increasingly green-aware consumers.
This trend isn't going away. On the contrary, it will only grow
and luxury consumers will expect their favorite luxe brands to go
green along with them."
Unity Marketings Luxury Trend Report,
Green Marketing and the Luxury Consumers, provides marketers data
and ideas to plan their green marketing strategies
Unity Marketing has just published a
luxury trend report, Green Marketing and the Luxury Consumers, which
provides research data from its most recent survey among 1,281
luxury consumers (average income $155,700 and age 46.6 years).
The report offers intelligence on what is important to luxury consumers in terms of green marketing and implications for luxury marketers and brands to respond to the increasingly aware green luxury consumer. To find out more about the luxury trend report and to order a copy, click here
Contact:
pam@unitymarketingonline.com
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