Some practices focus exclusively on the high end. Most, however, carry a mix of products, some of which are designed to attract affluent consumers. How do you include high-end products in your offerings, and how can you train staff to make affluents feel at home with you?

These are questions every practice needs to answer, and who better to help than Pam Danziger? An internationally recognized expert specializing in consumer insights for marketers targeting the affluent consumer, she is a prolific luxury trend watcher, tracker, and author. She is also the president of Unity Marketing, a boutique marketing consulting firm in Stevens, PA, which she founded in 1992.

Danziger continues to share insights into the world’s most influential consumers, a group she calls “the American Affluent, including HENRYs (high-earners-not-rich-yet).”

Danziger’s Research the Affluent Luxury Tracker (RTALT) provides accessible data and expert analysis on affluence and brands. RTALT currently covers 29 luxury categories as well as luxe experiences. Concierge medical services is one of those experience arenas that has become increasingly important to brand creators and marketers alike.
 
In addition to her work as a respected market researcher and sought-after speaker, Danziger’s six book titles include “Meet the HENRYs: The Millennials that Matter Most for Luxury Brands” and “Why People Buy Things They Don’t Need.”
 
There are always multiple factors impacting luxury at retail, not just the economy and changing demands and tastes, but also price point sensitivity. Her thoughts on today’s challenges? Though global political unrest is certainly a concern, she doesn’t see it as a long-term problem. When it comes to pricing, she says, “While the world is on edge due to Russia’s war on Ukraine and the threat of its global economic fallout, we can expect continued luxury price inflation ahead.” After all, she adds, “Rising prices clearly didn’t hurt luxury brands during the pandemic.”
 
What about ebbs and flows of demand? Though some higher-end retail businesses, optical included, may have seen a temporary downturn, explains Danziger, the picture is positive despite the financial crises consumers and businesses have experienced recently. “Even if some luxury consumers are temporarily priced out of the market short-term,” she says, “luxury brands can look forward to consumer demand coming back even stronger.”  

Communicating a New Style of Luxury

One caveat: Tell the right story for today’s consumers or you will fail. “Today, luxury brands telling stories of exclusivity, status, indulgence, and over-the-top extravagance repel more than they attract,” she says.
 
Instead, it’s more about well-being. Some new stories of luxury that will connect with patients and clients, especially the younger, new affluents, focus on:

• Performance. “Luxury can’t just exist as a product concept anymore. It has to deliver an experience that is meaningful and measurable. Performance takes brands out of the realm of simply being to actually doing something important,” she notes.
• Simplicity. “‘Less is more’ becomes the guide to creating simple, elegant brands and brand stories,” she says.
• Health. Consumers are obsessed with it. “Health is pretty much the only lifestyle brag that’s OK,” says Danziger.
• Anti-Status. Aim for the opposite of conspicuous consumption, like Jeep. Don’t get too pie-in-the-sky with your message. Keep it balanced and down-to-earth.

The Affluent Impact on Biz

Danziger shares some bottom-line benefits of, and strategies for, catering to affluents. First, how can extra TLC impact revenue? According to Danziger, an analysis conducted by Affluent Consumer Research Company (ACRC) for a home services provider found that employees (in this case, sales personnel) who promoted add-on services in this demographic generated over 50% more revenue than others.
 
Who exactly are these true luxe customers, and what impact do they have in other businesses? Boston Consulting Group reports that 5% of customers account for 40% of sales and defines those prime 5% true luxe customers as those who spend an average of $43,000 per year on luxury goods and experiences. The remaining 60% of luxury sales come from people who spend less than $2,200 a year on such purchases.

Tracking + Tomorrow

What prompts consumers to purchase high-end, luxury eyewear and other products? Word-of-mouth is huge. According to Danziger’s State of Luxury Report 2023, word-of-mouth is more important than social media to this consumer group. “Even the most effective channel, Instagram, is ‘very effective’ for only 24% of the companies tracked,” she explains.
 
Tracking has become more challenging, as Danziger says, quoting the Bain-Altagamma Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study. “Over the last three years, the luxury market has experienced a whirlwind of change. After rising 7% in 2019 before the pandemic, it suffered a steep decline in 2020, only to bounce back with spectacular growth through 2021 and 2022.”
 
For 2023, predicts Bain-Altagamma, “The personal luxury market is projected to see further growth of at least 3% to 8%, even given a downturn in global economic conditions.” That’s downright impressive considering this estimate comes on the heels of a record-breaking year for luxury good sales in 2022.

"Telling stories of exclusivity, status, indulgence, and over-the-top extravagance repel more than they attract." —Pam Danziger

This article was originally published in a sponsored newsletter.