Luxury Brands Need New Ways to Connect with Millennials

Furniture World News Desk on 6/20/2015

According to Unity Marketing, the next generation poised to become the core market for luxury brands is bringing a whole new expectation about style and performance into the luxury marketplace. As the Millennials mature in their careers and grow in affluence, luxury brands need to connect with this generation in compelling ways that meet their unique set of expectations and needs. The Millennials don't want their parents' or grandparents' luxury brands, but their own.

For example, a Millennial-generation associate lawyer shared in a discussion group that the grey-haired Boomer partners at his firm all wear their Rolexes and other luxury brand watches to signify their wealth and status.

But his status symbol watch isn't some expensive Rolex. It's his Ironman Triathlon watch. "It says 'I am this kind of man, a triathlete. I need this watch,'" he explained. The status statement this young lawyer wants to make is not about how much money he has, but who he is and what he has accomplished.

For this next generation of luxury consumers, making money, getting promoted, or becoming partner is all well and good, but not the prize they are after. Rather, it's the accomplishment of a personal goal, digging deep to achieve something truly remarkable, like completing a 10K marathon or an Ironman triathlon. This young man believes that just about anybody can make a lot of money, if that is what one aims for, but not everyone can achieve what he has, so he wears his personal status watch that symbolizes it.

In a recent talk at the Hackers on the Runway conference in Paris organized by TheFamily, marketer-extraordinaire Seth Godin asked "Is Digital the End of Luxury Brands?" I think, rather, the question should be "Is the Digital Generation, i.e. the Millennials, the End of Luxury Brands?" because the key challenge for luxury brands and this generation is not about how they reach the target audience -- internet marketing tactics. It's about giving new meaning to luxury brands that are important to this digitally-empowered generation.

Getting to the "why" of the luxury brand is where the future of the luxury market will be built. New branding strategies are what's needed, not just creative programming or digital-marketing tricks.

Unity Marketing's new research study, Millennials on the Road to Affluence, combining qualitative and quantitative insights, gives your brand key insights and understandings about the next generation of luxury customers. It will power your creative process to develop next-generation strategies that will mean success in the future luxury market that the Millennials will create. For more information contact pam at pam@unitymarketingonline.com or call (717) 336-1600.