Luxury marketers often focus much of their time and energy on Boomers. But the truth of the matter is some of the most affluent people in the United States are under 40 — like Dustin Moskovitz and Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook and the creator of Twitter, Jack Dorsey. These are rich CEOs who helped define the social media landscape our current culture lives for. They successfully managed to feed into the Millennial generation’s unending need for self-expression, digital communication, and instant gratification. But famous CEOs are just the tip of the iceberg. Millennials are spending more on luxury than any other generation – right now. And they will only continue to grow.
Marketers have had a hard time understanding this new generation when it comes to the luxury market. Many experts try to spin them as completely different from their older counterparts. And yes there are many differences between affluent Boomers/Gen Xers and affluent Millennials, but there is one key area where they are exactly the same: they value experiences over material items.
They respond better to actual, authentic experiences than to the word “luxury” attached to a product or service. This means brands must work harder to not only market meaningful experiences but to actually create them. Quoted in Forbes Magazine, Andrew Moultrie of Extreme International sums it up pretty well: “It’s not ‘Keeping up with the Joneses.’ It’s now ‘Hanging with the Joneses’ family.’ They are inviting everyone to participate rather than show off.”
Luxury marketing strategist, Pam Danziger, also has some great insight into this generation, which she feels many brands are overlooking:
For this generation of well educated young people, there is a real danger that luxury is going to be perceived simply as a marketing concept or a term used in a marketing context, not something that has real meaning or resonance to their lives. Simply calling a brand or a product or an experience a luxury doesn’t necessarily make it so…”
A good example of a brand getting it right is Bonnaroo. The famous music festival offers several options for tickets: You have your regular tickets that cost a few hundred, and then you have a whole other set of tickets available for a thousand dollars. These tickets are marketed as a “VIP” item, but the main selling point is a better overall experience, which includes better sleeping and eating arrangements. They have created an option that is genuinely a better way to experience Bonaroo that just happens to be exponentially more expensive.
Of course, tiered marketing is not a new concept, but Bonnaroo does it a little differently.These tickets also include the opprotunity to invite friends, which appeals to the Millennial ideal of sharing wealth and not isolating themselves from their less fortunate friends – inclusive exclusivity, if you will.
In the end, the right way to market to Millennials is not very different from the way we are marketing to older affluent audiences who have embraced inconspicuous consumption. It’s just a little more casual.