Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses - As Well As the Classes

by Pamela Danziger

This book shows marketing professionals how to position their products to take advantage of the $77.7 billion luxury market.
In Let Them Eat Marketing Luxury to the Masses As Well as the Classes , readers will get the first research-based study of the 15 million truly affluent households that make up the leading edge of the new luxury market. Pamela Danziger notes that the luxury market is changing radically from the conspicuous-consumption consumers of the 1990s. Danziger conducted a two-year research study of luxury consumers with incomes of $75,000 and above and discovered a totally new type of luxury consumer. Called the "butterflies," these most affluent of affluent consumers have emerged from their luxurious cocoons and are turning their focus from the home to the outside world. Designed to give marketing practitioners an insight into what luxury means to the consumer, Let Them Eat Cake covers the natural evolution as today's luxuries become tomorrow's necessities, as products move "from the classes to the masses." Readers will
* How to "get it right for the masses" and how to "get it right for the classes" with profiles of companies that exhibit best practices in luxury marketing.
* Why luxury isn't about material things or how much something costs. It is how the product or service connects with the dreams, desires, and passions of the consumer.
* The different drivers and motivators for luxury consumers. Danziger outlines the purchase behavior and preferences in the nine categories of home luxury products (e.g., furniture, art, antiques), four personal luxuries (e.g., automobiles, fashion), and six experiential luxuries (e.g., luxury travel, spa/beauty treatments). As businesses compete in an increasingly crowded marketplace, Danziger also describes the six key consumer trends in luxury marketing and strategies that marketers can implement to build their luxury brands.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Simone Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses- as Well as the Classes by Pamela Danziger explores the world of luxury, and discusses some very interesting trends within the luxury industry itself. Cake is an excellent trend spotter read because it provides some very interesting insights on key groups of early adopters, and suggests consumer trends that are sure to have an impact in the years to come.

The book itself is well organized, and refers to actual qualitative and quantitative research conducted by Danziger’s company, Unity Marketing, as well as interviews with luxury marketers from a wide variety of companies. Let Them Eat Cake is divided into three sections discussing luxury in general first, then the five Ps of luxury (the four Ps of the marketing mix plus performance), and finally how to apply the book’s insights to the real world. Also included is an index and an appendix discussing research objectives and methodology. Danziger is careful to back up her insights, and does so in an easy to digest but thorough manner.

Overall, Let Them Eat Cake is a great read- even if one only consults the introduction and final section. I strongly recommend it to anyone with a small business or an interest in trend forecasting!

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is more of a marketing textbook than what I had in mind, which is something more along the lines of Paco Underhill or James Twitchell. Not uninteresting, but not for me.

Also, the kindle edition had some repetitive sentences that threw me; now I think they're pull quotes or inset boxes that were stripped of graphical formatting for the e-edition. Confusing.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book... just wish it were more current. I also felt that after the first 2-3 chapters the author has made her point and continues to repeat it for the entire book. Her conclusions are fascinating, nonetheless.

[rordan shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good book on marketing, "to the masses and the classes"

[Don Wadewitz II · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read. While a lot of the information was probably locked away in my head from various past experiences, this book helped pull those experiences and that information together.