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Masstige: Luxury for the Masses

Paying more for what you want is not looking so affordable — or sustainable — anymore. Trading up was always a fragile phenomenon. But the context seems to have changed in the past two years. It rested, in large part, on consumer psychology — a feeling derived from self worth.

Masstige is in. Its prestige products available to the masses. Consumers want to connect emotionally with brands in categories where they expect quality, performance, and engagement. But in other categories that aren’t emotionally important, they become bargain hunters. For example, a passionate BMW driver will shop for store-brand groceries every weekend. Which one of these categories is your brand in?

Why is this trend important to senior marketers? Democratization of brands is strongly associated with higher market share and margins. It drives value and makes brands more resilient. Plotting your brand in the continuum of Masstige hierarchies can reveal new insights on how to optimize brand value and strengthen pricing strategies.

(via http://www.canadianmarketingblog.com/archives/2010/09/the_rise_of_masstige_and_why_i.html)

http://youropenbook.org/

(via @dberkowitz)

http://www.wpp.com/wppedcream/2010/

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-why-behind-the-buy/201009/generational-chasm-in-spending-ideals

How did Gen Y escape this frugality?

It's partly because of their generational personality. Compared to other generations when they were in their teens and twenties, Gen Y is brimming with confidence and optimism. As a product of the self-esteemmovement, they have high expectations of their earning potential. They view setbacks as temporary. At most what I hear from Gen Y is that they feel like the recession has put their plans "on hold." When asked to predict their financial situation, 85% of Gen Y adults said they thought it would improve over the next year, compared with 69% of 30-49 year olds, 52% of 50-64 year olds and 35% of those over 65 feel the same way.

Interesting findings from Vitrue’s new study on Facebook post performance:

·         Time of Day: Posts made before noon get 65% more engagement than post after noon across all verticals.

·         Day of Week: Friday pots generate the most engagement on average, while weekend post generate the least engagement.

·         Image Posts are more engaging vs. video or text (as measured by fan responses, likes and shares).

I recently shared Bud Caddell’s post, “Words to Strategize By.”  A possible addition to this list, or maybe a subcategory to “If It Doesn’t Spread, It’s Dead,” or even “Responsiveness to Culture,” could to consider game mechanics.

Yesterday, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg reported that 40% of the 500 million Facebook users are playing games on the social network: Games are one of the primary reason people are visiting Facebook. However, Zuckerberg also said that, “While [gaming] is in the top five things that people like, [it’s] also in the top five things that people hate.”

While everyone may not love social gaming, the basic principles that have made it a growing fad can be applied to strategy. Read Write Web shared 10 tips for adding game mechanics. Consider them as a way to increase engagement.

1.    Your service: the game. Feinleib suggests that if you start thinking about your service as a game, you will identify some of the ways in which game mechanics -- ideas of competition, rewards, and so on -- will best fit in.

2.    Status / reputation. "People want status. It's human nature," he writes. "But the thing about status is, it has to be visible: both to the person who has it and to everyone else." If you offer rewards, make sure you make them visibile and make some of them, at least, elite or special.

3.    Gifting and reciprocation. Feinleib points to the importance of giving and receiving gifts, noting the social pressures to reciprocate. He suggests letting high status users give away something to others (for free), and argues that others will return gifts (that they must buy).

4.    Hybrid monetization. "Let your users choose how they want to pay you: with their time or with their wallet."

5.    Leaderboards and points. As he argues in #2, people like to compete, and even when points in a game don't convert to an actual reward, "simply making them visible (in the form of a leaderboard) gives them value."

6.    Free stuff. "Give people free stuff to get them to show up. Give away a little bit of what you offer (storage, for example) to users for completing certain tasks," suggests Feinleib.

7.    Make the virtual real. Feinleib recommends adding sound and visual effects to make the virtual experience more "real."

8.    Social proof. Make users' actions visible to those in their networks so that they can, for example, see that everyone else has upgraded or bought the special featured item, for example.

9.    Create scarcity. Create items that are only available for a limited amount of time or offers that expire after a short while.

10.  A/B test and track the metrics. Adding game mechanics to your site isn't as simple as merely adding a few badges or titles. You need to make sure to analyze the responses from users so that you can target the games and the rewards to them.

Who has done this well?

Bud Caddell wrapped a number of strategic marketing principles into one post. My favorite among these is the first:

“DEFINE INSIDERS & OUTSIDERS: Mike used to say this like a broken strategic record. Strong brands are bold enough to define who’s in and who’s out, who makes the cut, and who is left behind. Most brands, and most marketing managers, aren’t willing to do this. Your product or your marketing message can’t be designed for everyone, and it shouldn’t be. Gareth Kay also says, “have a point of view on the world, not a position in the market,” and without a strong point of view, you can’t decide who’s in and who’s out. Simon Sinek also reminds us that people don’t buy what we do, they buy why we do it.”

Often times brands want to reach anyone and everyone, but it’s most effective when you can take a stance and target one (or maybe two) groups who have a reason to connect to your brand.