Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods... And How Companies Create Them (Revised and Updated)

From Publishers Weekly
In Bobos in Paradise, David Brooks traced the cultural forces behind the rise of what he called the bohemian bourgeois class. Now Silverstein and Fiske take a close look at its buying patterns. Both authors have v-p-level experience at the Boston Consulting Group studying retail practices, and they display deep familiarity with "new luxury" goods favored by a growing segment of the American middle market with more disposable income than ever. They're talking about people who take shopping tips from Oprah and Martha, swear their washing machine makes them happy, and dine at "fast casual" restaurants instead of burger chains. Many chapters focus on companies that produce specific luxury items. Victoria's Secret, for example, was a small, seedy store before it was purchased by a visionary retailer convinced American women would be willing to pay higher prices for attractive lingerie in a boutique setting. There's also the case of Callaway Golf, which was able to target new luxury shoppers to achieve a tenfold increase in revenue within just three years. Even the toy market can become a breeding ground for high-end items, like American Girl dolls, a line with an extensive back story that appeals to the luxury consumer's desire to "know" the pedigree of his or her purchases (just as some wine aficionados jump at the chance to display their mastery of California vintages). Despite the book's slight technical flaws, including a high degree of repetitiveness, its insights into a highly lucrative market (e.g., single women earn in excess of $374 billion annually) make this a must read for anyone interested in practical economics.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Many words can be written that underscore the truth about trading up--or, in these authors' words, "consumers who selectively trade up to better products and trade down to pay for other premium purchases." Writers have documented the trend of middle-market Americans to selectively decide that, say, a luxury automobile or vacation is worth the extra bucks while "sacrificing" other goods, such as dining out or clothing. With much perspicacity and no small amount of statistics, Silverstein and his coauthors underscore with eight practices what leaders need to do, including never underestimating customers to using influence marketing and seeding success through brand apostles. However, many of the examples they use are the "same-old" case histories--Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, Canyon Ranch, Samuel Adams Boston lager--that have been employed time and time again to illustrate other segmentation and marketing theories. Yet the concepts are valid; the caveats should be heeded. What's needed? Extraordinarly savvy marketers who can stay the course in the toughest of economies. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

David Brooks, author of Bobos in Paradise
Incredibly smart and illuminating... Packed with insights into how shoppers think and behave.

Book Description
First published to media acclaim in October 2003, Trading Up revealed how today’s middle-class consumers are seeking higher levels of quality, taste, and aspiration than had ever been possible before—in their choices of cars and clothing, vodka and beer, golf clubs and dolls, and much more. The book identified a major opportunity for entrepreneurs and innovators, managers and marketers, in every category of consumer goods and services. Now Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske have thoroughly revised this BusinessWeek bestseller with new research and new insights into the still- growing phenomenon of trading up.

About the Author
Michael Silverstein is a senior vice president of The Boston Consulting Group. He has helped clients develop new premium-priced products that command $4 billion in retail sales. Neil Fiske is the former head of the Chicago office of The Boston Consulting Group and is now the CEO of Bath & Body Works.


Buy from Amazon     Compare Prices

"What are the financial and emotional pressures and social forces that drive product choices? What are the benefits that qualify a premium-price product or service for mass acceptance? And how can an established producer create a successful mass luxury brand?" In Trading Up, a world-class team of consultants explores these questions and shows how companies create premium brands that appeal to the mass-market consumer. The book is teeming with ideas that are relevant to product developers, business strategists, marketers, and social critics as well as consumers themselves.


Buy from Barnes & Noble     Compare Prices