By Tina Gaudoin
Departures
Mar/Apr-2013
Famous faces have been selling luxury goods for years—but how well do they really work?
This exclusive Departures content includes several quotes from Luxury Institute CEO, Milton Pedraza.
http://www.departures.com/arts-and-culture/the-celebrity-endorsement-game
By Tricia Carr
Luxury Daily
December 5,2012
Executives from the Luxury Institute, Digital Luxury Group and Morpheus Media who spoke during a Luxury Daily webinar said that marketers should focus on relationship-building through technology and moving away from a fragmented media approach in 2013.
During the “Luxury Outlook 2013: Up, Down or Flat?” webinar Dec. 4, the senior executives agreed that consumer segmentation by geographic and demographic factors can help brands distinguish the “who” and “why” of luxury marketing next year. Overall, the executives concurred that the outlook on luxury for 2013 is “up.”
“It is simple – long-term relationships build sales and profits,” said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, New York.
“Instead of looking at what the competition is doing, do what Apple is doing,” he said. “It had the product, but it created an even greater value proposition for the brand.”
Click the link to read the entire article which includes additional quotes from Milton Pedraza, CEO of Luxury Institute:
http://www.luxurydaily.com/customer-relationships-seamless-media-approach-are-keys-to-luxury-marketing-in-2013-luxury-daily-webinar/
By: Larissa Faw
Forbes
October 2, 2012
Two Millennials walk into a bar wearing denim jeans, Converse sneakers, and carrying iPhones. They are identical except for one factor: one makes more than six figures a year, while the other is unemployed and lives at home. Affluent Millennials may be hard to pick out of a crowd, but they are redefining the luxury industry.
There are currently 11.8 million Millennials age 18-30 living in U.S. households with annual incomes exceeding $100,000, according to the Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Survey. Plus, never before has such a large group of young people been raised by wealthy parents: 34% of today’s Millennials have been wealthy throughout their lifetime, say American Express and the Harrison Group.
“There are more out there than you expect,” says The Luxury Institute’s Milton Pedraza. “If you are a 28-year-old working as a creative executive, you are making $130,000 a year and are most likely are single. It’s not as if you have a lot of assets. You might have some debt, but there’s still a lot of disposable income to go to technology, travel, and entertainment.”
Click the link to read the entire article which includes quote(s) from Milton Pedraza, CEO of Luxury Institute:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larissafaw/2012/10/02/meet-the-millennial-1-young-rich-and-redefining-luxury/
By Stacey Vanek Smith
Marketplace
September 11th, 2012
Shares of Burberry are down more than 18 percent this morning. The luxury retailer slashed profit forecasts and warned that the luxury goods market is headed for hard times.
The main cause, says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, is global slowdown. Even while other retailers struggled, luxury retailers were boosted by sales from overseas, especially in Asia.
“China had been the engine of growth for the last several years,” says Pedraza, “[and] it generated a tremendous number of tourists who had been holding up the European luxury market.”
The Chinese slowdown, therefore, has not only affected the luxury market there, but also in Europe.
Luxury retailers could react in a number of ways, says Pedraza, from lowering their prices to reducing their inventory. Most importantly, though, he thinks they will “go after retaining customers who have purchased before,” hoping to increase customer culture and keep previous customers coming back.
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/poor-burberry-earnings-point-problems-luxury-market
British automaker Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is keeping its brand top-of-mind with trend-savvy, affluent consumers in Thailand through a new boutique experience set to open in the fourth quarter of this year.
The new Rolls-Royce Central Bangkok boutique will be the first of its kind in Asia. The automaker has additional plans expand its presence in Thailand due to strong interest from consumers in the emerging market, which seems to welcome status brands with open arms, experts say.
“Rolls-Royce understands that Asia has a lot more opportunities than just China,” said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, New York. “It has large populations that are growing in their economic and demographic profiles.
“The slowdown in China, while it is still a wonderful opportunity, is causing the brand to move further out,” he said. “Now you have to open your eyes a little wider, and you will find out that Asia is much bigger than China with a tremendous amount of growth opportunity.”
Click the link to read the entire article which includes quotes from Milton Pedraza, CEO of Luxury Institute: http://www.luxurydaily.com/rolls-royce-targets-blooming-asia-pacific-market-in-boutique-expansion/