State of Luxury 2018: The Insider View

State of Luxury 2018: The Insider View

Unity Marketing just completed a new survey among 600 luxury industry executives across a wide range of vertical sectors (e.g. fashion, jewelry, home furnishings, travel, hospitality, design) and companies that support the luxury industry in marketing, advertising and technology strategies. This study provides a unique perspective on the luxury market from the point of view of those that compete in the luxury industry.

The study, conducted in partnership with Luxury Daily, the world’s largest luxury business publication, found that the industry’s biggest challenges and opportunities revolve around the same trend:

The rise of the digital economy

Key findings include:

• More e-commerce: More luxury companies have embraced Internet marketing and ecommerce, with 68% of luxury goods brands now selling goods over the internet, as compared with 62% in 2016.
• More advertising: More luxury brands will invest more on advertising in 2018, than in 2017. This is a key bellwether of confidence in the luxury market. But how brands will allocate advertising spending will shift this year away from traditional media to digital.
• Increased commitment to social media advertising and promotion: Social media advertising and promotion will gain the largest share of luxury brands’ advertising investment in 2018, along with website enhancements and Google Ad Words.
• Print advertising losing effectiveness: Print advertising is losing relevance to luxury brands. Only about half as many brands report they will be allocating advertising budgets to print this year, as to social media.
• Positive expectation for growth: Luxury insiders have a more positive expectation for growth in 2018 than they did in 2017. This year 47% of the insiders polled feel that business conditions in the luxury market will improve in 2018, compared with 43% last year.
• More HNW & UHNW consumers: Luxury insiders view the changes in wealth distribution, particularly the rapid growth in the numbers of HNW and UHNW clients, as opening the doors of new opportunities in 2018.
• Luxury consumers more willing to spend: Luxury insiders also report that luxury consumers are increasingly willing to trade up to luxury rather than opting for lesser-quality, lower-priced alternatives.

Opportunities abound for luxury brands in 2018. “What excites me are new products and new approaches to life that address the consumer -- body, mind and soul. The new luxuries are serenity, vitality and radiant good health. What encourages me is how we are creating new definitions of luxury,” this luxury insider proclaims. This report will help luxury companies map a path to growth in 2018 by gaining insights from their peers in the industry.