Brand Storytelling and Market Research | Recession-Era Luxury Shoppers

In 2009 Conde Nast wanted to do a market research study of the attitudes and spending habits of luxury shoppers during recessionary times.

The publishing giant needed to develop a strategy that it could present to its advertisers, who were looking for the appropriate way to engage this high-end target market within a new and challenging economic context.

What we learned was that elite consumers were shopping as much as ever, but wanted to be addressed in a way that was “un-elitist.” They were conflicted emotionally, at one point describing themselves as “living in a bubble.”

They Were “Living in A Bubble”

Indeed, they knew of the difficulties that were facing so many Americans, and were even feeling somewhat in a pinch themselves.

But that constriction was more emotional than financial. Some even admitted “hiding their bags” when returning home or back to the office after shopping, in order not to offend their co-workers or even their children.

As part of this brand storytelling project, we were tasked to come up with a name for this new market segment, and uncover a value proposition that marketers and advertisers could offer when selling their goods to Conde Nast readers.

We decided to characterize this group as “The Bubble Babes.”

A Counterintuitive Value Proposition

And what we learned was fascinating: the way for brands to alleviate the Bubble Babes’ concerns, or even guilt, about being able to spend during tough times, was for them to present their products as even more elitist, as one-of-a-kind items that could be understood as works of art and not mere commodities.

The study included a comprehensive report, as well as the brand storytelling video you see above. And we’re proud to say it was very much on-target, as corroborated by this August 2011 report in The New York Times.