Susan Adams Affluent Information

July 21, 2010

Super Affluent Men and How They View Their Wealth

Filed under: Affluent Sales and Marketing — admin @ 12:41 pm

I was doing some office cleaning and came across an interesting study that was done in 2008 on men who are millionaires.

I realize it’s 2 years old, but the conclusions are still relevant.

This study was done by GenSpring Family Offices (they serve ultra high net worth clients) and they commissioned a study of how men handle wealth and how they view the transfer of their wealth to heirs.

Here are a few of their findings:

  • 83% do not use wealth to influence others
  • 78% were not impressed by those with a lot of money
  • 62% do not equate wealth with having power
  • 45% do not see their image connected to their wealth

When you consider that most of those who are wealthy have originated from the middle class, then the findings aren’t all that surprising.

I  thought the most interesting point was the last: 45% do not see their image connected to their wealth.

As a marketer, if you take this into consideration, how does it change your strategy?

It would be vital to know where does their self-image come from? From their families? From their social circles?

Connecting with an affluent client is all about understanding who they are, and this study gives us some insight into men and how they view themselves in relation to the money they’ve accumulated.

Especially when you consider the ‘tired’ media stereotypes of millionaires.


June 28, 2010

New Information on the Worlds Millionaires

Filed under: Affluent Sales and Marketing — Tags: , , — admin @ 3:37 pm

From the 2010 Merrill Lynch/Capgemini Wealth Report

“The world’s population of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) grew 17.1% to 10.0 million in 2009.The world’s population of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) returned to 10 million in 2009, increasing by 17.1% over 2008. HNWI financial wealth increased 18.9% from 2008 levels to $39 trillion. After losing 24.0% in 2008, Ultra-HNWIs saw wealth rebound 21.5% in 2009. Ultra-HNWIs increased their wealth by 21.5% in 2009.
In terms of the total Global HNWI population remains highly concentrated with the U.S, Japan and Germany accounting for 53.5% of the world’s HNWI population, down slightly from 2008.”

There will be a series of posts based on different sections of the wealth report

May 31, 2010

Ultra Affluent Spending Patterns in 2010

Filed under: Affluent Sales and Marketing,Affluent and the recession — Tags: — admin @ 6:17 pm

From a recent article in the Chicago Tribune

The luxury business is making a comeback, but it is relying on fewer and wealthier consumers.

Ultra-affluent households, or the top 2 percent of the U.S. population, are spending again after going into hiding during the worst recession since World War II.

These wealthy shoppers are snapping up Rolls Royces, whose first-quarter sales soared 60 percent, and taking outings to Sotheby’s, where auction sales commissions more than doubled in the first quarter. They also are stocking up on Champagne: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, maker of Krug and Veuve Clicquot, saw its first-quarter sparkling wine sales rise 33 percent.

Jeweler Lester Lampert, the owner of a namesake boutique on Chicago’s tony Oak Street, said he has sold more bracelets and earrings priced above $100,000 in the first four months of this year than he can remember ever doing.”Last year, they weren’t coming in,” Lampert said. “They held back because of the economy. I think now they have more confidence.

Luxury sales peaked in 2007 at $228.5 billion, before dropping 2 percent in 2008 and falling 8 percent in 2009, according to Bain & Co. The Boston-based consulting firm forecasts luxury sales to rebound this year, gaining 4 percent, largely helped by growth in China. But the luxury landscape won’t be like it was. The worldwide economic crisis of 2009 is “structurally” changing the luxury market, Bain said in an April report.

There will be fewer brands and fewer stores targeting the superrich.

March 26, 2010

Dan Kennedy Interviews Susan

Filed under: Affluent Sales and Marketing — admin @ 8:32 am

Here is the interview Dan did with me for his newsletter…

March 25, 2010

How the Affluent Use the Internet

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — admin @ 11:17 am

The internet is the perfect shopping tool for the wealthy.

WHY?

Because it’s anonymous. They can shop without having to talk to a sales person. Should they discover they have genuine interest, they’ll provide a name, an email address and MAYBE a cell phone.

In a recent survey by Unity Marketing, they found some interesting habits among the affluent and the internet:

1) They’re younger buyers

2) Ultra-affluent with incomes of 250k or more

3) They dislike going to stores to shop

If your target group is older, then an internet presence is valuable, but these older affluents will be more likely to pick up the phone and call an 800 number they see on a website.

If your target group is younger, then expect them to look to the internet for as much information as they can find about your product or service. have reports they can download…testimonials from satisfied clients…as much pricing information as you’re willing to ‘give up’.

More in my next post about how the affluent use social networking sites.

March 12, 2010

The Rich ARE Buying….

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 8:58 am

From Forbes

According to a MasterCard ( MA – news – people ) Advisors’ SpendingPulse, a monthly report that tracks consumer spending, the luxury category saw a 15% increase in sales in February over the same period in 2009. This built on the momentum from January when there was an 8% increase on luxury spending over January 2009. Buyers are coming back, albeit with the battle scars of the recession and perhaps, a little more subdued than before: Today’s luxury shopper is discreet, expects her purchases to be unique and is only splurging on particularly special items. And the price tags? Think big. Think really big!

Even the days of must-have seasonal items selling out before they even hit the sales floor might be returning. Interested in Prada’s Lucite jewel-encrusted sandals from the spring 2010 runway, priced at nearly $1,800? Too late, they’re sold out.

March 10, 2010

US Millionaires Increased in 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 1:15 pm

From the Spectrum Group…

It was a good year to be rich. Or ultra-rich, for that matter.

The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more — excluding wealth derived from a primary residence — grew 16 percent last year, according to a new report by the Spectrem Group, a Chicago-based consulting firm. After a 27 percent decline in the number of millionaire households in 2008, the ranks of U.S. millionaires swelled to 7.8 million last year.

And it was an even better year to be an “Ultra High Net Worth Individual,” defined as someone with a net worth of $5 million or more. That population grew 17 percent in 2009 to 980,000.

“The nation’s millionaires — together with its Ultra High Net Worth households — are bouncing back from the recession. Following a sharp decline in 2008, both groups saw their numbers advance nicely in 2009, with the U.S. millionaire population rising to 7.8 million. While still well short of its all-time high of 9.2 million in 2007, this year’s growth in the millionaire population is nevertheless welcome news for an economy still working to recover,” said George H. Walper, Jr., president of Spectrem Group in a statement.

The number of American millionaires seems to have risen in tandem with both work productivity growth and, unfortunately, with the unemployment rate, which has hovered around 10 percent in the last few months.

While productivity growth signals heightened efficiency, it also generally means that companies require fewer workers, so the country’s rapid rise in productivity — which surged 6.2 percent last quarter — may be, as a recent paper put it, one of the “main drivers” of the jobless recovery.)

Of course, household incomes have been growing unevenly for years — even during times of seeming prosperity. For 2007, the year for which the most recent data is available, the top one percent of earners — those with incomes of at least $398,000 per year — enjoyed a 6.8 percent growth (versus the 3.7 percent average), boosting their share of the country’s total income to 23.5 percent.

March 5, 2010

Spending on High End Products Is Picking Up

Filed under: Affluent and the recession — admin @ 5:03 pm

Regardless of what the government says, we’re still in a recession. Sure, the stock market has rebounded, but, it had nowhere to go but UP from where it was a year ago. The reason I mention the stock market is because as portfolios have grown, the affluent are opening their wallets again.

Those wealthy people who went into a shell a year ago are starting to peek out again…and SPEND.

Now, that doesn’t mean we’re back to the excesses of a few years agon.

Private aviation, my area of expertise, is starting to slowly grow, quarter over quarter. Most experts agree, the worst is over. However, certain segments of the aviation market, won’t start to see a recovery until 2011.

I’m seeing clients fly more. That to me is a good sign that the affluent are feeling comfortable starting to spend. It’s a glimmer on a somewhat dim hoizon.

February 18, 2010

Why Aren’t They Spending?

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 3:59 pm

The affluent are still holding on to their money. Even though the stock market has rebounded, there’s a cloud hanging over most businesses. it’s the cloud of uncertainty. What new regulations will come out of Washington? Will there be a health care bill, a cap and trade bill? All this is weighing on the affluent. They won’t loosen the purse strings until these issues get settled.

What’s a marketer or sales person to do in this environment?

That will be my next post!

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