Affluent conversation, Part I

Affluent conversation, Part I

Luxury is a “national obsession” in the UAE, say advertising industry analysts, adding that to push posh products, marketers must make consumers feel special. Part I

December 21, 2008 2:25 by Kareem Shaheen

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Thomas Jefferson forgot about luxury consumers.

This elusive class exists above and beyond the proverbial “invisible hand” of the market that guides consumers and producers to mutual prosperity or demise, to a large extent shielded from market turmoil and the mood swings of the global economy. Recession? What recession? Indignantly giving up the mass appeal of downmarket goods, they turn away and, monocles in hand, jump aboard the exclusivity bandwagon created by marketers wanting to sell an image.

And apparently, luxury consumers are all over the region – and doing their shopping in Dubai. According to statistics provided by the Nielsen Company’s UAE branch, three out of five UAE consumers have shopped at Calvin Klein and Christian Dior, and one out of three has shopped at Gucci. The results of the Nielsen Global Luxury Brands survey, released ahead of October’s Leaders in Luxury Summit in Dubai, also showed that the UAE is ranked among the top three countries globally in purchasing the luxury fashion brands Gucci, Chanel and Giorgio Armani.

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Tags: affluence, brands, consumer, exclusive, luxury goods, marketing, UAE