| Kippreport.com

Affluent conversation, Part II

December 22, 2008 8:15 by Kareem Shaheen

Premal Patel, the Middle East’s senior director of marketing for American Express says the expansion into the region of global luxury brands is just a continuing trend carrying over from the last few years, with increased commoditization of luxury retail products being an attempt to offset the cost of creating a luxury environment for the brand. “The globe is accessible to most brands nowadays. The opportunities in emerging markets for the last few years have been so immense,” he says. “Many, many brands have come in and set up and expanded their portfolios to appeal to a wider group of people.”

Though the ultra-rich might not be terribly affected or concerned by a global economic meltdown, the overall market and its PR machine are certainly not immune to it, and brands are actively trying to weather the storm. Except that it seems a lot of global luxury brands are trying to weather the storm by setting up shop here. The campaign to adopt the silver spoon as Dubai’s national symbol begins here.

Click here to read Affluent conversation, Part I.

First seen in www.communicate.ae

Pages: 1 2 3

Tags: affluence, brands, credit crunch, Dubai, luxury items, marketing, setting shop, UAE