Marketing to the "moneyed masses"

New York—The beauty of the right-hand ring marketing campaign is that it created a new use for a diamond ring, thus producing a new demand for it, says marketing strategy expert Paul F. Nunes.

With the right marketing campaign, the jewelry industry could create need for products like a "16th-birthday sapphire", a "graduation pearl" or a "retirement necklace," says Nunes, an executive research fellow at Accenture's Institute for High Performance in Wellesley, Mass., who spoke at a recent Luxury Marketing Council meeting in New York.

Since the 1970s, more Americans than ever before earn significantly higher-than-average incomes, yet consumers are spending a much smaller proportion of their overall income than in previous eras, Nunes says. Still, jewelers and other purveyors of luxury goods have an unprecedented opportunity to cater to these "moneyed masses," according to Nunes.

"The potential is out there, but it has to be approached the right way," he says.

This new mass market will only grow as the nation emerges from recession, says Nunes.

"There's tremendous opportunity, and it's fairly solid that the economy seems to be coming back," Nunes says. "People have been denying themselves certain stuff."

Companies that offer quality goods on a mass basis will be able to charge substantial prices for them, Nunes says.

The key to marketing to the "moneyed masses" Nunes says, is to find non-traditional ways to connect with consumers on a more personal basis. Nunes points to the Illinois-based company SheBeads, which sells ceramic beads, priced $35 to $80, to consumers through home parties, compensating party hosts with credit toward purchases, Nunes says.

—Beth Braverman