Upping the ante: the moneyed masses can pay for more, but they want more value for their money. Mass Affluence explains how to target them.

A review of Mass Affluence: 7 New Rules of Marketing to Today's Consumer, by Paul Nunes and Brian Johnson. Published by Harvard Business School Press, 2004.

If the 1990s were known for a growing interest in the segmentation of market share, the early 21st century may be remembered for the return of mass marketing. The important distinction is that mass marketing is now being targeted at a wealthier, and growing, segment of North American society.

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Virginia Postrel's recent book The Substance of Style described this as the rise of the "aesthetic imperative" in North America--individuals want the products they purchase to reflect their personality, and they now have the money to do this. Included among these purchases aren't just clothes anymore; everything from toilet brushes to computers are targeted. Production costs for regular, mass-produced items has now dropped low enough that differentiation has to come through customization to fit client needs. Such customization comes at a price but more people can afford to pay that price.

Paul Nunes and Brian Johnson, in their book Mass Affluence: 7 New Rules of Marketing to Today's Consumer, probably wouldn't argue with much that Postrel has to say. As their book also explains, there is a growing segment of North American society that can afford to pay more for everything. However, what they call the "moneyed masses" aren't spending their money frivolously just for the sake of buying luxury goods. In fact, on the whole, they are saving more than they are spending, looking for purchases that suit their niche interests. However, with the right marketing approach, Nunes and Johnson believe that this market can be tapped for a lot more of its wealth.

The seven new rules the authors present are the following:

* Seize the unclaimed ground between luxury and mass-market positions (ground which is growing and under-served),

* Serve millions of diverse customers with (essentially) the same product,

* Discover must-have products that serve a special purpose,

* Introduce new ownership options that convert the unaffordable into the affordable,

* Offer new products that perform like investment opportunities,

* Change sales locations, formats, and the mix of offerings to optimize affluent consumption, and

* Devise cost-effective promotions to attract and retain masses of well-heeled customers.

Nunes and Johnson offer strong statistical evidence for the value of marketing to this expansive target group, which creates an effective groundwork for the rest of the text. The case studies that they offer of success stories in this space effectively demonstrate the new type of value proposition that wealthier consumers are demanding.

Home builder Toll Brothers is one such example. The company has created a niche for itself between completely custom, architect-designed residences and more traditional subdivisions. Despite the recent economic slowdown, the company was still growing impressively in 2002 and into 2003 with its differentiated model of delivering unique homes at a reasonable price through economies of scale.

Another prime example of effectively finding this new middle ground was Crest Whitestrips, which bridged the gap between whitening toothpastes and dentists' whitening treatments. Procter and Gamble was able to market this at a premium price of US$40 when it first hit the street, meeting a perceived want while targeting a price point that more affluent consumers were happy to pay.

Finding a way to crack this affluent class doesn't necessarily mean introducing a completely new product either. Finding additional uses, essentially increasing the perceived value of an existing product, can be equally effective. Nunes and Johnson use, as an example of this, the Austrian firm Riedel, which designed a series of wineglasses in shapes and sizes made to enhance the flavour of specific wines, so that consumers could buy a set specifically for Bordeaux or Burgundy wines (among others).

The message at the heart of Mass Affluence is fairly simple--understand this new market niche, and create the luxuries and the service culture its members want at a price point they can afford. A lot of their suggestions are not revolutionary but the book puts a slightly new twist on some ideas.

For instance, although many of these affluent people can afford to own summer homes or more expensive cars, they don't want the bother of maintenance concerns. Therefore, new models of ownership, which allow for people to own a share of a product, instead of owning it outright, are a valuable alternative. This is an effective twist on the idea of producing less-expensive versions of luxuries to sell to the masses. The book offers a number of these variations on old themes, and offers many useful case studies in a variety of sectors that underscore their effectiveness.

Both The Substance of Style and Mass Affluence offer an interesting perspective on how consumer tastes are changing. Mass Affluence is able to put this into a form that organizations can use as a tool to reframe their marketing approaches.

The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness, by Virginia I. Postrel, is published by HarperCollins Canada. For more information visit www.harpercollins.ca.

Robert Colman is editor-in-chief of CMA Management.