Masstige

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Masstige is a marketing term meaning downward brand extension. The word is a portmanteau of the words mass and prestige and has been described as "prestige for the masses".

Contents

The term was popularized by Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske in their book Trading Up and Harvard Business Review article "Luxury for the Masses". [1] Masstige products are defined as "premium but attainable", and there are two key tenets: (1) They are considered luxury or premium products and (2) They have price points that fill the gap between mid-market and super premium.

Silverstein and Fiske cite several examples:

Several other examples of masstige brand positioning have been proposed by Truon, McColl, and Kitchen [1] include:

History

According to the Oxford Dictionary Online, the term originated during the 1990s. [2] It was then popularized in 2003 by Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske in their book Trading Up and Harvard Business Review article "Luxury for the Masses". [3] "'Masstige' movement gains steam" by Moly Prior characterizes the product trends for the health and beauty care industries with the term. [4] Since 2003, the marketing strategy of masstige has been used by numerous consumer goods industries that include premium level products.

Masstige market positioning

Kitchen,[ clarification needed ] a reasonable equilibrium between perceived prestige and price premium is critical to an effective masstige strategy. That is to say that masstige brand positioning for the consumer is to develop the brand as a premium, or reasonable level of perceived prestige yet whose price point is similar to middle-range brands as outlined in the diagram below. [1]

New luxury brands are closer to traditional brands in terms of prestige, however in terms of price they are closer to middle range brands. Established brands command a premium at 3.1 times more expensive than new luxury brands (masstige positioning), and new luxury brands only sold for 2.2 times more than middle range brands. [1] In terms of perceived prestige, the ratio of traditional luxury brands and new luxury brands was 1.14, while the ratio of new luxury brands and middle-range brands was 1.74. [1] Those brands that employed masstige positioning strategy effectively differentiated themselves from middle range brands in terms of perceived prestige, and yet maintained a reasonable price premium to target middle range customers. [1]

Brand dilution

It has been suggested that luxury marketers thinking about developing their own masstige strategies should be aware of the possibility for brand dilution. [1] To avoid this, it is suggested that adequate price premiums are maintained and access is limited to middle class consumers as brand dilution tends to occur when purchases from middle class consumers becomes frequent or habitual. The more available a product is the less prestigious its perception. Luxury marketers should also focus on developing a prestigious environment around the brand by advertising in glamorous magazines and prestigious stores, and holding seasonal fashion shows so that the brand appeals to consumers as an "aspirational" brand. During periods of economic downturn or consumer economic uncertainty, "aspirational" spending is one of the first categories to slow while spending on true luxury items shows little change. [5]

Related Research Articles

Positioning refers to the place that a brand occupies in the minds of the customers and how it is distinguished from the products of the competitors. It is different from the concept of brand awareness. In order to position products or brands, companies may emphasize the distinguishing features of their brand or they may try to create a suitable image through the marketing mix. Once a brand has achieved a strong position, it can become difficult to reposition it. To effectively position a brand and create a lasting brand memory, brands need to be able to connect to consumers in an authentic way, creating a brand persona usually helps build this sort of connection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pricing</span> Process of determining what a company will receive in exchange for its products

Pricing is the process whereby a business sets the price at which it will sell its products and services, and may be part of the business's marketing plan. In setting prices, the business will take into account the price at which it could acquire the goods, the manufacturing cost, the marketplace, competition, market condition, brand, and quality of product.

Brand equity, in marketing, is the worth of a brand in and of itself – i.e., the social value of a well-known brand name. The owner of a well-known brand name can generate more revenue simply from brand recognition, as consumers perceive the products of well-known brands as better than those of lesser-known brands.

Marketing management is the strategic organizational discipline which focuses on the practical application of marketing orientation, techniques and methods inside enterprises and organizations and on the management of a firm's marketing resources and activities.

Price skimming is a price setting strategy that a firm can employ when launching a product or service for the first time. By following this price skimming method and capturing the extra profit a firm is able to recoup its sunk costs quicker as well as profit off of a higher price in the market before new competition enters and lowers the market price. It has become a relatively common practice for managers in new and growing market, introducing prices high and dropping them over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consumer behaviour</span> Study of individuals, groups, or organisations and all the activities associated with consuming

Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organisations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and preferences affect buying behaviour. Consumer behaviour emerged in the 1940–1950s as a distinct sub-discipline of marketing, but has become an interdisciplinary social science that blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology, anthropology, ethnography, ethnology, marketing, and economics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luxury goods</span> Good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises

In economics, a luxury good is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast to necessity goods, where demand increases proportionally less than income. Luxury goods is often used synonymously with superior goods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pricing strategies</span> Approach to selling a product or service

A business can use a variety of pricing strategies when selling a product or service. To determine the most effective pricing strategy for a company, senior executives need to first identify the company's pricing position, pricing segment, pricing capability and their competitive pricing reaction strategy. Pricing strategies and tactics vary from company to company, and also differ across countries, cultures, industries and over time, with the maturing of industries and markets and changes in wider economic conditions.

An aspirational brand is a term in consumer marketing for a brand or product which a large segment of its exposure audience wishes to own, but for economic reasons cannot. Because the desire for aspirational goods is relative to the consumer's purchasing power, an aspirational brand may be a luxury good if the person desires it, or it may simply be any product whether luxury or not if a consumer has less spending money.

Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off.

The term "mass market" refers to a market for goods produced on a large scale for a significant number of end consumers. The mass market differs from the niche market in that the former focuses on consumers with a wide variety of backgrounds with no identifiable preferences and expectations in a large market segment. Traditionally, businesses reach out to the mass market with advertising messages through a variety of media including radio, TV, newspapers and the Web.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Designer label</span> Products sold under a marque named after a designer

The term designer label refers to clothing, luxury automobile manufacturers and other personal accessory items sold under an often prestigious marque which is commonly named after a designer, founder, or a location-like where the company was founded. The term is most often applied to luxury goods. While members of the upper middle class, or the mass affluent, are perhaps the most commonly targeted customers of these designer labels, some marquees—such as Cartier, Rolex, Montblanc and the haute couture — tend to a wealthier customer base. But almost every designer brand has merchandise that the middle-class wouldn't normally be able to afford, such as exotic skins, furs and hides, limited edition pieces, or things simply priced higher. Designer label companies use their smaller and cheaper merchandise, aimed at the middle class, such as wallets, fashion jewellery, key-rings and small accessories, to make the majority of their income, whilst the more expensive pieces such as haute couture, high jewellery, hand-bags, shoes and even furnishings are usually reserved for the wealthier upper-class clientele.

A product line extension is the use of an established product brand name for a new item in the same product category.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to marketing:

Premium pricing is the practice of keeping the price of one of the products or service artificially high in order to encourage favorable perceptions among buyers, based solely on the price. Premium refers to a segment of a company's brands, products, or services that carry tangible or imaginary surplus value in the upper mid- to high price range. The practice is intended to exploit the tendency for buyers to assume that expensive items enjoy an exceptional reputation or represent exceptional quality and distinction. A premium pricing strategy involves setting the price of a product higher than similar products. This strategy is sometimes also called skim pricing because it is an attempt to “skim the cream” off the top of the market. It is used to maximize profit in areas where customers are happy to pay more, where there are no substitutes for the product, where there are barriers to entering the market or when the seller cannot save on costs by producing at a high volume.

A target market, also known as serviceable obtainable market (SOM), is a group of customers within a business's serviceable available market at which a business aims its marketing efforts and resources. A target market is a subset of the total market for a product or service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brand</span> Identification for a good or service

A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and store value as brand equity for the object identified, to the benefit of the brand's customers, its owners and shareholders. Brand names are sometimes distinguished from generic or store brands.

Customer cost refers not only to the price of a product, but it also encompasses the purchase costs, use costs and the post-use costs. Purchase costs consist of the cost of searching for a product, gathering information about the product and the cost of obtaining that information. Usually, the highest use costs arise for durable goods that have a high demand on resources, such as energy or water, or those with high maintenance costs. Post-use costs encompass the costs for collecting, storing and disposing of the product once the item has been discarded.

Massification is a strategy that some luxury companies use in order to attain growth in the sales of product. Some luxury brands have taken and used the concept of massification to allow their brands to grow to accommodate a broader market. As a method of implementing massification, companies have created diffusion lines. Diffusion lines are an offshoot of a company or a designers original line that is less expensive in order to reach a broader market and gain a wider consumer base. Another strategy used in massification is brand extensions, which is when an already established company releases a new product under their name.

The term "fashion brand" includes all the brands that operate within the fashion industry. A fashion brand combines symbolism, style, and experiential elements, and it needs to differentiate its products and coordinate its supply chain to succeed in the market. Consumers commonly employ brands as a means of expressing either their genuine identity or an idealized self-image that they aspire to achieve.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Truong, Yann; McColl, Rod; Kitchen, Philip J (2009). "New luxury brand positioning and the emergence of Masstige brands". Journal of Brand Management. 16 (5–6): 375–82. doi:10.1057/bm.2009.1. S2CID   167805504. SSRN   2528078.
  2. ↑ http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/masstige%5B%5D
  3. ↑ Silverstein, Michael J.; Fiske, Neil (2003). "Luxury for the masses". Harvard Business Review. 81 (4): 48–57, 121. PMID   12687919.
  4. ↑ Prior, Molly (2003). "'Masstige' movement gains steam". DSN Retailing Today. 42 (15): 22.
  5. ↑ Danziger, Pamela N. "Luxury Brands See Drop In U.S., Where Aspirational Consumers Put New Purchases On Hold". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
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