THE DEATH OF THE MIDDLE-CLASS BRAND

THE DEATH OF THE MIDDLE-CLASS BRAND middle class brands are dying let's talk about the death of the middle for the better part of the last century western countries lived in a consumer society that despite its veneration of excess was actually largely driven by the middle class and middle income spending but worsening economic inequality is changing the middle from the broadest and safest territory for brands to occupy to the most dangerous K-Shaped Recovery Before COVID-19 Economic recession Recovery Investopedia we are already in a K shaped economy that is hollowing out the middle class spending is increasingly concentrated in the top 10 % of society so the middle class consumer is literally disappearing ExtraValue Meals are back and as we move to a more stratified society brands are increasingly gonna be confronted with a choice do you push up into exclusive luxury messaging or do you move down to incorporate some explicit price or value narrative in either case this is bad for all brands because it was the middle that held by far the richest and most diverse brand narratives there's this quote I love from one of the goated trend forecasters Sean Monahan The rich and poor are alike in that they are doomed by fate no matter how high you rise or how far you fall you are marked the middle class alone is gifted with the double edged sword of self actualization and status anxiety a lot of people ask me why I chose a career in brand it's because I'm fascinated with people's desires fears anxieties and how they represent those things through what they consume and what Monahan wrote is why I find the middle most interesting brands have to live between these two polarities self actualization status anxiety and the tension between the two is what produces all of these extraordinarily diverse brand narratives and yes sometimes extraordinarily beautiful pieces of creative in comparison If Business Class was a gym. Meet Melbourne's new private gym for founders and executives. LOCKERROOM luxury messaging by its nature always has to confirm the rarified position of the buyer to justify its margins this often leads to territories that stretch from the incredibly boring to spiritually Miami to hideously embarrassing and it is even more of a slap fight when you have to incorporate value led messaging The Ordinary presents The Markup Marché. Buy the ingredients, not the hype. is that brands have to get a lot more creative the Ordinary's latest pop up the Markup Marche was a perfect example of this sell a banana as an all natural magical energy boosting bar for $175 to highlight how marketing language justifies obscene margins in skincare in more ways than ever brand is politics so strap in Dear Marketer because it is going to be a bumpy decade