Mon 3 Mar 2008
The search for “thought leaders” leads to the “working wealthy.”
Posted by Mike Bawden under Much Ado About Marketing
[2] Comments
There’s an interesting piece in AdWeek this week that talks about a demographic class I hadn’t seen before … the “working wealthy.” This group of consumers (also known as “middle class millionaires”) is defined by authors Lewis Schiff and Russ Alan Prince as having the following attributes:
Middle-class millionaires — the 8.4 million households in America with $1 million to $10 million in net worth — are setting the pace for innovation in new and fascinating ways. Although the word “millionaire” may conjure up images of first-class lifestyles and financial peace of mind, middle-class millionaires work exceptionally long hours to maintain their expensive lifestyles and most think of themselves as just plain “middle class.”
Though the working wealthy share many of their values with the rest of the middle class, they also exhibit traits that set them apart. For example, they consider themselves to be influential in their community. They are 50 percent more likely to say that they “tell lots of other people about products or services they like” than middle-class survey respondents. They also report “being asked for advice on what to buy” five times more often than our middle-class survey respondents.
I encourage you to read the whole article – you’ll find the information to be helpful in your marketing planning and of interest to your clients, as well.
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A New Social Class to Market To…
Earlier this year, AdWeek featured an article about a new working class: the working wealthy. AdWeek defines the working wealthy as “middle-class millionaires – the 8.4 million households in America with $1 million to $10 million in net worth –…..
Interesting. I’ve never heard of this working wealthy group either. In a way, it doesn’t surprise me because my own parents almost fit into this group. I think Baby Boomers and those that have lived through the Depression are big savers. Save long enough, and you’ll fit into the working wealthy. Just goes to show that anyone can be successful if they’re at it long enough, and of course, if successful is measured by wealth, which it seems to be in America.