Trading up

From: Are You Experienced?

The move toward creating an upmarket brand experience begins when you embrace the well-documented fact that not all consumers are hell-bent on finding the cheapest product. Many, perhaps the majority, are looking for products that create or enhance their life experiences, and they want their purchase experiences to do the same.

Who are these consumers and how many of them are there? Simply put, there are a lot of them, they are growing in number every day, and they command a large portion of America’s discretionary spending. You’ll find them at all income levels, from all ethnic groups, religions, political parties and geographies.

Sociologist Paul Ray dubbed them Cultural Creatives, and we have been monitoring them closely for years. UpMarket: Peace, Love and Granola Bars explains this social trend in detail.