Martini Media

Robert Frank, Wall Street Journal luxury reporter and author of Richistan offered some wise words at a recent breakfast talk courtesy of the Luxury Marketing Council.

Refresher: Richistan divides the super wealthy into three countries, “Lower Richistan,” Middle Richistanis worth between $10 million and $100 million” and “Upper Richistan” where the residents are worth more than $100 million.

Some gems from Frank’s talk:

“He said the new line of thinking among those feeling the pinch has gone from ‘What do I want?’ to ‘What do I need and can I afford it?’ Exclusivity and craftsmanship are going to be more important in getting the wealthy to spend.”

Perhaps even more significantly: “Frank urged luxury companies to embrace the web. ‘They for some reason forgot that the wealthy are technology leaders or were not sure how to present their brands without devaluing them,’ he said.”

Further proof that the web is the future for luxury brands – it has to be, as that is where the affluent are to be found.

Cheers,

Lauren

The Online Publishers Association recently announced three new ad units, shortly in the wake of their study titled “Online Publishers Association Study Shows Consumers Exposed to Display Advertising Are More Engaged and Spend More Money Online”. What good timing!

The ad units, as highlighted by the always on-point Darren Herman:

• The Fixed Panel: 336 wide x 700 tall, remains constant as the user scrolls to the top and bottom of the page
• The XXL Box: 468 wide x 648 tall, opens for seven seconds to 936 wide x 648 tall with 1/24x frequency
• The Pushdown: 970 wide x 418 tall, opens to display the advertisement and then after seven seconds rolls up to 970 wide x 66 tall, with 1/24x frequency.

In short – these new units increase the scope of digital ad campaigns, as well they should. Online advertising is the direction in which the industry is moving, as these developments highlight.

See Darren Herman’s assessment here, and OPA’s release regarding online engagement here.

Cheers,

Martini partner Media6Degrees was recently featured in the New York Times, thanks to their innovative social graphing technology. As the New York Times describes, Media6 “link a Web site visitor to his friends … [and] use data from social-networking sites to map users’ interactions.” This way, advertisers can target “friends” of users who have already expressed interest in the product, increasing the productivity of ads served.

Martini has fortunate to have made full use of this technology, and agree that it is the next step in online advertising. Congratuations to SixApart for the great placement!

See the full article here.

Cheers,

Lauren

San Francisco, CA, June 29, 2009 —Martini Media, the leading media network catering to affluent, passionate consumers, threw an event Saturday June 13 at the West Valley Flying Club of Palo Alto. The event featured Aston Martin, Cirrus Planes, as well as partners Belgrave Trust, Quintessentially, and Lotus Vodka.

Attendees sipped martinis and enjoyed appetizers during the afternoon event. The Aston Martin flagship DBS was available for test-drives, as well as a DB9 Volante on display on the tarmac. Two Cirrus SR-22 aircraft were present, and attendees could be seen climbing in both and strapping in.

The sponsors were incredibly pleased with the 100+ turn out. Lauren Gilchrist of Belgrave Trust asserted that,  “Martini’s event was a unique opportunity to connect our members with those who share both lifestyle passions and environmental goals.” She expressed a commonality in the Belgrave demographic, who are passionate about “wine collecting, yachting, flying” and also “share a common goal: helping to reduce their carbon footprint.”

Fiona Campbell, Head of Quintessentially San Francisco, similarly found the even to be a “perfect experiential afternoon.” Campbell invited members of the high-end concierge service, and further stated, “Our members certainly enjoyed not only the ability to participate in the test drives, but also the ability to mix with a like-minded peer group.”

Matthew Griffin of the Silicon Valley Auto Group brought the Aston Martins and ran test drives through the afternoon. “It was great to team up with the Martini crew recently,” Griffin said. “I’m already looking forward to the next event.” Terry McGee of Cirrus Jets agreed. “The event was wonderful,” McGee said. “Martini drew a great crowd of qualified people excited about what we had to offer – it felt like a family gathering rather than a corporate event.”

The event was attended by enthusiasts from the Bay Area, including members of French Tuesdays, the Luxury Marketing Council, and BillionaireXchange.com. Martini Media has been pursuing such events as a unique way to make the most of crossovers in online & offline marketing efforts targeting the affluent demographic.

“For those partners who have an exclusive, high-end product or service, the Martini events are a great way to leverage your online efforts into more direct consumer feedback, opinions and sales,” says Martini Media founder Ryan Kiskis. “Our online network provides targeted reach to the right audience, and the experiences, stories, and photos from these events in turn provides content that can be redistributed to build brand equity online. Being strategic about coordinating your online and offline efforts is really the only way to maximize reach to the affluent enthusiast.”

There were over 100 attendees throughout the afternoon. Food was provided by Taste Catering of San Francisco, and the bar by Lotus Vodka.

For further information, please contact lauren.sloss@martini-corp.com.

We recently came across a very interesting study from American Express focusing on affluent spending on travel. The main assertion is that affluent adults with children spend twice as much on travel than those without.

Granted, this is intutive in some ways. Adults with children who choose to travel automatically spend more, as they are paying for more people. However, there is another element highlighted in the survey that I found interesting. According to  Simon Kahn, vice president of American Express Platinum and Centurion Product Management, American Express: “Travel is a top passion among affluent parents and they want to share their passions with their children to ensure they are culturally aware and well-rounded.”

Traveling with children becomes a priority, due to the adults love of travel (and one would assume, love of their children). Great information to keep in mind when marketing high-end vacations.

In the same vein, Seth Godin wrote about how summer camp changes lives. Being a hard core camp kid myself, this made me rather happy (and is another great example of parents spending on their children).Though I disagree with him, I think my camp was better than his.

See the AmEx study here, and Seth’s post here.

Cheers,

Lauren

Today, the Wall Street Journal reported that large-scale retailers such as supermarkets and drugstores are cutting back extensively on the variety available in stock (in some cases, 50% or more).

Is this a smart move? Sometimes, less truly is more. But, as the WSJ declares in their headline, variety truly can be considered “the Spice of Marketing.”

What do you think? Are we in for bland times, or a refinement of quality?

See the full article here.

Cheers,

Lauren

Steve Forbes has a new book out (co-authored by John Prevas) discussing how the elements of success, leadership, and power have not changed much over the past 1000 years. The book is excerpted in today’s Forbes, and we found some interesting pieces over which to mull. For example:

“Even though more than two thousand years have passed since Hannibal crossed those Alps, the elements of what it takes to be a successful leader have not changed. They are simple and obvious, or should be: motivating those who follow you to share your vision; inspiring through example; a sense of duty and responsibility to those who trust and depend on you; the capacity to see a problem and the skill to fix it; developing and maintaining a proper perspective on yourself in the face of success or adversity; setting and achieving goals; understanding people’s limits and knowing when to drive hard and when to ease up on both subordinates and competitors.”

What better place to look for inspiration than the maverick leaders of the past? If they don’t inspire you to take risks and pursue your vision, nothing will. Plus, if Steve Forbes thinks it’s a good idea, it’s probably worth considering.

Check out the full excerpt here.

Cheers,

Lauren

According to the most recent Ipsos Mendelsohn quarterly online Barometer survey among affluent adults, concerns about the economy are decreasing, reports the Media Post Research Brief blog. While concerns are still present, “Compared to the Winter Barometer … the percentage of affluent households reporting each of them as a concern has declined.”

Another interesting finding: “Only the highest income segment (those with HHI of $200k+) DIDN’T claim the economy was their number one concern. They chose ‘Corruption/scandals’ as their chief worry, followed by ‘Moral decline’ and then ‘the economy’ as its third place ranking.”

We’re glad to see that the concern is lessening. This is certainly indicative of an economic turnaround, and further optimisitic findings.

See the full brief here.
Cheers,

Lauren

We’ve come across a recent report by Phoenix Marketing International covering “Affluent Households: State of the Economy and Discretionary Spending.” Interesting stuff, and useful information for us at Martini.

Some key points, courtesy of team member Irene:

“The majority of mass affluent households (54%) made no changes in discretionary spending habits. Only one-quarter (27%) reduced their discretionary spending, and about one-fifth actually increased their spending. As for plans for future spending, 3/5 mass affluent households plan to keep their spending the same, 1/4 plan to reduce spending, and 1/6 actually have plans to increase spending.”

We’re glad to see that our target group understands the best way to jumpstart the economy: spend! Advertisers hoping to reach this demographic should take note.

Let me know if you’d like to see the full report; I’ll happily send it your way.

Cheers,

Lauren

Our Passion Meets Performance event this past Saturday was a huge success. Thanks to our sponsors Aston Martin, Cirrus, Belgrave Trust, and Quintessentially for helping make the day amazing. I’ve posted a couple of photos below, but check out our other blog for loads more.

Cheers,

Lauren

JD, living the dream (Brooke and Jen in the DB9)

Skip, Norman, and the DB9