Posts Tagged ‘Marketplace’

(nobody here but us 99 percenters!)

Whatever your politics, anyone who works near the intersection of trends and marketing has to admire the branding skill of OWS. While some are complaining that the “Occupy” movement is directionless and hasn’t accomplished anything yet, the stunning fact is how rapidly the terms “the 99%” and “the 1%” have become part of our cultural shorthand. Inequality of opportunity and financial resources has become a dominant storyline in the American conversation. Even more telling, OWS themes are so ingrained in the culture that they’re showing up in our humor… a sure sign of wide recognition.

Brian McFadden (in the NYT) gives us some laughs while poking fun at status turned upside down and members of the 1% trying to blend into the non-exclusive club of the 99%. Here, a few excerpts from “Lifestyles of the Stealthy Wealthy”
(full strip: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/11/26/opinion/global/20111127_McFadden_cartoon.html ):

DYG SCAN findings suggest that OWS is tapping into a significant turnaround in the national psyche. One change since the Great Recession is our definition of individualism, a long-held American value that has morphed from “me” to “we.” Now individualism is about how connected “I” am to the larger flow of friends, family, and the well-trod path.

Fewer of today’s risk-averse Americans want to stand out from the crowd, lest they tempt fate and the judgment of everyone around them.

In 2007, 65% of adults strongly agreed that, “I like to think of myself as ‘off the beaten path.’  I like to do my own thing and not necessarily what everyone else is doing.”

In 2011, only 59% agree.
Among the affluent (HHI $150,000+), the shift is even more dramatic: down 21 points since 2007, from 60% to 39%.

While some among the über-affluent are oblivious to the post-Great Recession shift, the way most Americans see themselves and want others to see them is fundamentally changed.

Business Implications: Now that American consumers are re-thinking how they want to project status, marketing requires more nuanced messages. What we’re calling “permissible exclusivity” is the new framework for thinking about how to achieve the delicate balance of differentiation while not attracting the “wrong” attention. The status dance continues…but with new moves.

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