The general tendency of western economies and the companies in it seems to be up. An obvious thing: a company doesn’t mind if profits are a bit lower for one year, stockholders generally are because they want most of their money. But how are “exclusive” brands supposed to cope with that? Since everybody nowadays wants to be different aren’t we faced with a problem?
Let’s take the car: a lot of brands with several models are available but are they enough to be different? In the end they are all mass products so you’re hardly ever exclusive anymore. The mini still has a bit of that “stand out” character, but what is that worth when nowadays there are 1 million of it driving around. And believe it or not but there was a time when you used to stand out with a BMW or a Mercedes.And the automobile industry is not the only one facing this problem. Apple didn’t even used to see itself as a competitor of Microsoft, exclusivity was the key that made all the difference. And while computers are indeed not overcrowding us YET, the Ipod is just not exclusive anymore. We can even slowly start to call it common, which takes away the number one reason for a lot of Apple users to buy it.So then, if 5 years from now everybody has Louis Viton, Gucci, Armani and Dior products where does the upper class turn? Or do these producers have to throw their prices up? And how does the mass stay “different”?
With everybody spending more on exclusivity, this might soon not just be depending on price but on customizable products. Could this increasing demand for exclusivity mean a more diverse market? More products, more brands and less mass products? If so we’re bound to end up with a very interesting future what positioning and target groups are concerned.