Do luxury Brands have different buyers?

Like, do their buyer bases have different profiles?

On the one hand, many of us think that brands OBviously sell to different buyers. Different ages, or different attitudes, or different political leanings. I mean, that's how targeting and differentiation work, right?

On the other hand, some of us think that brands share customers, and basically have the same buyers. That differentiation is kind of a myth. That Duplication of Purchase (and other brand science) obliviates brand differences.

My friends at Tracksuit shared some lovely data on luxury shoppers to shed some light on this question.

When it comes to household income (HHI), all luxury brands follow the same general pattern: fewer low-HHI buyers and more high-HHI ones.

This isn't a surprise. But there are a couple interesting things to note:

1. Quite a lot of lower-income people buy luxury brands. This might surprise you. (Tho this data doesn't show how much these folks spend on luxury brands.)

2. Most brands are super-similar. Same broad pattern.

3. There is some significant wiggle. Compare Miu Miu to Supreme, f'rinstance.

So do luxury brands have different buyers? Yes and no.

Caveats of course (e.g., what else is going on to drive these HHI differences?), but some lessons:

🍊 Look for the broad patterns in your category. They exist.

🍊 There is often some real — and significant — wiggle.

🍊 Get yourself some data! (Good data.)