Marketing to the Upper Crust

Most products and services are either good or not so good. Factual comparisons can help people distinguish which is which. Convincing people to prefer one good product or service over another is more challenging. Marketers often employ what John D. Rockefeller might have called snob appeal. For instance, here's how Rockefeller & Co. (descended from the Rockefeller family office) describes the clients it seeks:

You're driven. You're successful. And you're not done yet. Like John D. Rockefeller, you dream bigger than most.

Expensive wristwatches, no longer needed for telling time but popular as status symbols, sometimes position themselves as instant heirlooms:

You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely take care of it for the next generation.

A century ago, the grand masters at marketing to the upper crust were the makers of the preeminent motor car: Pierce Arrow. In this ad from September, 1930, they were still piling on the snob appeal pretty thick:


Just as GM and Chrysler have struggled to survive the Great Recession, Pierce Arrow strove to keep going during the Great Depression. They didn't make it. Take a look at this extraordinary 1933 concept car, the Pierce Arrow Silver Arrow, and think what might have been.

•

Snob appeal still works, as various hedge funds have demonstrated. Nothing attracts status-seeking investors like outrageously high fees.