Putting The Millennium Into Your Marketing Plan
by Carol Milano
We all know the New Millennium is right around the corner. Travel packages and special events for New Year’s Eve have been sold out for months, even at six-figure prices. The arrival of 2000 has consumers in a very special frame of mind. For retailers, this turn of the calendar can certainly hold extra opportunity.
Consumer Psychology
Typically, around December 31, "People evaluate their lives and want to reinforce or change their patterns. They may get engaged, or join a health club," finds Jeff Straus, president of Countdown Entertainment which runs New Year’s Eve in Times Square.
Augmenting the usual tendency, experts see the arrival of 2000 as a particular catalyst for change. Dr. Toni Heris, a psychologist in Manhattan, explains, "Every decade, every century, earns its label: The Age of Discovery, The Age of Enlightenment. This moment in time has great meaning: it feels like a fresh new start, not just the end of an ordinary year, decade, or even century, but the end of a MILLENNIUM! It holds so much possibility for people."
What makes us eager to spend as 2000 nears? To John Roth, senior partner, Bozell Worldwide, a large advertising agency, the millennium is "an interesting new idea—it’s unique and novel; there hasn’t been one for 1,000 years! A retailer can link onto this new idea to sell any product. Retailers always want a hook and 2000 is far more distinctive than traditional holidays like Mothers Day," Mr. Roth feels.
Eugene Fram, J. Warren McClure Research Professor of Marketing, Rochester Institute of Technology, agrees. "Smart marketers, asking ‘how can we use this?,’ are attaching glamour to 2000." The travel industry latched on to romance; special diamonds are being sold by playing the romance card, too. The largest market segment that can afford such frills is youth-focussed Baby Boomers. "Now they have discretionary income. It’s the same motivation as plastic surgery. Baby Boomers can deny growing older by attaching themselves to youth and glamour," Professor Fram contends. For example, last fall Courvoisier introduced the only cognac allowed to call itself "Millennium." Special bottles ($39 to 59) with bright colors and a huge ‘2000’ are targeted even to non-cognac drinkers. "With Millennium Madness, people want quality products to help celebrate a one-time event, so they can look back years later and feel good about what they did. A highly-regarded brand like Courvoisier really reinforces the occasion," says Marc Birnbaum, Marketing Director/Cognacs at Allied Domecq Spirits USA.
The resurgence of luxe, understated comfort is another key factor in raising purchase levels. People want bigger-ticket items "not only because luxury brands are a byword: a major purchase means more with the millennium’s once-in-a- lifetime aspect. Smart marketers are creating limited editions in virtually every category—diamonds, cars, dinnerware—so consumers see a chance to capture a bit of history-in-the-making, and perhaps pass it on to a family member," claims Joan Mansbach, Creative Marketing Director at Communications/ Marketing Action in New York City.
While you may not offer a limited edition rug for 2000, the consumer climate is ripe for reaching out to shoppers in their millennium-induced state of mind. In your year-end advertising and in-store displays, you can highlight:
- a lasting, luxury product
- timeless craftsmanship, as old as the millennium
- an heirloom to pass on to children or grandchildren
- a significant purchase to mark the dawn of a new century in your own home
- the romance of the oriental rug
- how beauty and elegance around you reflect good taste and confidence in the future
Ms. Mansbach observes, "the concept of seeing a new century dawn provides a bit of a frivolous attitude and makes people hopeful about a better world." Encourage shoppers in your area to reflect that new, improved world of the next millennium by adding a very special, distinctive rug to their home (or office) to mark this unique occasion forever.