Press Releases
'Everyday Luxury' Products Satiate Consumers Through Experience
New Icelandic Glacial Super-Premium Spring Water Embodies Luxury Through Purity, Chic Design, and a Story of Exclusivity ? Available to Everyone
Thorlakshofn, Iceland (April 5, 2006)
Luxury is no longer defined by what you own, but how you feel — when you truly experience something.
With consumer closets already brimming, the feeling of “everyday luxury” is being satiated instead through super-premium chocolates, whole-leaf teas, spa products, rare coffees and high-end spring water. Whole Foods Market’s meteoric rise is all about experiencing luxury, but retailers such as Target Stores are also bringing luxury products front and center with their consumers.
Consumers at every income level want more luxury and are willing to pay for it, according to Pamela Danziger, author of “Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses.” The term “massclusivity” — exclusivity for the masses — has become common language when discussing everyday luxuries. The definition of “luxury,” even in the form of an everyday consumable, must be distinguished by better design, better ingredients and better packaging, says Michael Silverstein, author of “Trading Up: The New American Luxury.” Yet other luxury trend experts say quality alone doesn’t cut it with consumers, and that perhaps most important of all, luxury products need to tell a story.
Case in point: Icelandic Glacial super-premium bottled spring water, the newest entrant in a crowded space, has immediately resonated as a luxury product embraced broadly by consumers. Why? 1) its purity is among an elite few 2) its package design has won the biggest international awards 3) and in its market debut, Icelandic Glacial is being sold system-wide at SuperTarget stores, positioned by the retail giant as a “super-premium” product — a step above the rest.
If every luxury product has a story to underscore the “why” behind its luxury, Icelandic Glacial has a good one: the source of Icelandic Glacial water is the legendary Olfus Spring. Olfus Spring was formed during a massive volcanic eruption over 4,500 years years ago and shielded from the elements by an impenetrable barrier of lava rock. Icelanders’ renowned longevity and beautiful skin has created a mystique around their water as a key to a balanced life. Icelandic Glacial has the sole rights to bottle the water from the Olfus Spring.
Feels good just reading about it! Now that’s luxury?available at Target no less.
Few Considered in Super-Premium Water Category
Americans drink more bottled water annually than any other beverage next to carbonated soft drinks. According to a report by Danziger’s company, Unity Marketing, the typical “luxury consumer” spent $33,188 buying luxuries in 2004 — an increase of 33 percent over the previous year.
“As consumers become ever more sensitive to health, wellness and environmental issues — on our land and in our bodies — they are cognizant that not all water is the same,” says Patrick Racz, Icelandic Glacial CEO. “When 80 different water companies convened last fall in Dubai for the industry awards, the news was that everyone is coveting natural purity — and very, very few can achieve it, let alone deliver it affordably to consumers. But without question, natural purity is exactly what consumers are seeking to have daily. To be able to buy it affordably is absolutely perceived as a luxury.”
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