NewsBytes: QuikSilver Lifestyle, Luxury Consumers Like Hybrids
1) A commonly pondered question in the consumer goods world is this: how does a brand continue to serve its most passionate core customers and still expand into new markets? QuikSilver has launched a new 20-something women’s clothing line that is all about lifestyle and not directly linked to the brand’s reason for being – surfing. Will it work, or will it dilute the message too much for its biggest fans? Nicholas Casey wrote a great article for the Wall Street Journal that discusses it in full.
2) If "luxe" SUV owners are interested in trading down to hybrid models, is that an indication that environmental and energy awareness is on its way to making a major dent in mass market car purchasing behavior? Steve Miller wrote about this in the latest issue of BrandWeek. In general, it sounds like "Aspirational Environmentalism" may be striking again (the Getty Images MAP report for more detail on AspEn).
