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MARKETING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 295

are ready for what was termed a “deeper values experience.” In the past decade,
researchers tell us, we’ve seen an explosion of consumerism some call the “new lux-
ury.” Brand experiences that had before been the province of the elite have become
available to the masses. For example, the luxury brand Prada and its iconic handbags
were once associated only with the very wealthy. Now Prada is within the grasp of the
middle and upper middle class consumer. But with the raising of such a bar comes the
raising of our expectations. Consumers who have come to expect a high-level brand
quality experience at every touch point are now looking beyond the physical and emo-
tional brand dimensions in search of an experience of fundamental core values. Now,
it’s not enough that a luxury car features leather seats. Today we seek luxury hybrid
cars with leather seats.
What this research suggests is that consumers are equating a company’s values with
the products it produces. From luxury hybrid cars to couture dresses made from
organic and sustainable fabrics, it is not enough simply to have it all—consumers also
want to feel better about having it all. Consider that luxury ecotourism is the fastest
growing market in the tourism industry, or that cause marketing programs are explod-
ing among consumer companies as sourcing, materials, trade practices, and social
causes become a part of the brand experience—we want fair trade coffee, Rainforest
Alliance bananas, and clothing and shoes made by people who have been paid a fair
wage. Locally grown and sustainable foods are sought both for their regional appeal
and premier quality. The influence of the USDA Certified Organic seal on foods has
increased significantly since 2004. Because of the Internet, consumers are able to
research the origins of products and understand, on a level unimaginable a mere
decade ago, the relative social and ecological impact of any given product.
So what does this latest chapter say about the brand experience in the United States?
In the earliest days of commerce, what people bought was, by and large, locally
sourced (and probably pretty sustainable and organic, too). Local farmers served the
communities in which they lived, and craftsmen built from materials that were avail-
able locally. Exotic materials like silk and tea were imported and available to wealthy
consumers. When you traveled across the country, you had new and different experi-
ences in dining and shopping.
Enter the industrial age and the ensuing automobile age. Railroads and trucks made
transport over long distances feasible. No longer were you limited to local products
and the seasonally available food grown in your community. The early days of
national retail were still fairly simple in terms of brand experience. It was a time when
brand attributes were more directly related to the quality of materials and workman-
ship. You could, for example, order from the Sears, Roebuck catalog and understand
exactly what you would get. The wealthy and well-traveled could buy a Chanel suit as
an investment in design, workmanship, and timeless style, and it would come from
Coco Chanel’s atelier in Paris. As we entered the electronics age, gadgets from over-
seas were the new exotics, pricey and full of sex appeal.
You know the rest of the story. As the world has grown smaller, the brand experi-
ence has become both more homogenous and more complex. The “blanding of brand”
means that regional and even international boundaries have been erased; you can eat