More than 90 per cent of luxury executives believe that experiential marketing is crucial to their brand’s ability to connect with ultra wealthy clients, not digital marketing, which they see as a vehicle for brand awareness, a report said.

Nearly 84 per cent polled in a recent survey by Wealth-­‐X, the world’s leading ultra high net worth (UHNW) intelligence and prospecting firm, said that they use digital marketing to raise their brand’s visibility, not to increase sales or the number of clients, and a further 16 per cent did not use digital marketing at all.

The Wealth-­‐X Luxury Sentiment Survey, which looked at how luxury brands employ marketing strategies to target UHNW clients, also showed that:

• 68 per cent of respondents felt that UHNW clients do not respond to digital marketing campaigns.

• 53 per cent did not use any form of social media as part of their marketing strategies.

• 64 per cent said that more than 50 per cent of their total marketing budget was used to target UHNW clients specifically.

• 11 per cent said that over 75 per cent of their revenue came from UHNW individuals.

The industry overall appears slightly less optimistic with the Wealth-­‐X Luxury Industry Sentiment Index (LISI) falling to 97.6 based on expectations for the second quarter (Q2) of 2014, compared to a score of 100 in the first quarter.

Almost 75 per cent of respondents felt that revenue would increase in the second quarter of 2014, as opposed to 78 per cent in Q1 2014.

About 6 per cent expect their brand’s market share to decrease in Q2 2014, while none had in the previous survey in January this year.

The second edition of this survey polled global senior luxury executives from various luxury sub-­‐sectors.

Wealth-­‐X CEO Mykolas Rambus said: "The results of this survey reinforce Wealth-­‐X's view that the most effective way to reach UHNW clients is through bespoke and experiential marketing. Getting to know and understand UHNW clients as individuals is the best method of establishing long-­‐term business relationships."

Singapore-based Wealth-­‐X defines UHNW individuals as those with net assets of $30 million and above. – TradeArabia News Service