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“PERKONOMICS”
Why perks and privileges are the new currency

Consumer infatuation with perks and privileges isn't new. For years, airlines, hotels, credit card companies and private banks have been cleverly rewarding their most valuable customers with surprises, status symbols and convenience. But as we move towards a consumer society that’s based more on experiences, on status stories, on the ephemeral—and in which, for many, time is now the only true scarcity—expect perks and privileges to become an integral part of every B2C industry and sector. We’ve dubbed this trend PERKONOMICS: PERKONOMICS: A new breed of perks and privileges, added to brands' regular offerings, is satisfying consumers’ ever-growing desire for novel forms of status and/or convenience, across all industries. The benefits for brands are equally promising: from escaping commoditization, to showing empathy in turbulent times. One to have firmly on your radar in 2009.

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bigger problem in their lives than a lack of money. (Source: Yankelovich.) • 43% of Americans, 39% of British, 60% of Dutch and 47% of Australians rate themselves as ‘time poor’, meaning they feel short of time. (Source: Jay Walker Thompson.) Americans are critically under-vacationed. That's both by choice and circumstance, at least according to the results of Expedia's annual Vacation Deprivation Survey. Americans had only 14 days off in 2007. Yet 35% of Americans won't take all the time off they earn, returning upward of 438 million days to their employers. (Source: Expedia.)

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What constitutes status in a consumer society is