Feeling Premium Has Nothing to Do With Price — It's About This transcript

If you're building a premium or luxury brand, this video is for you. In this video, I'm going to [music] show you five things that make a brand feel premium, not expensive, not luxuryl looking, [music] actually premium, inherently premium. Because if you're trying to elevate your brand, charge more, create a demand, build that cultlike following of people screaming, "Take my money," you need to understand one thing. [music] Premium brands aren't built through one big decision.

They're built through hundreds of small decisions. Whether [music] that's design decisions, brand decisions, psychology decisions. I call these things premium signals. Think about the Hermes orange box, [music] the Leboutin Red Soul, the Porsche silhouette, the Netflix [music] Tadum, the Rolex weight list. All of these things improve the perception and perception is where premium brands are built. See, most founders think premium brands are built through better products.

And sometimes they are, but more often than not, they're built through better premium signals. Signals that communicate quality, taste, authority, [music] trust, desiraability. And here's the important part. No premium brand is built on just one signal. The strongest brands [music] layer multiple signals, one on top of the other. So, by the time you've stacked enough of them together, you've built something people are willing [music] and happily willing to pay a premium for.

In fact, they fight over it. Now, everything I'm about to share comes from over a decade [music] of working with some of the biggest brands, top London agencies, a stint at Google, working with founders, CEOs, and building my own premium brands. Some made it, some didn't, but all across different categories. Okay. One of my best projects and one I've worked on and one that's part of me is a brand I built, a luxury brand that took my product from 200 pound a unit to 10,000 a unit to 16,000 a unit and I've got a wait list to people who are ready to hear about the next drop.

Okay, this stuff works because if there's one thing I can't stand is people regurgitating generic branding advice that they never actually used in the real world. And this comes from years of experience. the wins, the mistakes, the losses, the expensive failures, and also just over a decade have been really interesting in this stuff. So, if you're going to listen to anyone, listen to me. Please don't take no shoddy advice.

This stuff actually works. Now, that that brand authority piece is out the way and you can trust that I'm worth listening to. In this video, I'm going to show you five powerful ways premium brands engineer perception and more importantly, how you can start applying them to your own brand. I've purposely chosen examples in completely different industries, niches, products, categories to show you something important that the product might change, but the psychology doesn't.

Because at the end of the day, brands are for humans and humans tend to operate using the same psychological shortcuts whether we like to admit it or not. So without further ado, these are the premium brand signals that you must have and must show to build a premium or luxury brand. Let's dive in. Number one, distinctive design signals. See the first thing that makes a brand feel premium is distinctive design and the signals that design communicates.

All right? Or put another way simply things people recognize before they see your logo. So the strongest brands don't rely on people trying to read something from 20 m away. They rely on people recognizing that recognition. Our brains are wired for pattern recognition and understanding the world around us. It has to recognize certain parts of it so can so it can associate meaning and recognition in the brain happens faster than the thought.

Our brains are wired to create shortcuts to make sense with the world around us. And the moment we see certain colors, shapes, sounds, symbols, we instantly know what we're looking at. Think about the cross from Christianity or think about Christian Leboutin. Most people couldn't tell you how a Lboutin shoe is made, but they know the red soul. They know it's iconic. They can identify and pair that red sole with the brand.

Fun fact, the story goes that Labboutin was working on a shoe prototype that been working on for months and felt like there was something missing that he couldn't quite nail. One day he's working on this prototype and a member of staff across the table from him was painting her nails red, really beautiful red color. He grabbed the nail polish instantly painted the salt. In that moment, he realized that he created something really distinctive, really recognizable, something people could spot from across the room.

That red soul become more famous than the shoe itself. It became the premium or luxury signal because the moment that somebody sees that flash of red color underneath a heel, they already know what it is. There's no logo required, just the color. Hermes, they did something similar, not with a shoe, but with a box. What's fascinating is that iconic orange box wasn't originally someone's genius brand idea. During World War II, Hermes faced shortcuts and shortages of their usual packaging materials.

So orange at the time just happened to be available as in stock. So they used orange and over time that repeated exposure transformed that orange box into one of the most recognizable assets in luxury branding we know today. And today, people can identify the Hermes orange purchase from across the room before they've even seen the logo. The same thing happened with Tiffany and the Tiffany blue color, the Coca-Cola bottle, the Porsche silhouette, the Gwagon box-like shape, the Rolex Cyclops lens, the Newtonic eye logo.

Same principle, but the asset became the shortcut. The shortcut became the signal. The signal then became the brand. See how this stuff layers? Because if your product doesn't signal anything, it won't sell. People buy products that say something about them. Whether it's signaling status, taste, belonging, identity. So to make this practical for you, if you're building a brand or trying to elevate your brand, what is the thing people recognize from across the room?

Not your logo, not your brand name, the actual product. Has it got a unique shape? Can you create an unique shape? Can you own something like a color? Find one thing you can own, whether it's a color, a shape, a pattern, a packaging style, a signature detail, and repeat that anywhere and everywhere, so it becomes naturally associated with your brand and part of your brand. You need to find something competitors would look ridiculous trying to copy.

Can you imagine any fashion brand now trying to launch something with the orange box? Okay, it would be ridiculous. Third, hide your logo and then ask somebody, can you tell that it's us or can you tell what brand it is? Now, this doesn't work because they've seen your brand for years or they have to have seen your brand for years. It works in the way that you want someone to associate a specific something with your brand and that for that to stick in their head.

And if the answer is no, your brand probably isn't distinctive enough. And that brings us to the second thing that makes brands feel premium. Proof. Not promises, proof. But before we move on, if you're enjoying this stuff, I've put together a free email series called 33 ways in 33 days to elevate your brand. Every day I'm going to send you a new practical advice, practical prompt that's rooted in brand psychology, behavioral bias, and also premium branding that I've been studying for the last decade and applying myself.

You can apply this stuff immediately. It's no fluff, no motivational [ __ ] It's just practical ways to improve perception, increase demand, and build a brand that people actually want to remember. You'll find the link in the description. Grab it. It's free. It's a bit of a no-brainer. And hopefully you like it enough that one day you want to buy whatever it is I decide to sell. Straight up. Number two, materials and craftsmanship.

The second thing that makes a brand feel premium is the materials and the craftsmanship that goes into it. Or put it another way, the physical proof that someone actually gave a [ __ ] Anybody can say their brand is premium. Anyone can say that they're luxury. Anyone can say that they're high quality. But saying it and proving it are two very different things. Especially in this day and age of everyone launching brands.

The barrier to entry is so low now to build build or or launch a brand that it takes special brands to show and prove consistently that they are premium and they do premium [ __ ] So premium brands understand this innately. That's why they don't just tell you that they're good. They give you evidence, consistent evidence over time. Whether it's Rolls-Royce, Hamemes, Maiden Cookware, another great brand I've just found.

I've literally just ordered 400 pounds worth of pans from them. I didn't even need new pot and pans, but they look so good I had to. Okay, Ramoa Lee, totally different products, same signal. See, the effort becomes visible and the craftsmanship becomes a proof. I got followed around the internet time and time again from made in cookware showing me so many different ways of how these pans are used, how restaurant quality chefs use them to create beautiful food, how they're manufactured, how they're produced, how you season these pans.

I got taken on a whole journey over the last 3 months by Instagram ads. And what I consistently understood is that this brand cares about precision, about the effort, about the craft, and about helping me create a better quality meal. So, think about Rolls-Royce. Their famous advert that David Oggov made a few decades ago talked about the loudest noise in the car came from the electric clock. Not the engine, not the road, not the tires, the clock.

That advert wasn't selling horsepower. It was selling obsession. It was selling standards. It was selling the craftsmanship. And in my example of made in, they're not just selling pots and pans. They talk about manufacturing, the materials, the steel quality, the production methods. The effort becomes visible. And the visible effort creates and increases perceived value of the product. Because uncertainty creates anxiety.

Customers want evidence and the materials become the evidence. The craftsmanship becomes the evidence. The details become evidence and the evidence justifies the premium pricing. So, here's some no BS practical prompts, right? Show the work, show the process, show the materials, show the standards, show the details that most competitors ignore. I did this with my own brand. My brand was more about the journey that was going on and the products that I produced along that journey.

So, I showed so much behind the-scenes footage of what was going on and how I created an idea and took it right through to execution, then documented the launch and everything that I was doing. Okay, that's how I took a product from 200 a unit that I started on my broken kitchen table in a house that I couldn't even afford renting to building a brand that now commands £5,000, £10,000, £16,000 per unit. And I've got a wait list of people wanting to hear about the next drop.

George Heaton master at this behindthe-scenes content building represent. It's almost like a mini docu series. Customers see the meetings, they see the product development, they're they're in meetings in real time where where real decisions being made, they see the sampling, they see the manufacturers, they see the mistakes, they see their decisions, they see their thinking, they see George catching up with other like-minded entrepreneurs.

They see George's, you know, self-development journey. They see George hanging out in a 1960s Rolls-Royce that looks cool as [ __ ] LA. They see George building the brand in LA and building the team around that. They see George on a a shoot in the middle of the desert with an athlete running with one of their clothes. It's mental, but consistency will show you that these people care about what they do. They care about the craft. and whatever you receive is going to be on point because it's been thought about to the umpth degree.

Okay, that is what creates belief. You know that when you order something, you're going to get what you expect and your expectations are going to be high and they're going to be met because premium brands don't just tell people that they're premium. They give customers enough evidence to reach that conclusion themselves, just like I did with Maiden Cookware. That is far more powerful. Which brings us to the third thing that makes brands feel premium.

It's not what the product is, it's how people gain access to it. Before we move on, if you're serious about building a premium brand, I've put together 33 ways in 33 days, a practical email send out that will help you elevate your brand. Every day you'll get one practical premium branding insight, behavioral psychology principles, brand building tips, techniques, different mechanisms that they use straight into your inbox.

No fluff, no generic marketing advice, just practical ideas designed to help you elevate perception, charge more, and build a brand people actually remember, love, and want to buy from. It's completely free. I really want you to get some practical advice that you can implement into your brand so you love me and then want to buy whatever I launch later down the line. Straight up. Premium signal number three, rituals and access.

The third thing that I've identified that makes brands feel premium is rituals and access. or to put it simply, how people get access to the thing and how they experience the thing. Because here's something most founders get completely wrong when they're trying to build their brand. They think making something easier to buy automatically makes it more desirable. You think, well, like if I just lower the price and make it a little bit more expensive than my competition, people will buy more, I'll sell more, and I'll be able to reorder quicker, sell more units.

Leave that to other loser mass market brands. Okay? Premium and luxury brand builders do the total opposite. Premium brands understand that access itself can become part of the product. Think about Soho House. Even though it is full of like wannabe influencers, Rolex, Cortez, different categories, totally different brands, same principle. A little bit of friction, a little bit of exclusivity, and suddenly people want it more.

Cortez mastered the drop model. you know, that was built off Supreme and other brands that have done it, but they created unique passwords so that you'd have to log in on the day of the drop and hopefully you'd be able to snag a piece. You got Rolex, who won't even sell your watch if you walked into the store with £50,000 trying to throw it at them. You got Soonho House who make you jump through hoops, fill out an application, almost like you're you're applying for a job to try and get a membership there.

Psychologists call this scarcity and also reactants theory. But, you know, if you introduce a little bit of friction and you make people work for it, they're more inclined to want it more. But there's a delicate balance. You can't make it too hard. Otherwise, they'll just think, "Fuck this." And leave. But premium branding 101 tells you the moment that people feel like they can't easily have something, they start wanting it more.

The access becomes the signal. People will signal that they've been able to obtain this exclusive thing. But that's only half the story. So the other half is rituals because humans are incredibly ritualistic. The smartest brands attach themselves to existing rituals or better still they create new ones. Think about a premium coffee brand, you know, aimed at entrepreneurs, for example. They're not simply selling coffee.

They're selling the ritual of deep work. The first sip becomes the trigger and the signal that it's time to put the phone away, close the tabs, avoid any distractions, and lock the [ __ ] in. Okay. through that product, that coffee, you are able to trigger the habit or the ritual. And now suddenly the coffee becomes more than just coffee. It becomes a gateway to achieving the desired identity or aligning yourself with the person that you feel like you are.

I.e. I'm someone who's disciplined and can lock in and get things done. Look at Cadence, one of my other favorite brands at the moment. Cadence isn't just selling hydration. It's actually selling preparation, performance, readiness. The moment you crack open the can, you're telling yourself it's time to perform. Okay? And what they do is they pair the behavior with the beginning, so you're meant to drink it before so you're fully hydrated throughout your run and you don't get cramps and or after the run so you rehydrate.

It's clever stuff. Whoop, the sleep tech brand, they do something similar. So for many users, checking their recovery score becomes part of the morning ritual. They wake up, they check their recovery, adjust their day accordingly. So, you know, you might have planned a heavy session, but if your Whoop device tells you you've had [ __ ] night's sleep, you're going to put that session off for tomorrow because you don't want to hammer your body anymore.

You might even take it as a recovery day. See, the ritual is checking thing and then acting upon it. And the product becomes so aligned with the ritual. The product becomes embedded into the actual behavior. And once the product becomes part of someone's routine, it becomes so much harder to replace. That is a real opportunity. The goal isn't just to sell a product. The goal is to become a part of a ritual. And in the luxury world, that might even mean pairing an important business meeting with your best Rolex or carrying your Birkin bag when you want to feel most confident.

The ritual reinforces the identity. Here's some no BS advice, right? Stop asking, "How can I make this easier to buy?" and start asking, "How can I make this more meaningful to buy? How can I introduce a little bit of friction? How can I make people work a little bit harder?" Okay? Could you create a waiting list? Could you create an application process? Could you create a membersonly experience with real value that they get when they're part of the experience?

Could you create a specific launch event that is really tailored towards a unique subset of people? Could you create some kind of access that makes it feel earned? Remember Cortiz, they literally did it with an email, a landing page, and a secret password for you to gain access. UVU, wicked clothing brand at the moment, they're doing that as well. And secondly, ask yourself what moment in your customer's life could your product become attached to.

How do you attach your product to the ritual? The stronger the ritual, the stronger the brand. And that takes us to the fourth thing that makes a brand feel premium, making your customer feel smarter. Number four, knowledge and expertise. The fourth premium signal is knowledge and expertise. Or put another way, making your customer feel smarter because something interested has happened over the last decade when it comes to branding.

In this age of AI and information abundance, you know, luxury used to be about showing people what you owned. Increasingly, in this new age, premium brands are helping people show what they know. Just like I'm doing here, I'm showing you what I know, my decades of experience, the things I've done, the trial and error, the learning, the successes, the failures, and I'm packaging that up to show you that I know what I'm talking about.

And I'm doing that hopefully through some decent education and practical knowledge that you can go and apply. Right? So, the signal becomes I know something most people don't, not gatekeeping access. Think about Huberman. Think about AG1. Think about Newtonic. cadence represent totally different products, same signal. They make customers feel informed. They make customers feel like insiders. Just like I did with Maiden cookware, I started to research and learn about different um materials or pans, different ways to season the pans, how to cook the meat on it properly.

They make customers feel ahead of the curve, like they're invited into a special circle of knowledge. 20 years ago, luxury was look what I own, you can't have this. today is increasingly look what I know represent understand this brilliantly. So their mini docu series on YouTube behind the scenes behind the brand or whatever they call it the documentaries the factory visits the product development the business decisions the meetings you're getting to observe you know the the people that they align the brand with the the shoots that they go on you know behind the scenes of putting the collections together customers are invited behind the curtain and insiders stay longer because people place more value on what they understand knowledge itself has become a premium signal So, practical takeaway, teach more, show more, reveal more, share the details, share the process, share the things that your competitors keep hidden, share the things that people will think you're insane for sharing.

Take people behind the curtain and show how much work has gone into perfecting your craft and building your brand. Because customers place more value on what they understand. And understanding creates trust. And trust me, if you want to charge high prices for something, you need to build a lot of trust. People want to know that if they're willing to spend a bit more, they're going to receive something that they expect.

Not only that they expect, but exceeds their expectations. They don't want any nasty surprises. You don't want to buy a pair of shoes and the heel falls off. You don't want to receive a diamond ring and the jewel falls out. You don't want to receive an invite to a high ticket coaching program and realize it's actually just five videos and some Discord group chats. [ __ ] that. See, you're using these luxury and premium signals to establish and build trust, a high level of expectation, which brings us to the fifth and final thing that makes a brand feel premium.

Not what your product is, but who your customer becomes because of it. So, all of this works well, but if you layer this on top of it, you're going to be winning. And if you like the sound of this stuff, jump into my email list. Again, 33 practical ways over 33 days how you can implement this sort of stuff. It's packed full of value. I hope you like it. Links in the description. Number five, transformation. This is the signal that says this will help me become better.

Because people aren't just buying products for buying sake, okay? They're buying progress. Think about CrossFit. Think about Whoop. Think about MasterClass, another great brand. Tesla, totally different products, same promise. Become a better version of yourself. Crossfit might sell fitness transformation. My favorite gym that I go to in London, Gymbox, premium gym, wicked, sales transformation. Whoop sells you biohacking optimization.

Masterclass sells you self-improvement through, you know, expert thinkers and leaders in their craft. Who wouldn't want to learn film making from Spike Lee, right? Tesla sells participation in a smarter future. Not only are you techsavvy, but you care about the environment. The customer doesn't care about the thing, per se. They care about the person they're becoming because of the thing. That's why premium brands command higher prices because they're not competing against other products.

They're competing against a future version of that customer. And the bigger the transformation, the stronger the brand. So practical takeaway, stop talking about features, start talking about outcomes, stop talking about what the product does, start talking about what the customer becomes because of it. And ask yourself, what identity am I helping my customer move towards? Whether it's more successful, creative, more disciplined, more healthy, more sophisticated.

Because premium brands don't just sell products. They sell a better future via access of their product. Again, made in cookware. I'm going to be cooking some wicked steak because I'm using the right pans. That's why people willingly pay more for these brands. But here's the problem. Most founders understand what premium brands do. Very few understand why it works. That's why you need to watch the next video to get deeper insight.

Okay, see you on the other side. Pace.