When you are creating a brand for your business, you need to think about what kind of customers you are targeting. Are you going to be a budget brand that is known for value, or are you going to be a high-end, premium brand that is known for quality?
If you are aiming for the latter, you will be targeting people that are willing to spend more money on a product because they are confident that it will meet their high standards. But if you are going to get them to part with their money, you need to show people that you can deliver, and the best way to do that is through your brand. Building a high-end brand is often a lot harder than a budget one, and a lot of businesses find that they simply cannot earn the trust that they need. If you are trying to position yourself as a premium brand, here are a few important things you should know.
Quality Of Product
First and foremost, you need to focus on the quality of your product. If you are going to position yourself as a premium brand and charge a higher price than your competitors, you need to have something to back you up. Customer reviews hold a lot of weight and if your first customers don’t think that the quality of your product reflects the price, they are going to leave you some bad reviews. A few negative reviews like that will really damage your brand so it’s vital that you get the product right before you do anything else.
Control Pricing
Price controls are so important if you are trying to build a strong premium brand. If retailers are selling your product a lot cheaper than the suggested price, that undermines your brand a lot and people will see you as a budget brand rather than a premium one. The best way around this is to use a minimum advertized price policy. This means that retailers cannot advertize the product with a price lower than the one that you set. There are some great minimum advertized price automation systems (available here) that will scan and flag up any retailers that are breaking the policy and advertising your product at reduced prices. It will then communicate with the seller and inform them that they need to adjust the advert. However, you need to be aware that retailers can still sell the product for a lower price in store, they just can’t advertize it at that price.
Tell Your Story
When people are buying a premium product, they like to know the story behind it. Expensive food products are a great example of this and their marketing campaigns often focus on a family recipe, passed down the generations. Premium tech products will tell the story of years of innovation and scientific breakthroughs that made the product possible. If you can show the level of work that has gone into making this product perfect, you justify the price point. That’s why your story is so important to your brand.
If you can position yourself as the leading authority in your industry, you can build a premium brand and sell a higher quality product at a much higher price point.
