One of the worst mistakes any business can make is to slightly imply their value offering isn’t quite worth it. This is especially true as you go up the scale into the luxury market. After all, “luxury” isn’t solely about how much an item costs, but the full experience and attention to detail you can expect. When you buy a Rolex watch, for example, you expect it to be highly functional, of a world-class standard, with certificates and the ability to repair it if anything happens. You expect it to be in your family for some time.
However, as many brands try to extend their value offering, raise prices if they’re successful, and develop a more affluent market share, this only raises the stakes and demands you understand your business and its offering from all angles. In some cases, companies can make mistakes here, because there are so many to make. In some cases, this can lead to a brand seeming cheaper than the presented value, which somewhat pops the bubble and illusion of what they had offered.
In this post, we’ll discuss what those most common mistakes are, and how to avoid them:
Poor Incohesive Branding
Many luxury brands fall into the trap of having beautiful flagship materials, but that doesn’t mean they can’t neglect every other customer interaction point. You might have stunning packaging for your main product line, but then customers receive a cheap-looking invoice or confirmation email that feels like it came from a completely different company, and it makes them question their experience. Remember, affluent clients are shrewd and know what other companies do. If they see this, the disconnect becomes jarring and immediately suggests that the luxury experience was more of a facade than a genuine commitment to excellence.
As such, every single piece of communication needs to reflect the same level of sophistication and attention to detail. This includes business cards and letterheads to digital receipts and even the way your customer service team answers the phone. Professional printing services are a great resolution to that example, as are using correctly configured customer support bots with a capable tone.
Using Contradictory Cheap Materials
Nothing destroys a luxury brand’s credibility faster than cutting corners on the physical elements customers can touch and feel, because you can’t lie to the senses. You can’t charge premium prices while using flimsy packaging, low-quality paper stock, or materials that feel cheap in the hand, because customers have an intuitive sense for quality, and the moment something feels substandard, they start questioning everything about your brand’s positioning. Then they wonder if you’ve overcharged them..
For example, even thick, substantial business cards, premium paper, and braces in packaging all easily show the investment you put into every aspect of your business. These details might seem small, but they do matter.
Uneven Pricing Structures
Luxury brands sometimes make the mistake of having pricing that feels arbitrary or inconsistent across their product lines, which immediately raises questions about whether customers are getting fair value or just being charged for the sake of the label. Remember that affluent clients can certainly spend wastefully, but that doesn’t mean they’re ignorant of value.
Moreover, when there’s no clear logic to how you’ve structured your pricing, anyone will start to feel like they might be getting taken advantage of, which completely undermines the trust that luxury branding needs to stay afloat. Be clear and consistent, and still provide value.
With this advice, we hope you can avoid making your luxury brand feel cheap when it deserves to feel premium.
