A business is ready to move upmarket when its product or service has been recognized by current customers as better than the price it is being sold for. However, the brand image does not yet reflect this. At this point, the brand is not creating new quality. It makes existing quality visible to the right customer base.
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A business is ready to move upmarket when its product or service has been recognized by customers as more deserving than the price it is being sold for. However, the brand image does not yet reflect this. The brand does not create new quality. It makes existing quality visible to the right buyer segment.
Wanting to sell at a higher price is not a signal
Most business owners want to sell at a higher price. That does not indicate readiness. The real question is: are your current customers receiving more than what they pay for? If the answer is yes, and if they still recommend you to others despite market changes, then the first sign has appeared.
Conversely, if the reason for wanting to move upmarket is due to slow sales, because a competitor just launched a new logo, or because you feel bored with the current image, then those are the wrong reasons. Rebranding and repositioning upward do not solve structural sales issues. They also do not replace the need to re-understand the market.
Three signs that indicate you are being held back
There are times when the brand no longer supports you and starts to hinder you. It is not always easy to recognize because the harm occurs gradually.
The first sign: new customers look at your image and then ask for a lower price than you want to sell. Or they compare you to cheaper competitors even though the quality is not equivalent. In this case, the image is placing you in the wrong comparison frame in the customers' minds.
The second sign: the best customers, those who pay the most and complain the least, come from personal referrals rather than from your image. This indicates that the brand is "missing" the most suitable customer segment, forcing them to be led through a roundabout way.
The third sign: you find yourself explaining more than necessary in every new meeting. Customers do not trust before you speak because the image has not done that work for you. According to research from Stanford University on web credibility, 75% of users assess an organization's trustworthiness based on design before reading content.
Segmenting differently from changing the logo
The difference between high-end and low-end segments often does not lie in the core product. It lies in the presentation, communication style, and the experience customers receive at each touchpoint. In other words, premium customers buy more than just the product. They buy the feeling of making the right choice.
Kapferer describes a brand through six facets, where "physique" is just the first facet, referring to what is visible. The other five facets, including personality, culture, relationship, user image, and self-image, are where meaning is formed. Moving upmarket while only changing the first facet means you have only completed one-sixth of the work.
A brand is not just a logo. A brand is the feeling in the customer's gut about a product, service, or organization.
Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap
The brand leads in a specific way.
When a business is truly ready to move up the segment, the brand does three things in order.
The first task is to reposition in the mind. The business must occupy a clearer position in the minds of the new customer segment. You cannot just say "we are better"; you must answer the question: better by what criteria, and are those criteria what the new customer segment truly cares about?
The second task is to raise the consistent aesthetic threshold across the entire system. From how you appear on social media, to how quotes are presented, to how employees dress during client meetings. Each touchpoint is a vote for or against the position you want to occupy.
The third task is to maintain consistency long enough to accumulate. A brand does not operate on campaigns; it operates on repeated habits. According to research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, brand identity assets only create recall ability when repeated consistently enough to anchor in customers' memories.
Essentials to have before you start
Moving upmarket is a business decision, accompanied by three prerequisites.
- Concrete evidence that the product or service meets the criteria of the new segment, not just expectations or internal comparisons.
- Understand the target customer profile of the new segment. They make different decisions, have different concerns, and evaluate you based on different criteria than current customers.
- Accept that some old customers will leave. This is not a failure. This is the cost of clarity. Brands that try to hold onto every customer segment often do not fit anyone.
When these three conditions are met, the brand has a place to stand. Before that, no matter how new the image is, it is just a layer of paint on an uncertain foundation.
References
McKinsey, The Business Value of Design, 2018. Kantar BrandZ, annual report ~2020. Byron Sharp, How Brands Grow, 2010. Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap, 2003. Marq / Demand Metric, Brand Consistency Report, 2019. David Aaker, Managing Brand Equity, 1991. Kapferer, The New Strategic Brand Management.