The upscale market is a powerful—and very desirable—target. Often, our clients here at Talino Design come to us to "upscale" their look. (Our Brand Engineering expertise makes us well-qualified to meet this need.) Typically, their business has reached the limits of the marketing strategy they started with—and now face losing revenue in lost marketing opportunities.

While our clients first come to us for a web presence revamp, what inevitably happens during the process is a realization that they need to address a bigger picture: how to upscale their brand. Once this happens we then go back a couple of steps in the process and help clients re-think and refocus their brand . Then we help develop a marketing strategy, and only then do we begin to assemble the different marketing pieces. Very often, the centerpiece of this work is a strategy to upscale the web presence of their business built around a powerful Web Marketing System.

Why Upscale

The upscale market has been on the upward climb for many years. It can be a good strategy because the audience in this segment tend to be powerful influencers within a market or community. Furthermore, potential customers in this demographic have strong purchasing power—making this an attractive revenue source for businesses.

Apple, for example, used this strategy when they developed the iPhone. Priced slightly above the higher-end phones, Apple has focused its marketing efforts on creating a luxury brand through its material, website, and product design. You will notice that every piece of marketing material is consistent with the upscale strategy. The end result? A brand that addresses the targeted market effectively.

How to Upscale

Engineering a brand to become upscale is a complex undertaking—something we at Talino Design understand well. It is a long-term commitment that requires astute planning and skilled design. The steps to undertake it vary from business to business, and product to product. Here are three things to consider and harness when upscaling the brand.

Brand

To state the obvious: your business needs to have an image or product that lends itself to being built as an upscale brand. The good news is, a lot of businesses do. A good understanding and definition of your brand will lead the way in creating an upscale image of your business.

The upscale brand-image you want to create will be defined by what you want the brand to be. It is a fair bit more than marketing "positioning." At a minimum, a brand-image is a reflection of why (a client sees) your business as valuable, important, and unique.

Master Design Blueprint

At some point the branding image will need to become tangible—this is first developed and manifested in the Master Design Blueprint. One of the key indicators of a masterful upscale design is the LEVEL of attention to detail. What is included in the design (and more importantly—what is not) is critical. This design must have a certain tone unique to the brand. It must evoke a certain feeling and convey a certain look—a richness that can only be achieved by a master designer. It needs to create a specific image: a level of quality that cannot be mistaken for any other: a feeling of luxury and upscale value. This image is what master design blueprint must encapsulate.

A master design blueprint must define the individual elements that will go into every design created for the brand. This design will have to be flexible and powerful enough to reflect the brand. It must endure being implemented as Business Cards, Print Ads, Web Site Design, Video style, etc.

Consistency

An upscale strategy takes long-term commitment from the business. The reason is simple: the business must use the same branding elements to reinforce The master design blueprint must be implemented diligently across all marketing assets (from outdoor signage to web presence). Failure to do so will only dilute and prolong the effort.

Web Focus: Upscale Marketing will often require a web presence. It is a cost-effective platform from which to create or launch an upscale brand. A Web Marketing System can be the leading edge of an upscale strategy. Through judicious design and effective marketing it can be a remarkably powerful way to to At Talino Design we think it should be the leading edge of any such undertaking.

Cost

Upscale strategies require a higher investment in marketing. For a large business, this typically means 5-15% of the sales revenue. The reason is simple enough as previously mentioned: attention to a whole lot of detail. The level of quality in every marketing piece has to be top-notch, and it requires high-quality skills and experience—and usually higher costs—to deliver these pieces.

The upscale strategy is (in our opinion) a strategy for visionaries. If you are looking to fuel growth and revenue, and are capable of seeing beyond the numbers and the next quarter's profits, then this is a strategy that might work for you. It  requires fanatical consistency. This is why it takes a long-term commitment and focus—but once an upscale brand is established, it can be a powerful presence, and a very profitable position.