3 Genius Marketing Tips You Can Learn from This $500,000 Handbag

The brilliant branding that is Hermes

This Birkin above sold for $500k.

I’ll just let that sink in for a moment.

This is the Himalayan Birkin and it is made from exotic crocodile leather, 18 karats white gold hardware and is encrusted with 200 diamonds. This bag originally sold for $300,000 in 2016 and then was resold at auction for $500,000 in 2019. There is no investment quite like this one.

It is insane, but that is the legacy of the Birkin. If you go into a Hermes store and buy a Birkin, you could sell it for at least an extra $10k the very next day. And if the one you bought was limited edition, you could sell it for even triple the price the next day.

But why is that? What is it about the marketing strategy that makes this bag so desirable? Let’s dive into that and explore how you can implement the Hermes strategy into your own business.

Exclusivity

The Birkin is highly sought after, not just because it is a luxury good but also because it is extremely elusive.

You cannot just walk into a Hermes store and ask to buy a Birkin. You’ll likely get turned away. Instead, you need to be offered one by your sales associate and, if you are lucky enough to be called into the back room to view it, it may not be in your preferred size and colour. What they offer is what you get. In fact, the business model is so successful there are thousands of YouTube videos of people trying to explain how they ‘scored’ a Birkin or of their ‘Hermes journey’. These phrases are normal.

There is a lot to learn about this model of exclusivity.

If you are an online creator, advertise your product with an element of exclusivity. Perhaps you might make a deadline to buy your course. If customers miss the deadline, there will be a permanent price increase.

You could even make an exclusive online tutoring group. Only have limited places for that group, and only add in new students when a student leaves the group.

Those are suggestions for digital products, however, you could also make a limited-edition physical product. In fact, physical products are brilliant for exclusivity. Most digital products can have unlimited numbers joining, however, you can easily restrict the number of physical products you order. You could order only one thousand units of your product, and once it is gone, it’s gone.

This exclusive model also worked for the watch company, The 5th. Though they release more variety now, The 5th initially began by only revealing one design at a time in limited edition runs. They were all released on the 5th of every month. Suffice to say, the customer’s joy of the hunt and the thrill of having a one-of-a-kind watch drove this brand to its present-day success. To this day, once a design sells out, it never comes back.

Quality Craftsmanship

If you ever have the opportunity to see a brand new Birkin in person, I encourage you to have a very close look at it. They are impeccable bags.

Each Birkin is handmade and takes at least 48 hours to create. To become a Hermes artisan, you need to have years of training. No Birkin is sold with a flaw, so there is a thorough inspection process and it is burned if any fault is found.

The Birkin process is well-known. Hermes takes pride in all of its products, but especially its handbags. And they let everyone know it. They even make YouTube videos about it, such as this one showing how an artisan fixed a bag he personally made 15 years earlier.

When you create a product for your business, it needs to be impeccable.

For example, if you are making an online course, it is absolutely worth using top quality filming equipment. If you can’t buy the best camera and lighting set up, hire it. Keep your editing software updated and relevant. Hire editors to go through your work and to suggest changes. Look at your work time and time again.

Only put out the best work.

Then, like Hermes, be proud and let your followers know how good it is. You could be interviewed by another creator. Or even use Instagram to show a day in the life of creating your course. This is no time to be modest. You know you have the best course and your followers should only buy from you, so let them know it.

Desired by the rich and famous

If you take a glimpse into the wardrobe of people such as Victoria Beckham, Rachel Zoe or any member of the Kardashian-Jenner family, you are likely to see dozens of Birkins, including exotic ones.

All of these people mentioned above are known for their interest in fashion and appearance. It is only natural for these people to desire to own a Birkin because that is the ultimate status symbol. And, quite frankly, it is easy for them to obtain one of these bags. They are wealthy enough to shop at Hermes regularly and buy a huge range of items. They are elite enough to have personal shoppers at the store.

So, you need to find your own ‘famous’ person to market your brand.

This is where influencer marketing comes in. I used influencer marketing to promote my spray tanning business and it worked very well. Create your own partnerships with someone in your niche on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook or TikTok. Give them samples of your product and allow them to show it off. When it is desired by an influencer, it will inevitably be desired by their following.

Final takeaway

Hermes values itself as a brand. For that reason, all staff from all over the world are trained in the same way. Hermes doesn’t want any staff member to stray from its marketing strategy and its branding.

You must apply this rule to your business.

Always value yourself and the business you run. Anyone you employ should match your passion for your business and should be willing to train.

When you follow the Hermes business model, you might find people trying to negotiate with you. Perhaps they want a cheaper price, or they want you to order more products, or they want you to stray from your branding. However, you mustn’t falter. By knowing your worth you are showing the world how valuable your business is.

If you are interested in knowing more about the Birkin and this Himalayan one, I recommend watching this video:

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