David Lindley · Co-founder, By Design (formerly Fine and Country)
Building a Premium Property Brand
Summary
David Lindley on the prime property market, the story behind By Design, why the smartest agents move upmarket, and his counterintuitive strategy for entering a new market from the outside in.
Ross's Reflection
David taught me more about premium positioning in twenty minutes than most brand agencies manage in a retainer. The Rolex line stuck with me. Premium is never announced, it is inferred. At Chartwell Noble we obsess over that inference, because a brand that has to say it is premium has already lost the argument.
Ross D'Aniello, host
Key Quotes
Rolex isn't called Posh Watches, and Aston Martin isn't called Fancy Cars.
David Lindley · 04:18
Ross: The best premium brands never explain themselves. Neither should yours.
You can be one degree off course now, but in a year's time you'll be miles apart.
David Lindley · 02:37
Ross: Small misalignments compound quietly. Check the compass early.
Just because the values are intrinsically less, doesn't mean the quality is any less.
David Lindley · 06:13
Ross: A lower price point never has to mean lower standards. We prove that weekly.
Reels From This Episode
Transcript
If your values aren't in alignment, everything else goes off-kilter. You can be one degree off course now, but in a year's time, you'll be miles and miles apart.
Rolex isn't called Posh Watches, or Aston Martin isn't called Fancy Cars. It's too obvious, and it doesn't work.
You start in the areas that aren't in the city centre and build up into it. It was always done in the reverse of what you would think.
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