Is it time to start building a velvet rope around your brand?

Mark Satterfield 

When the social networking app Clubhouse first launched in March of 2020, it quickly became a coveted panacea for a socially starved society, stuck in isolation during the pandemic. The only caveat, you had to be invited to use the app. In fact, in the spring of 2021, I heard someone describe the Clubhouse app as “the Soho House of the Internet.” Because of this, scoring an early invitation to become a member provided a much needed boost of morale, and some ego juice, to those in the know, until the app was finally open to everyone on July 21, 2021.

Though iPhones are a common-place item, owning other Apple gadgets, from Apple’s latest smartwatch or noise-canceling air pods, to their wireless chargers and their up-to-the minute MacBooks, provides Apple devotees with feelings of sophistication and prestige. And getting your hands on the latest iPhone drop is also brag-worthy. Beyond the latest and greatest Apple wares is the company’s appointment-only Apple Genius Bar. Anyone can walk into an over-crowded Apple store, wait for an available team member and shout their questions over the noisy crowd of other customers. However, those in the know address their Apple-related questions and repairs with the Apple Genius Bar, an appointment-only concierge service of Apple product gurus.

Tesla managed to check most of the velvet rope boxes by appealing to many of the bells and whistles people look for when they want to feel a cut above the masses, making its customers feel like they are part of an elite club. When Elon Musk’s Tesla cars first hit the market, the car was catnip for the early adopter tech crowd who clamored to get their hands on one to show off to their friends, family and colleagues. The price point ensured a definitive barrier to entry, the sleek design and quiet drive offered novelty, while driving around in a car that shuns fossil fuels upped your environmentally conscious cool points. It seemed anyone who was anyone was aching to get behind the wheel of a Tesla.

The American Express Centurion Card, also known as the Black Card, managed to hit just the right chord when it hit the market in 1999. The company positioned the card as only being suitable for high-net-worth clients with impeccable credit and a penchant for purchasing big-ticket items. They doubled down on this market position by charging a hefty annual membership fee that made the card cost-prohibitive to the majority of Amex members. Beyond communicating the Black Card’s marketing position, it was offered by invitation only, and in a pre-Siri, pre-Google era, offered personal concierge services to its card holders, along with other exclusive perks that left green, gold and even platinum card holders out in the cold. As a result, it became a coveted status symbol when pulled out of someone’s wallet. In fact, most Amex Black Card holders made a point of showing the card off in the early years of its existence.

Four very different brands with one thing in common: They placed a velvet rope around their respective brands. Whether your product or service is priced for the 1 percent or the everyday American who wants to participate in the feeling that luxury and exclusivity offers, there are strategies you can put in place to create a velvet rope around your brand and make your clientele feel like VIPs. Velvet rope strategies use to pull marketing rather than push marketing to customer and client loyalty and revenue.

People don’t want what anyone can have. They want to feel special, like they are part of an elite club. And that human desire is not exclusive to the wealthiest among us. Contrary to popular belief, status and prestige are a state of mind, and can be communicated about your brand at varying price points.

Below are tested tips for creating that VIP vibe around your brand and making people feel privileged to be a part of it:

Don’t be afraid to communicate that your brand is not for everyone.

Rather than push marketing, which is exactly what it sounds like, you are not pushing your brand on anyone. You are pulling in your clientele with a Pied Piper approach, and only certain people are worthy of hearing the music you are playing. You are challenging would-be customers or clients on a primal level. “Our brand is only for people who exude excellence in all they do,” or “Our brand really caters to those who make wellness their top priority.” You get the picture. When you unapologetically communicate these kinds of messages through brand positioning, imagery, and language, you become elusive and aspirational, and more people want in.

Let people know your brand caters to a certain set of values, standards and ideas that set you apart.

Make people jump through some hoops to gain access to your brand.

Applications, waiting lists, scarcity marketing and setting certain requirements and policies are all ways of making people earn the privilege of being a part of your brand, whether you are providing a product or service. I’ll never forget calling up a certain designer handbag store to inquire if they had a particular bag in stock for my wife. I asked if I could put a deposit down over the phone to hold the bag. I was promptly told by the sales associate that the bags were only sold in person, they had one left in stock, and there was another woman (a prominent heart surgeon, she made a point of relaying to me) who had inquired about the very same bag. Her next line to me was the chef’s kiss that created a sense of urgency and sold me the bag. “Whoever gets here first gets the bag.” I got in my car and drove to the store right away to purchase my wife the handbag. The clear message? This handbag is in high demand, so we can make you jump through hoops to attain it.

Act like (and believe that you are) a hot commodity, even if you aren’t just yet.

Offer tiered levels of access to your brand.

Many theaters, art galleries, clothing and jewelry boutiques, high- end car manufacturers, cosmetics lines and more offer elite, inner-circle access that is earned through proving your loyalty to their brand. Patrons who are VIP level members, subscription members, and frequent shoppers are often ushered past the velvet rope of commonplace “retail customers” when it comes to advance sales, insider discounts, special sneak peek previews, private shopping experiences, meet and greets, and more.

Make people earn the best your brand has to offer through their loyalty and patronage over time.

If you are in a service business, set a goal to only accept clients by referral.

To implement this strategy, you will first need to achieve critical mass for your business. The law of supply and demand remains the firm cornerstone of our economy. So make a referral-only strategy a long term goal for your business for several reasons. First, trust is a two-way street when it comes to working with clients and getting clients through cold outreach can be a mixed bag as hard as we try to spot red flags. Secondly, birds of a feather generally flock together, so clients who come your way through referral will tend to be more aligned with your brand’s values and ideas, as well as your creative or strategic vision. Third, referred clients have been “warmed up” by hearing your praises from your existing clients. There is a reason a warm-up act entertains the audience, before the headliner hits the stage. And lastly, clients who come through referral are more pre-qualified to pay your fees based on their knowledge of what their friend or colleague is paying you.

If you implement your referral policy properly, you’ll make your clients feel like they are part of a select group, and they will feel honored if they can refer additional clients to you.

An added perk to a referral-only policy is the FOMO prospective clients will feel when you politely let them know your referral only policy. You may even find yourself on the receiving end of would-be clients trying to convince you to take them on.

Highlight the story of your brand and make it engaging and repeatable.

I know someone who buys and sells interesting and rare collectibles, and when you enter his store of curated products, he loves to tell the detailed story and history of each and every product in the store. He knows that he is not just selling a product. He is selling a one-of-a-kind special item with a rich history and story attached to it — one that is repeatable for the item’s eventual owner. It conveys the message that each and every item in that story is special and exclusive, and when you purchase one of these collectible items, you are getting something that not everyone can have. Not everyone sells rare collective items, but everyone can communicate the unique story, expertise, and value of what they are selling in a way that makes the person on the receiving end feel excited to become a part of, and to own a piece of that story.

Look at your brand the same way. You are a one-of-a-kind find, so let your clients know it by sharing your extraordinary story with them.

Mark Satterfield is CEO of Gentle Rain Marketing and author of Affluent Marketing Blueprint: Secrets of Confidently Selling to Billionaires and Millionaires and The Gilded Revival: America’s Return to an Age of Wealth & Glamour.