In a world where brands are born every day but remembered by very few, building a premium brand is not just about great design, a celebrity face, or Instagrammable packaging. It’s about clarity of purpose, long-term conviction, and more than anything an understanding of the cultural wavelength of your audience.
I’ve had the privilege of working on category-defining projects — from co-building HRX with Hrithik Roshan from scratch into India’s first homegrown fitness brand, to shaping international narratives for Diesel and Superdry in India, and consulting legacy and luxury brands who are now decoding how to stay relevant in the D2C age. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: Premium is not a price point. It’s a point of view.
Here’s how I’ve approached building brands that last and not just trend. First and fore most in order to leverage your audience, we start with listening! Every strong brand I’ve helped build began with a deep understanding of its audience, not just their demographics, but their desires, needs, wants and motivations.
With HRX, we didn’t start by asking “What can we sell?”
We asked, “What does the modern Indian aspire to become?” Our audience didn’t want fitness gear. They wanted inspiration, resilience, a purpose, something to wake up to every morning. That’s why we positioned HRX not as a brand, but as a movement which was built around the idea of becoming the best version of oneself.
Whether it’s a premium athleisure brand or a luxury wellness label, the principle remains the. Brands must serve a cultural truth and not just a product category.
Premiumisation is often misunderstood as just “charging more.” But when you move up the value ladder, you need to go deeper into the value proposition also, not just higher. When a marketer or a brand architect works on the building blocks to a premium offering, it’s worth registering that in the process retaining the authenticity is of fundamental importance and authenticity comes from:
- Consistently reflecting on your core values
- Avoiding the trap of cosmetic upgrades that don’t reflect real value
When consulting for luxury wellness brands or creator-led beauty ventures, I always ask: “Are we offering depth, or simply providing shine?” True premium brands educate, not just market. They’re obsessively detailed. They invest in better ingredients, materials, and experiences and they tell that story with integrity.
Since the D2C era took over the commerce scape in our country, the game has changed. Today’s most successful brands are not just selling to an audience, they’re building with a community. D2C is not just a channel but it’s a lens into real-time behaviour. The data allows for feedback loops, co-creation, and the most valuable currency in premium: trust.
Community is the new moat. From limited drops and UGC-driven launches to founder-led storytelling, the brands winning today are the ones treating consumers as collaborators and not mere targets.
Premium brands often get stuck in one of two traps- either they scale too fast, lose their edge or they stay too niche, and never cross the adoption chasm. Balancing brand equity while expanding touch points is a delicate dance. When I worked on scaling fashion retail at the intersection of global trends and Indian realities, the tension between mass relevance and niche aspiration was constant. As an outcome of that learning my advice would be - Scale the story, not just the store. You need great processes and systems, yes. But never lose the soul of the brand. If you end up competing with heritage brands it’s great because then you’re forced yourself to focus on and to build agility, cultural resonance, and authenticity, the three things money can’t copy.
The brands I admire most are not the loudest but their brand values outlive the vitality of trends. For example I love a premium athleisure brand called Sporty and Rich. It is a beautiful brand and its consistency is admirable. The decibels on this brand never surpass teh limits they have set out for themselves, no matter their biggest sales or newest campaigns. Maybe I love it so much because it is not loud! It feels like old money…..
Such are the brands that age gracefully, adapt quickly, and create meaning. As someone who teaches luxury marketing and works closely with creators, founders, and investors, I often say: ”Today’s most valuable brands aren’t built for markets. They’re built for meaningful movements.”
Virality is fleeting but real brand value is built at the intersection of relevance, reputation, and relationship and no shift in algorithm can shake their rhythm. That’s where I continue to play, building premium brands that don’t just sell products, but create cultural capital. At the cost of sounding reiterative- Premium is a mindset. And we’re just getting started…
Pallavi Barman is a Brand Architect, Luxury Marketer, and Business Strategist
