Last weekend, a new watch range was delivered to Swatch stores around the world.

You wouldn’t think that was particularly newsworthy…

But the result was ABSOLUTE CARNAGE!

Police dogs were called to the Swatch shop at Battersea Power Station as people forced their way past security…

A dispersal order was issued in Birmingham…

A fight broke out at Manchester’s Trafford Centre…

And tear gas was fired in Paris.

All because of a small, brightly coloured pocket watch on a lanyard.

Yes, you read that right – this is something that hangs around your neck, so it’s not even a wristwatch!

It’s called The Royal Pop, and it’s a collaboration between two very different brands.

One is Swatch, makers of cheap mass-market watches.

The other is Audemars Piguet, the ultra-exclusive Swiss maker of handcrafted timepieces that can cost upwards of £30,000 for an entry-level model.

The Royal Pop is a hybrid of Swatch’s ‘Pop’ range and AP’s classic ‘Royal Oak’ design. It comes in eight models, each in a different colour, with a price tag of £335.

Across the world, vast numbers of buyers queued outside shops so that they could grab one of these exclusive new editions.

But as the doors opened, things got ugly…

The pandemonium reached the point where there were stampedes, fights and police interventions.

And the madness continued online too…

Because within hours, some of these buyers were already listing their purchases online at four times the retail price.

The Daily Mail reported that a full set of all eight versions was sitting on eBay for £34,000.

Though on my own eBay search yesterday I found them listed at a more ‘reasonable’ price of £6,586.70…

(Which is still a very handsome profit on what would have cost £2,680 for the set!)

So what on earth is going on here?

Well, there are some great lessons in this story…

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DESIRE

The Swatch and Audemars Piguet ‘Royal Pop’ story isn’t really about the watches themselves.

Nothing about the mechanics inside the watch warrant the big price tag OR the feverish demand from eager buyers.

I don’t think many people are sitting around in a panic because they haven’t got a small timepiece that hangs around their neck.

If you want to tell the time, any watch will do.

So those Royal Pop buyers did not NEED the product.

The whole thing comes down to psychology….

What is it that makes a product so desirable that people will literally fight each other to get it?

PERCEIVED VALUE

A big mistake that many new entrepreneurs make is to obsess over the features of their product.

For example, ‘My course has 20 modules, 12 workbooks and 100 videos – so that’s why I can charge big money!’

But the number of features isn’t really what makes a product a hot bestseller.

People don’t just buy an item because of its utility.

They buy something that appeals to their sense of identity, their need to belong to a tribe, and their aspiration for a certain status in life.

Which is why the Royal Pop hit so many buttons…

Audemars Piguet, is a highly prestigious brand most ordinary people could never afford. But Swatch made it accessible at around £335.

So now customers could buy into that aspirational luxury item, giving them a sense of achievement and something to show off about to their friends.

You can also use this in your own marketing…

An online course will feel more valuable, for example, if it promises a big life transformation – even if it doesn’t come with lots of modules.

Or if it might be that you indicate that your product will give someone a higher status.

For example, rather than say: “Learn how to write great sales copy.” You could instead say: “Discover the secret that the world’s most successful copywriters use to charge £5,000 per sales letter.”

Or you could create an inner circle or private member’s group where there’s a sense of exclusivity.

SCARCITY

There was a mad stampede to get the first Royal Pop watches, even though Swatch insisted that they’d remain available for months.

It didn’t matter…

Because the perception of scarcity was enough to create that irresistible need to get in early.

It’s a bit like when tickets go on sale for a band you like – you aren’t sure if it will sell out, or when it will sell out, but you feel pressure to buy now to be on the safe side.

In marketing, uncertainty creates a sense of urgency.

So if you are offering places on a course, for instance, you should have a limit on the number of students, and make sure this is clear in your publicity.

If you have created a range of print-on-demand t-shirts or mugs, then it’s worth limiting that edition – or even numbering them!

And if you’re giving away a special bonus with an information product, put a close date on it, so that there’s a limited time window.

The important caveat to bear in mind is that the scarcity must feel believable.

So don’t just slap a fake countdown timer on it!

Make sure you give a genuine reason for a limitation, so that customers understand why it’s necessary.

For instance, if you’re a course creator it makes sense to a customer that you won’t want to deal with too many students at one time…

Or if you’re a print-on-demand creator, it makes sense that you might decide to make a limited number of designs so that buyers have something that’s unique and special – not just worn by everybody.

FRICTION

These Royal Pop buyers had to physically travel to a store and queue for hours in order to get hold of their watch.

Yet this extra difficulty didn’t put them off.

Instead, it made the whole process MORE emotionally involving and meaningful.

This is because when we invest effort into something, we tend to value it more highly.

It’s one of the reasons behind the recent trend for ‘Friction Maxxing’.

People are beginning to tire of the convenient ‘one click’ route where they can buy anything via a smartphone or computer in seconds.

They want to feel like they are actually doing something, which has meaning and purpose – like taking a journey with a friend to the shop, then enjoying the anticipation before the doors open.

You can apply this in your own home business endeavours too.

Friction-Maxxing simply means adding small amounts of time and effort to the process of buying or consuming online content.

You’ll tend to get more eager, dedicated customers and subscribers this way.

Because if signing up to something is too quick and easy, it can result in you getting loads of tire kickers who won’t value what you are delivering.

They’ll sign up, do nothing, ignore your emails and then cancel or block you because they forgot that they even clicked in the first place!

But when you introduce friction, you weed out the chancers and get a smaller, more engaged audience who have actually put some effort into the process.

You can use priority invitation lists…. application forms… onboarding questionnaires…. and pre-launch tasks.

You might even ask them to set a goal, or write a mission statement, so that they’re in the right mindset to get something out of your product.

FREE MARKETING

When the story hit the news, it became free advertising for the brand.

That publicity from the queues and scuffles was probably worth millions in equivalent advertising spend.

It was a form of ‘social proof’ where people tend to pile into an opportunity when they see others doing it.

Within hours of the launch, customers started flipping the watches online for thousands of pounds. So that created a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out), that made getting one of these watches even more desirable.

Now, I’m not suggesting you deliberately start a riot…

But you could try and adapt this principle when you are creating your product…

For example, use testimonials and case studies that show how real people are enjoying major transformations and life benefits right now – and explain that if customers don’t get on board they might miss out.

Share these stories on social media and in emails and sales promotions… and see if you can generate a buzz for what you’re offering.

TRUST

Swatch alone could not have created this crazy reaction to a new launch.

It was their collaboration with Audemars Piguet that boosted the prestige of the Royal Pop. The moment the letters ‘AP’ are attached, a watch soars in value and status.

It’s known as the ‘Halo Effect’, where you borrow credibility from higher authorities than you.

For example, you can interview recognised experts on your website, run joint-venture webinars, or partner with established creators in the same niche.

Or it could simply be that you have your products listed on Amazon Prime, or host your newsletter on Substack.

THE ‘DROP’ TRICK

One of the big marketing trends in fashion and culture is ‘the drop’.

Trainers, smartphones, even albums by famous pop stars… they’re not released, they’re ‘dropped’ with loads of hype and fanfare, sometimes by surprise or at short notice.

The idea is that you make a new offering seem like a rare special event, giving it a launch date and a sense of limited availability.

You can do this by building anticipation in advance through an email campaign… creating a special invitation list… then ‘dropping’ your product on a specific date and time, and only to those on the list.

Even better, give it a special launch price with a close date to increase the urgency.

Ultimately, the key with any product or service is not to focus simply on features…. but think about the story behind the product, and how it could tap into the hopes and dreams of the customer.

Then find a way to ramp up the exclusivity and aspirational status as much as you can.

I hope you found this helpful!

If you have any questions or would like me to focus on any particular strategy in more detail, then let me know!