How much would you pay for a premium pair of headphones? What if they looks super pretty, more stylish than anything else on the market. That is the strategy that made Beats by Dr. Dre the ubiquitous headphone first amongst the celebrity and NBA clientele, which eventually trickled down the masses. With a hefty price of $300, it is interesting to see that the headphones are plastic and rather undurable (I can proudly say I jumped on the band wagon in the earlier crowd). ased on its specs along, the bose noise canceling handphones are hands-down a better technical buy. However, what has made Beats successful is this really good balance of style, celebrity endorsement, and just the right price range to make it luxurious and iconic (even if it’s made in China). Beats are ostentatious and a status symbol, in which celebrity customizations or jewel encrustations, which are usually tacky (think Paris Hilton perfume), actually work well to sell these headphones. What is interesting though is how Dr. Dre built the brand of the headphones to what it is now. He didn’t start off with the ostentatious and glitzy jewel encrusted headphones at the onset. It was only once the headphones gained a certain celebrity symbol that these customizations naturally came on, which to me seems to be the tipping point that made the phones desirable instead of tacky. I feel that the desirability of the headphones was both a function of its design and its strategically timed marketing. The key is to take advantage of and be adaptable to the situation.
