The Problem With "Premium"

Quick rant.

Calling your product “premium” is lazy and worthless.

Brands use it when they can't articulate what actually makes them different. Premium compared to what? According to whom?

Same goes for:

• "Curated"

• "Artisanal"

• "Best-in-class"

• "World-class"

• "Innovative"

Might as well say, “World’s best cup of coffee.”

These words mean nothing.

They make you feel good.

They give your shopper nothing to hold onto.

Here's a test.

Go to your homepage right now. Read the headline.

Now ask yourself: Would a stranger understand what you sell and why it matters in under 5 seconds?

Not someone who already knows your brand.

Not your mom.

A tired, distracted, skeptical stranger who landed on your site while juggling 16 browser tabs and half a sandwich.

If the answer is "maybe"?

Your value proposition needs work.

The Curse of Knowledge

The biggest enemy of clear messaging isn't bad writing.

It's knowing too much.

You've spent years with your product. You understand the nuances. The craftsmanship. The story behind the ingredients.

So when you write "Elevated essentials for the modern lifestyle," it makes perfect sense to you.

But to your customer?

It's noise.

They don't know what "elevated" means in this context. They don't know what qualifies as "modern lifestyle." And "essentials" could mean anything from socks to vitamins to kitchen gadgets.

Bryan Eisenberg calls this the "Value" component of his Conversion Trinity. Without it, relevance and calls-to-action don't matter.

If they don't understand the value, they're gone.

The "So What?" Ladder

Here's how most brands describe themselves:

"We make premium, sustainably-sourced kitchenware."

Cool. So what?

"Our products don’t contain carcinogens."

Better. So what?

"You can trust the organic food you are cooking will stay good for you."

Now you're talking to a human.

Every value proposition should survive three rounds of "so what?"

The first answer describes your product.

The second hints at a benefit.

The third speaks to what actually changes in your customer's life.

That third answer? That's your value proposition.

What Your Customer Actually Needs to Know

Before clicking "Add to Cart," every shopper is subconsciously asking four questions. Different shoppers prioritize them differently, but the questions are the same:

1. What is this?

Sounds obvious. But you'd be shocked how many PDPs bury the actual product category under clever headlines.

2. Who is it for?

The clearer you are about who this is for, the more the right people self-select. (And the wrong people leave, which is good.)

3. Why is it different?

Not better. Different. What makes you the obvious choice for a specific type of person?

4. Why should I trust you?

Social proof, guarantees, credentials. But also: does your copy sound like a human wrote it, or a brand committee?

Your value proposition should answer at least the first three in one clear sentence.

How to Rewrite Your Value Prop

Try this exercise.

Step 1: Fill in the blanks.

"We help [specific customer] [achieve specific outcome] by [how you do it differently]."

Example:

"We help third-shift workers sleep through the day with blackout curtains that block 99.9% of light."

Step 2: Cut the jargon.

Read it out loud. If you wouldn't say it to a friend over coffee, rewrite it.

Step 3: Test the stranger test.

Show it to someone who doesn't know your brand. Ask them: "What do we sell, and why would someone buy it?"

If they can't answer clearly, you're not done.

The Persona Problem

The trap I see brands fall into is trying to appeal to everyone.

So their value prop becomes a vague, mushy, safe sentence that offends no one and gets no one excited.

"Quality products for people who care."

What does that even mean? Who doesn't care about quality?

The best value propositions are polarizing.

They speak directly to a specific person with a specific problem.

If your value prop resonates with everyone, it resonates with no one.

Seth Godin said it best: "In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing."

Where Value Props Break Down

Even good value propositions fail when they're inconsistent across the site.

We see this constantly:

• Ads promise one thing

• Homepage says another

• PDPs say something else entirely

The customer's brain is constantly checking: Am I in the right place?

If the scent trail breaks, they bounce.

Make sure your core value prop echoes (not word-for-word, but thematically) on every major page in the journey.

Homepage. Collection pages. PDPs. Cart. Checkout.

Think of it as reassurance, rather than repetition.

Looking forward,

Brian

P.S. Ready to grow revenue without having to grow traffic? Let’s talk.