Lessons From the Best in Tech: Dyson, and How to Build Brand Cachet

Grow your beauty business with insights pulled from Dyson’s tech industry success

The Dyson brand is unparalleled in the unlikely arena of household appliances. From vacuums to hair straighteners, the company has established itself and steadily maintained its position as a global leader, turning the everyday tools we take for granted into exceptional artifacts of engineering and design. Valued not only for their top-of-the-line functionality, the simple yet subtle appearance of these iconic products has become an unspoken statement of status and capability.

Much like Apple and Braun before it, the brand has become synonymous with elegant and innovative product design. But what is it exactly that makes a Dyson so different and immediately recognizable? Here are some insights into how the Dyson brand sets itself apart from and beyond its competitors, and how you can use those same fundamentals to work toward a similarly unmistakable cachet for your beauty business.

Innovation and risk-taking with high standards of quality

Perhaps one of the qualities Dyson is best known for is its commitment to relentless innovation and high standards of quality. Advertisements for its products relish the sophisticated mechanical principles set to work in its products — and watching them evokes a primal delight that overwhelms with the sheer marvel of ingenuity housed beneath each product's deceptively simple exterior. Whether it be bagless vacuums or bladeless fans, Dyson has made it clear that it is not content simply to make the same product seemingly every other company offers. This drive for novel solutions to old or neglected problems is at the core of the Dyson brand identity.

An aesthetic of thoughtful minimalism

In terms of its physical and visual forms, Dyson products present an undeniable allure of minimalism: The modular concert of deconstructed geometrical forms in bilaterally and radially symmetrical arrangements and repetitions that emphasize the beauty of the engineering principles involved. Simple and bold color schemes, typically monochrome with splashes of solid color, hone and clarify one's attention to crucial features of the physical design and its operation. Each is consistently implemented across all products in a line, with subtle variations specific to each — all combining to lend the products an air of sophistication and stateliness.

Perhaps the most obvious examples of this are Dyson’s bladeless fans and hairdryers, which basically consist of a hollow tube through which air passes, as if by magic. The tension between the improbability of function and the inevitability of form impresses upon us a distinct sense of timelessness or permanence, as though they have existed and will continue to exist despite us, and a magnetism that turns the tables and all but challenges us to impress them instead. Sleek, elegant, awesome: Dyson products are a sight to behold even as they perform mundane household functions.

The takeaway for beauty businesses? Just because something serves a purpose doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Think about how small accent pieces for your locations, and even parts of the services you offer, can be elevated to add intrigue and artfulness without getting in the way of utility.

A holistic approach that marries function and form

A union of high-quality, novel and carefully considered functionality with a dedication to an aesthetic of uncompromising minimalism leads to designs (from designers) that are unwilling to leave any problem unsolved. Dyson exemplifies the principle that good product design is something that becomes essentially invisible to a user while it is being used. Whereas, in general, products of other companies are designed around whatever problem it is they exist to address and makes the user a secondary consideration, Dyson refuses to conceive of these two facets as separate problems.

The result is products that conform to the most natural user behaviors possible under the fewest constraints — straightening irons that gather hair together for better control; brushes that simultaneously dry and shape hair while hiding flyaways (all without many of the compromises consequent to the use of extreme heat); hairdryers with weight distributions that minimize wrist and arm strain when compared to conventional designs; even products that are simply cordless. All of this is borne out of the essential ethos of forming the best possible technical implementation simply in order to help the user do their work without ever getting in the way.

Dyson never forgets about the human being using its products, and neither should your beauty business. Take time to run through the client journey at each stage of a visit, and consider how small, thoughtful tweaks could add up to lasting impressions. Ask visitors to provide in-depth feedback after sessions to spark ideas for improvement, but remember that surprising customers with unexpected quality is just as important as meeting expectations.

Premium quality and prestige

While Dyson products may be more expensive than other options on the market, there is no denying their exceptional quality in both form and function. People are often willing to pay a premium if it means the product they are getting would outlast and outperform any of the alternatives. Beyond performance, however, it must also be said that some consumers will happily pay the extra simply to have a Dyson product and the prestige it conveys. It's no surprise, then, that the Dyson brand has become the new standard of luxury home appliances. 

By pushing your beauty business to demonstrate the same drive for excellence, refining your products and services to gracefully complement even the most minute aspects of the client experience, you can put the same branding fundamentals that have made Dyson a household name to work for you.