PREMIUMIZATION BLOG: VALUE BEYOND PRICE

A premiumization blog way back in the 60’s?

Never happened, but premiumized style was another story.

This was THE style. No other accepted.

I know this because . . .

One day in fifth grade I went to school in a pair of green jeans from Sears.

Me: Ma, I can’t wear green jeans. My friends will make fun of me.

Ma: They won’t if they’re your friends.

Green jeans and pair of PF Flyers so I could run faster and jump higher.

Was I a style setter?

Friends: Look, it’s Mister Green Jeans.

Later that week my new green jeans got mysteriously ripped and I went back to Levis.

Levis and low cut black converse were the only fashion allowed without comments.

We only rolled them up if we were going clam digging and forgot the boots.

Premiumization: A New Word?

Not new, but different than gentrification.

So what is it?

It’s when companies emphasize luxury versions of their products and sell them at elevated prices. By attracting higher-income clientele, companies believe they’ll be able to maintain or improve profits while selling fewer goods.

Premiumized beer: Any ‘craft’ beer.

I drank a Rainier Beer recently, the first Rainier in years, and it was great.

None of the thick syrupy craft feel; no hop-forward bitterness.

Is it time to Lager up, or switch to premiumized seltzer?

A gentrified neighborhood always speaks to who used to live there and where they went.

Drive around town and you’ll see one house different than the rest on any particular block.

It’s happened on my block but in reverse.

My place sits in a development with an HOA so everyone conforms to a standard.

They say it’s to protect property value and they’re probably right, but I still can’t move my garbage cans and yard clippings in-doors.

One neighbor decorates with ‘found art’ in front of their house and the strip across the street. No one complains about the appearance since it’s down a private drive.

What they do complain about is the ‘meth traffic’ in the middle of the night, cars parked around the corner with a runner.

Could this be a premiumized meth-friendly house where addicts don’t have to fight and shoot their way in and out?

From all appearances the only fighting and shooting would come from the SWAT team after two visits to my front yard.

But I’m not complaining.

The system is working. People have been chased with dogs, arrested, and sent to prison.

And come back. But no one has died I know of.

Not yet.

What Is A Premiumization Blog?

One blog is the same as any other, just like ketchup.

Just like coffee.

But we all have our favorites.

What you get here is an unvarnished view of things and stuff.

No sales pop-up, no appeals, just a blogger kicking out posts of interest to similarly interesting people.

Like who? These are my people:

Generally I do not learn post on blogs, but I would like to say that this write-up very compelled me to take a look at and do so! Your writing taste has been amazed me. Thanks, very nice article.

Hi! I’ve been following your blog for a while now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Kingwood Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the great job!

If you read a premiumization blog you may be a premiumized person.

Congratulations. What’s the next step? What do you do after reading a few posts?

Read a few more. Search on the tag list. There’s more here than I can safely say.

The time spent working on posts includes reading and writing and editing.

In other words, a writer’s schedule.

Why do I bother? Because it’s fun. Do you remember fun?

Do you remember thinking about something so hard it seems impossible to do more. Then you do?

That happens every day around here the same way it happens in any writer’s room.

So I sit around here patting myself on the back?

There’s no time for that on a premiumization blog.

If you agree with that, then take it another step: No back patting for your premiumization lifestyle either.

Drink your smart water, drive your smarter car, and make time for the premium people in your life.

Just don’t call them that. They might believe it.

Premiumization Lifestyle Leads To:

Do you want to know what Hyper-Premiumization of anything is?

How much automation and push button convenience do people want?

As long as it’s more than their friends and neighbors it’s enough.

Then you’ve got to ask:

“Is a self driving car too far?”

“Is a deep ocean dive to see the Titanic a premium move?”

“When is the next scheduled liftoff for a space vacation?”

Let’s remind people, looking at you baby boomers, to avoid hoarding crap your kids will have to sift through after you’re dead.

Rent a dumpster and tell everyone to come pick through the remains of your life up until then.

Instead of giving the feeling of being an out of control consumer driven by television ads, billboards, and impulse, why not give something else.

“Oh my goodness I can see you’re a serious collector with a real plan.”

Sounds like a post for a premiumization blog to me.

Can someone get on this? Anyone?

Is this thing on? Buy better? Like what?