Three anecdotes to start this article.

A. When Dyson launched the first version of its hair dryer, one of the media that covered the launch was The Confidential via blog’object of desire‘, by María Corisco. In the subtitle, the phrase “someday you will be mine”. When had a dryer generated a reaction like that?

Two. The keybreaker who writes these lines saw a few weeks ago, at the end of 2023, how a group of five teenage girls flew like moths to the light as soon as one of them exclaimed the phrase “Dyson’s iron” like someone who had just discovered a dollar bill. five hundred in a jacket pocket. They were at the entrance to a department store, electronics and home section, and the Dyson beauty products were right in front of the door.

Three. A look at the dozens of tiktokers that follow the flow of clean guy (muscular, athletic, sensitive and who take care of their skin and their home) serves to detect a pattern: everyone has various Dyson products in your home, starting with a vacuum cleaner and purifier, and they are not just propsbut often co-stars in their videos.

Something is up with Dyson.

Aspirational

Indeed, Dyson built its first twenty years of life on the reputation of manufacturing appliances of the highest quality possible, with the price at the service of the product, not the other way around. However, in the last ten years, especially in the last five, perception has changed. From a high-quality appliance brand it has become an aspirational brand, such as Apple or Tesla. And with two variants.

On the one hand, the general public, especially over the age of thirty, when they have already become independent, have a house to manage and a salary that has evolved since the first payroll. There are those who see Dyson as that aspirational brand for its home products. On the other hand, the female public, of practically any age, sees Dyson as a unique brand for its beauty products.

How did Dyson get to this status? “His designs are everything that people like millennials as to clean aesthetic refers. They are the Apple of household appliances,” he explains. Iria Regueraeditor-in-chief of Trendsmedia specialized in fashion and trends. “The millennials we have grown up in houses full of shelves crammed with decoration, of tupperware of plastic piles and recycled Nocilla cups as drinking glasses. Dyson has been able to make designs that fit what we want: simple lines, materials that appear to be of good quality at first glance, very aesthetic, silent, and they do it in absolutely all of their appliances.”

In favor of their products is not only a design that in any case has little to do with the current Apple (they use various electric colors, transparent and translucent casings, large red buttons…), but also a related factor: They are very recognizablesingular.

“You don’t need to see the brand to know that a product is from Dyson, and they do it with everyone: fans, hair curlers, vacuum cleaners… Their products, aesthetically, look good and look pretty. You put them at home and you don’t want to hide them , you want to show them because they are recognizable, because they are good and because everyone will know that you have a Dyson at home,” adds Iria.

“You see products from other brands and although they may work well, they seem cheap, even if they are not, it makes you want to put them away, not to let them be seen around the house.” Something similar to what happens with products from other ranges, such as Smeg appliances: they are totally recognizable without the need for a logo, and their owners look for a place in the home that elevates them, not hides them.

The arrival of the last decade in the beauty sector has triggered Dyson’s success among the female public, as he explains to us. Carolina Larrañagaeditor of Trends. “You just have to look at the amount of influencers who show their famous hairdryer for almost 500 euros, in many cases they will have sent it to you, but for many followers these types of tools leave wonderful hair (or so it seems) Maybe it ends up creating a need for them to purchase that product. and the feeling that with no other you will achieve the same result,” the beauty specialist tells us.

A question of status

And he makes a simile with Apple: “I have the same perception as with the iPhone, despite its price you don’t see anyone who is influencer or aspire to be one who uses an Android, even if it takes wonderful or better photos. Does it give you low status? It seems so.” A question of status and a simile right along that line: the aspirational.

The case of Dyson dryers also has to do with a design that goes beyond the visual. By having the motor in the handle, not in the head, it reduces the usual swing and decompensation. Details that also play. Visually, there is also specific internal research for the colors and finishes of the products, which are renewed from time to time, but always maintaining the same principle: highlighting the technology they contain.

Something similar to dryers has happened with products related to air care (humidifiers, puridifiers and heaters), hair straighteners and stylers or what perhaps continue to be Dyson’s most iconic products: its cordless and cordless vacuum cleaners. bag.

“Dyson has many parallels with Apple,” he explains to us Ferdinand of Cordobabrand and content strategist, and author of the book ‘The secrets of brands. “They have not invented any category, but they have revolutionized them. If you look at what vacuum cleaners are like today, you will see that an effect similar to what happened after the launch of the iPhone, the iPad or the MacBook Air has happened: almost all mobile phones, “Tablets and laptops have ended up looking like them. They have become the design that people ask for. It is a category marker, like cylindrical cordless vacuum cleaners, they are iconic.”

The prices of its products are one point above those of Apple, to maintain Fernando’s simile. An iPhone costs more or less the same as its equivalents from Samsung or another brand, a Mac has a similar price, if anything higher, than a similar PC with Windows. Dyson has prices several notches above its competitors. An iron costs 450 euros, as does the dryer. A shaper, 600 euros. The headphones, 700 euros. Vacuum cleaners, out of offers, between 600 and 1,000 euros.

Regarding the Dyson brand, Córdoba explains to us that His archetype is that of the magician: someone who uses science to do something that looks like magic. “Obviously it’s not magic, but it achieves things that seemed impossible, like a bagless vacuum cleaner that does not lose suction capacity. Cordless vacuum cleaners that were not the typical crumb collectors for the car also seemed like science fiction. They are high-priced products, but they live next to you hype: They have the level of quality you expect and a very loyal base,” he adds.

Marketing expert Seth Godin once said that if Nike opened a hotel, we would all know what it would be like before we saw it; but if Marriott launched a sneaker, we wouldn’t know what they would be like, because Marriott has a logo, not a brand.

“With Dyson that happens: it transmits specific attributes. It is reliable, it is powerful, it is of good quality. In addition, its designs are iconic: whether you like them or not is a matter of personal taste, but they are unmistakable. And the way in which it has worked their vacuum cleaners, for example: with the excuse that you have to carry it and its wall mount, you no longer need to store it in a closet, but it is part of your home.

Dyson products typically have three axes in common: engine, battery and acoustics. The first two are especially important, and their engines have always been at the forefront in terms of power and progressive miniaturization. Their batteries are also important: they have allowed the paradigm shift of some products. Acoustics, to a lesser extent, enters this intersection: it is important in humidifiers, fans, vacuum cleaners, dryers…

This intersection, in which Dyson has been increasing its knowledge, is what can anticipate the next products that may arrive in the catalog of a manufacturer that has already shown signs of wanting to go beyond its usual repertoire.

This includes two recently developed products: the Dyson Zone headphones, which have already hit the market; and the Dyson car, which was discarded because its commercial viability was not clearly seen. The headphones are pure intersection of these three areas: good acoustics where they took advantage of the knowledge accumulated in other products, motors miniaturized enough to activate the optional air purifier that this model comes with, and a battery capable of withstanding both intensive use and the activated purifying visor.

The car, more of the same: an electric car is essentially a motor and battery, and Dyson’s was impressive but commercially unviable today. Or so its manufacturer believed.

What other products can come in the future at that intersection between acoustics, motor and battery? Fernando de Córdoba makes a hypothesis based on a natural order: “Maybe an electric toothbrush, for example. When this company enters another category, it already makes you curious about it, especially in similar products. For example, first they had vacuum cleaners , then the dryer arrived, then the styler. Territories are gained little by little. If instead of the dryer Dyson had launched a television, it would have cost more, it would have been viewed with skepticism because it came from being a vacuum cleaner brand.

Now, however, it has positioned itself as a brand of products, especially for the homewith the aforementioned attributes. “Now it generates that trust and can take them from one genre to another. For example, the power of its vacuum cleaners, recognizable as an attribute, is brought to the styler. And thus it becomes a benchmark in quality and aspirational,” says Fernando.

This evolution has caused Dyson to skyrocket its annual income. In the six years before launching its first dryer, the company increased its turnover by 90%. In the six subsequent years, 160%.

It has not done badly with this increase in ranges that has made it change its brand perception. Now it is also aspirational.

Image | Dyson

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*An earlier version of this article was published in December 2023