How Apple & Chanel Used Social Proof to Become $1B+ Brands

Social Proof doesn’t just tell us what’s popular. It tells us what matters.

This principle says that looking to the actions and words of others can give us psychological permission to try something new.

Social Proof is often the first marketing psychology principle that people use or learn about...

But it’s also one of the most misunderstood.

There are lots of types of Social Proof, like:

• Customer reviews

• Video testimonials

• Expert endorsements

• Media coverage

• Usage statistics

• Celebrity partnerships

• Customer logos

• User-generated content

But here’s a very simple example that you’ve probably experienced yourself:

When me and The Brit go on vacation, the hardest thing isn’t jet lag or planning our days…

It’s trying to figure out where to eat.

We often leave it up to chance, which probably isn’t the greatest strategy, but we like living in the moment rather than planning every agenda item.

Our last big trip was to Chicago.

And on the very first day, we were (predictably) walking around hungry and jet lagged but without any idea of where to eat.

Just as we were about to give up, we walked past two restaurants.

The first one was a BBQ place (a pretty safe bet in Chicago)... but it was mostly empty.

The second was a hole-in-the-wall taco bar with a crowd of people waiting outside to be seated.

Guess which one we picked?

Yup, after a 30-minute wait it was tacos, margaritas, and chips and salsa for us.

(And easily one of the best meals we had during that trip.)

If you were in the same position, you’d have probably made the same choice.

Because we assume that if lots of other people are choosing to do (or eat) something, it must be good.

Or at least better than the thing no one is doing.

That’s the power of Social Proof.

While it’s guaranteed to make your product or offer seem less risky, how you use it can make a massive difference to how effective it actually is…

And if it boosts your sales, or damages your brand.

For example:

When Chanel noticed that “too many” people were carrying their Classic Flap bag (driven by a TikTok trend), they raised the price dramatically - to $10,000.

That way fewer people could afford the bag and it would be seen as more scarce - and therefore more desirable.

Chanel wanted less of this type of Social Proof, because luxury businesses have to manage buyer psychology differently than other industries.

They worry more about having the wrong kind of Social Proof than not enough Social Proof.

Some designers are even known to gift competitors’ products to “undesirable” or “off-brand” celebrities, in an effort to create negative Social Proof for their competitors.

But this same type of Social Proof - seeing lots of people using a product - can work very differently depending on the brand…

While Chanel wanted to avoid it, it actually saved the Apple iPod when it launched.

A digital music player was a very different product for Apple (they only sold laptops and desktops at the time)..

And - like all new products - it only had about a 10% chance of success.

But the iPod had one secret psychological weapon up its sleeve - created consciously or not.

Its distinctive white earbuds.

There was nothing like earbuds in the market, and they really stood out in a sea of clunky black foam and metal headphones.

When you saw someone on the subway or a college campus with earbuds, they caught your attention.

You immediately knew this person had an iPod.

When more and more people started wearing earbuds, iPod sales started to skyrocket because suddenly everyone who didn’t have an iPod felt left out.

iPods became such a status symbol that people started just buying the earbuds and plugging them into a portable CD player or Zune stuck in their pocket, to fool other people into thinking they were actually using an iPod.

And Apple, after seeing the psychological power of the earbuds, made them the star of its long-running iPod ad campaign:

The key to using Social Proof effectively isn’t just throwing a bunch of it at your customers and hoping something sticks.

It’s in matching the right type to your brand, buyer, industry and context.

So you build your brand, not break it.

Until next time,
Jen

PS. My latest Skill Session will help you learn the secret of using psychological principles like Social Proof - the right way for your specific brand, buyer, and industry - to drive up your conversion rates. 

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The aim is simple: To increase your conversion rate with a research and psychology-based landing page template that already converts at 70%+ (I use it with my startup, scale-up, and Fortune 500 clients).

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This invite closes this Thursday at 1:59pm EST and the session will be held at 2pm.

Don’t worry if you can’t make the day or time, I’ll send the video and all the materials out to everyone who registers and you’ll have lifetime access.