The Beauty of Business

Alexander Johannessen

The Beauty of Business is a podcast about the business of luxury. Host Alexander Johannessen, founder of DEUS Marketing, sits down with the founders, operators, and strategists behind luxury and premium brands to unpack how they build desire, price with confidence, and grow without cheapening what makes them valuable. Sharp conversations on positioning, craft, and why people buy, plus Alexander's own take on what's moving in the luxury industry. New episodes weekly. Produced by DEUS Marketing. deusmarketing.io

  1. Aug 11

    The Sound That Makes Customers Pay 7x More | Julian Steenbergen | The Beauty of Business ep. 29

    Julian Steenbergen was a full-time producer and DJ with millions of streams. Then a client in Saudi Arabia pulled him into a different world: composing sonic identities for cities, developments, and Al Hilal, the biggest football club in Asia. Now he runs Human Sound Studio, giving brands the one identity asset almost none of them have: a sound. In this episode, Julian and Alexander get into why sound reaches people faster than anything visual, what a sonic identity actually contains, and why luxury, the industry that perfects every visual detail, keeps handing its soundtrack to a staff playlist. What's covered: How a Dutch DJ ended up composing for Saudi football's biggest rebrand What's inside a sonic identity: audio logos, campaign music, and the ecosystem around them The study behind the number: customers are 7x more willing to pay premium prices when sonic branding is done right, plus a 96 percent lift in brand recall The World Cup's hidden sonic universe: every stadium had its own sound Why luxury hotel lobbies and watch boutiques are silent, and what that silence costs T he Circle in Zurich: hidden speakers, one long loop, and why a €10 sandwich felt fair Does Rolex have a sound? quick-fire round AI music, Suno, and why a deliverable is not a strategy Visit Julian: https://www.humansoundstudio.com Connect with Julian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-steenbergen/ The Beauty of Business is a podcast about the business of luxury, produced by DEUS Marketing. Work with us: https://www.deusmarketing.io Subscribe and leave a rating. It matters more than you think.

  2. Aug 4

    How the Ultra-Rich Actually Buy | Jasmine Chau | The Beauty of Business ep. 28

    Jasmine Chau spent 15 years in finance managing high-net-worth clients, then crossed into luxury and never left. Today she's CMO of Italian Atelier Asia-Pacific, opened six offices across Asia, works on branded hotel and residence concepts with The One Atelier, and runs an agency whose entire marketing strategy is having no marketing strategy: curated rooms, studied guest lists, and dinners where contracts get signed at the table. In this episode, Jasmine and Alexander get into how you actually sell to people who can buy anything, why standard marketing converts near zero with the ultra-rich, and what European luxury brands keep getting wrong about Asia. What's covered: The dinner playbook: how three contracts got signed at one sponsored table The award ceremony her team hosted inside a UNESCO cave, and why boardroom events are dead New rich versus real rich: two tiers of wealthy clients and the different strategy for each The luxury executive who asked her if Asia is China, and why she walked away from the project Japan: two years of investment, learning the language, and 15 projects in the pipeline The thing ultra-high-net-worth clients complain about most (it will surprise you) Why her answer to "who does branded residences best" is nobody Connect with Jasmine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasminechau87/ The Beauty of Business is a podcast about the business of luxury, produced by DEUS Marketing. Work with us: https://www.deusmarketing.io Subscribe and leave a rating. It matters more than you think.

  3. Jul 28

    Why Every Personal Brand Looks the Same | Simeon Stanford | The Beauty of Business ep. 27

    Simeon Stanford spent a decade in sales, then a decade running two companies with clients like 3M, Tefal, and EA Sports. Last summer he closed both. Not because the work was bad, but because the vision was no longer shared, and because a decade of what he calls unsexy products left him wanting the opposite: the cool economy. Now he's rebuilt himself as a brand of one. Registered as a company, designed from scratch, down to a logo drawn on paper and a name with two meanings. In this episode, Simeon and Alexander get into what it costs to walk away from a decade of work, why most personal brands are template copies of each other, and what luxury brands keep getting wrong about the next generation of buyers. What's covered: Why he closed both companies, and what happens when partners stop sharing a vision The £99-a-month website builder that corporations loved and tradesmen couldn't hear him sell "That's not a personal brand, that's borrowed ideas": building an identity nobody can copy Which luxury brand does exclusivity best right now, and why Breitling wins on humbleness The AP x Swatch collab, off-the-cuff partnerships, and a Chanel x McDonald's thought experiment Why 65-year-olds shouldn't be deciding how luxury speaks to 25-year-olds If you're for everyone, you're for no one Connect with Simeon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simeonstanford/ Email him: simeon@distinktt.io Two episodes ago, Tommaso Pierini named his brand the one word fashion refuses to say: basic. Simeon named his after the same idea: 101. Watch the Tommaso episode next: https://youtu.be/72ZMdNXjlFQ T he Beauty of Business is a podcast about the business of luxury, produced by DEUS Marketing. Work with us: https://www.deusmarketing.io

  4. Jul 21

    He Built Bestsellers for Gucci. Then He Named His Brand "Basic" | Tommaso Pierini | Beauty of Business ep. 26

    Tommaso Pierini spent twenty years building menswear collections inside Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, and Caruso. Then he left, because no brand represented him anymore, and named his own label the one word fashion marketing refuses to use: basic. In this episode, Tommaso opens up the parts of luxury the industry prefers to keep quiet: what a designer jacket actually costs to make, why the giants tripled their revenue and lost their customers, and why the quiet houses like Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli are winning while the loud ones discount. Then he explains the opposite path he's betting BASICO MILANO on: five perfect pieces, four Italian mills, no logos, no ads, sold by appointment in Milan, and discovered rather than advertised. What's covered: The real markup inside luxury fashion, and why a 70 percent sale still turns a profit Why Gucci went from 4 to 12 billion and got lost, while consistent brands keep growing The "cringe phase" every new brand goes through before people fall for it Why truly basic design can't hide mistakes, told through the Loden coat Inside the Italian fabric supply chain: Biella vs Como, and why small brands wait four months behind LVMH Building a brand with your wife, a newborn, and a job title of "anxiety manager" The Saks Fifth Avenue deal, and why he'd rather build a 10 million euro brand than a 100 million dollar one Visit BASICO MILANO: https://basicomilano.com Connect with Tommaso: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tpierini/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/basico_milano/ The Beauty of Business is a podcast about the business of luxury, produced by DEUS Marketing. Work with us: https://www.deusmarketing.io

About

The Beauty of Business is a podcast about the business of luxury. Host Alexander Johannessen, founder of DEUS Marketing, sits down with the founders, operators, and strategists behind luxury and premium brands to unpack how they build desire, price with confidence, and grow without cheapening what makes them valuable. Sharp conversations on positioning, craft, and why people buy, plus Alexander's own take on what's moving in the luxury industry. New episodes weekly. Produced by DEUS Marketing. deusmarketing.io