The Beauty of Business

Maria Bashutkina has spent 15 years inside Swiss watchmaking marketing. She's president of the JIMH, a GPHG Academy member, and she supervised 500 mystery shopping evaluations in luxury boutiques worldwide. Her new book, The Right to Exist, asks why some brands command authority while others with beautiful products and bigger budgets never earn it. Maria and Alexander get into the answer: legitimacy, and why it beats visibility every time. They cover the 350 watch brands of which maybe ten truly matter, her verdict on the AP x Swatch collab, why 70 percent of luxury boutique visits fall below expectations, the salesperson as experience architect, and how a founder with no heritage can still earn the right to exist. Connect with Maria on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariabashutkina/ Her book: https://trueluxury.business/product/the-right-to-exist/ The Beauty of Business is a podcast about the business of luxury, produced by DEUS Marketing. Work with us: https://www.deusmarketing.io

Dr Frank Müller was part of the young team behind the legendary relaunch of A. Lange & Söhne, spent seven years as CEO of Glashütte Original, sat on the Swatch Group's extended board in the Hayek years, and has advised luxury brands for 17 years through The Bridge To Luxury. He also teaches luxury management at St. Gallen and judges at the GPHG. Frank and Alexander get into the analysis most of the industry won't say out loud: why Rolex deliberately lets its most sophisticated customers graduate to other brands, how Patek Philippe escaped its own collectors with one campaign, why there is no such thing as the Veblen effect, why celebrity collabs are a sign of weakness, and why luxury's four great growth engines of the last 30 years are gone for good. Plus stories from the Blümlein years that only a handful of people alive can tell. Connect with Frank on LinkedIn, or at https://www.thebridgetoluxury.com The Beauty of Business is a podcast about the business of luxury, produced by DEUS Marketing. Work with us: https://www.deusmarketing.io

Five years ago, YS Ng was running events in Singapore. Then covid hit, he applied to what he thought was a retail job, and discovered he had a gift: telling real luxury from fake. He won first place in an authentication contest in Japan in his first year, and today dealers and collectors across three continents send him watches to answer one question. In this episode, YS and Alexander go deep on the counterfeit world most of the industry won't discuss on record: how good the superfakes have become, the Frankenwatch problem where fakes are built from genuine parts, and why the counterfeiters once asked YS to join them. What's covered: From events to award-winning authenticator in one year, by accident How good are the fakes now? Genuine dials, mixed movements, and bezel swaps that add $2,000 The brands nobody warns you about: Panerai, Cartier, Omega, Breitling Collectors who wear superclones while the real watch sits in the safe, and why YS refuses Will AI replace authenticators? Where it works, where it fails Full sets versus condition: why the dial matters more than the box His Rolex service bill, published line by line, and why nobody else shares numbers What's undervalued right now: four-digit vintage, gold watches, and the Cartier play T he Triumph Spitfire he almost traded a Day-Date for, and how the story ended Wrist check: a 16700 Pepsi with a faded bezel and a dial that cost more than the watch Connect with YS: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ngys/ The Beauty of Business is a podcast about the business of luxury, produced by DEUS Marketing. Work with us: https://www.deusmarketing.io Connect with Alexander: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-joh/ Subscribe and leave a rating. It matters more than you

Rodolphe Corpataux runs marketing at BOVET 1822, the independent Swiss maison producing around 1,000 watches a year, a third of them bespoke, with more demand than it can meet. His path there started at hotel school in Lausanne and changed when he met Mr. Raffy, the owner of BOVET. Rodolphe and Alexander get into what marketing means when you can't fulfill demand, why keeping a collector beats acquiring one, and where the watch industry's old playbook is falling apart. They revisit the AP x Swatch collaboration one year later and still don't fully agree, debate whether most watch marketing budgets are strategy or ego, break down why Rolex's consistency built the crown, and name the best marketing in watchmaking right now. Connect with Rodolphe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodolphe-corpataux-70b1aa188/ Discover BOVET: https://www.bovet.com The Beauty of Business is a podcast about the business of luxury, produced by DEUS Marketing. Work with us: https://www.deusmarketing.io

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.

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.

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

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

Bruno Golombek spent ten years running growth in mobile gaming. Then he walked into the most tradition-bound category in commerce and sold over a million dollars of wine in his first year. No distributor. No tasting room. No retail. The winemakers behind his bottles are under NDA, so his name goes on every bottle instead. In this episode, Bruno and Alexander get into what happens when performance marketing collides with an industry built on provenance, and what every premium brand can learn from it. What's covered: The négociant model: selling wine from winemakers who can't reveal their names Why discounting hasn't killed his brand, and where the luxury doctrine actually applies The growth mechanics he ported from mobile gaming into wine "Wine isn't dying, it's coping": why the critic, the culture, and the shelf stopped doing wine's branding Building a brand on one person's accountability, and whether it can scale past him Visit Bruno: https://bruno.wine Connect with Bruno: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brunogolombek/ The Beauty of Business is a podcast about the business of luxury, produced by DEUS Marketing. Work with us: https://www.deusmarketing.io

This episode is a practical blueprint for brand video that people actually believe. We break down where AI helps—storyboards, pre-viz, faster approvals—and where humans win: credibility, emotion, and on-camera proof. You’ll learn how smaller, multi-skill crews speed up production without losing quality; why real customer testimonials beat templated spots; and the revision guardrails that keep momentum (lock music early, limit rounds, stick to a clear decision maker). We also cover cadence and repurposing: plan one thoughtful shoot, then slice it into dozens of assets that feed your channels for weeks. If you want video that ships faster, performs better, and still feels human, start here. A DEUS Marketing podcast. Visit us here; https://www.deusmarketing.io/ Visit Rolling Wave Media here: https://www.rollingwavemedia.com/ Connect with Will here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-george-%F0%9F%8C%8A-b8b490174/

From time management to mindset, Daniel Osen brings a performance coach’s view of work and life. Topics include planning rest, warming up with easy tasks, using environment design to increase follow-through, and building stamina over time. Alexander and Daniel also discuss community, policy, and entrepreneurship in Norway and why launching imperfectly beats waiting. Visit Daniel here: https://www.mentaltrenerosen.no/en/home/ Connect with Daniel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-osen/ The Beauty of Business is a podcast by DEUS Marketing. Visit us here: https://www.deusmarketing.io/ Please subscribe to the podcast and give us a boost!

What if you could predict where your next customer conversation will start? In this conversation, Tom Ridges breaks down how Herdify uses data and behavioral science to scale what most brands treat as luck—word of mouth. Together with host Alexander Johannessen, he dives into social influence, cultural differences in consumer behavior, and why location-based advocacy is making a comeback for challenger and luxury brands alike. Visit Herdify here: https://www.herdify.com Connect with Tom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomridges/ The Beauty of Business is a podcast by DEUS Marketing. Visit us here: https://www.deusmarketing.io/ Please subscribe to the podcast and give us a boost!

In this episode, Alexander Johannessen sits down with Armandas Puckus, a young e-commerce founder who built his business from humble dropshipping beginnings to a full-scale creative powerhouse based in Bali. Armandas shares his journey from football dreams to building viral brands, diving deep into how mindset and relentless execution separate winners from wishful thinkers. He opens up about scaling content production, managing an in-house creative team, and preparing for Q4 like a pro. You’ll hear insights on: Why a ‘you can’t lose’ mentality defines success in e-commerce The biggest mistakes founders make (and how to avoid them) Scaling with high AOV and smart bundling strategies The importance of bringing marketing in-house for real creative control His plans to launch a luxury brand and tap into Norway’s untapped info-product market Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or scaling a team, this episode is packed with tactical wisdom, mindset shifts, and a grounded look at what it takes to win long-term in e-commerce. www.deusmarketing.io

A DEUS Marketing podcast. Cognitive science meets brand strategy. In this episode, Ella Pamment, founder of thebitecreative, breaks down how scripts, schemas, and prototypicality can help you “break the script” without confusing your audience and build a true category‑of‑one brand. We get practical about culture curation, pop-ups and OOH, social content that prioritizes quality over quantity, and how to avoid the classic pitfalls of disruption done wrong. In this episode, you’ll learn: 💜 What scripts and schemas are, and how they shape customer expectations. 💜 How “secondary prototypicality” lets you stand out while staying recognizable. 💜 A DIY research framework you can run before your next launch. 💜 Ella’s research workflow: 1–2 weeks, 3–5 direct competitors, plus 10–50 adjacent brands to map the market. 💜 Why culture curation, tactile brand moments, and smart OOH drive belonging and shareability. 💜 The danger of “quantity over quality” and how to build content that actually converts. 💜 Lessons from rebrands that missed the mark and how to avoid them. Connect with Ella here; https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellapamment123/ Interested in The Bite Creative? Check it out here; https://www.thebitecreative.com Follow The Beauty of Business, leave a rating, and share it with someone who’s ready to build a category of one. www.deusmarketing.io

A Deus Marketing Podcast. www.deusmarketing.io Andrew had a big idea years ago, but didn´t jump on it right away. Now, he´s launched his idea - DesignSnitch, a highly curated application only marketplace partnering with high level makers and creators in art, homeware, and lifestyle products. Hand-picked creators partner with Designsnitch to sell their work on an exclusive level acting as a true extension to the brands themselves.. In this episode we discuss entrepreneurship, art and the beauty of business. Links: https://designsnitch.com/ https://www.instagram.com/design.snitch/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-waldron-11325410/ The Beauty of Business is a podcast where you meet entrepreneurs from all aspects of life and different parts of the world. We discuss why we love business, how to become better at business, and how to build an intentional life.

A Deus Marketing Podcast. www.deusmarketing.io Matt has been running his marketing agency for 7 years, focusing on SEO for his clients. Recently, he has made some big changes in his business model and is looking to future-proof his agency. In this episode. Matt shares his business and SEO insights in a value-packed 50 minutes! Links: https://diffusedigitalmarketing.com/ https://www.instagram.com/diffuse_digital/ https://www.youtube.com/@diffuse_digital The Beauty of Business is a podcast where you meet entrepreneurs from all aspects of life and different parts of the world. We discuss why we love business, how to become better at business, and how to build an intentional life.

A Deus Marketing podcast. J oin our newsletter here; https://deusmarketing.beehiiv.com/subscribe Oskar is the founder of Kaffekassan - a solution for school classes, organizations, and sports teams to fund trips and equipment. Oskar shares his entrepreneurial story and how he grew his side project to a multi-million dollar business! You can find Oskar here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oskar-s-69a12b142/ You can find Kaffekassan here; https://www.kaffekassan.se/ The Beauty of Business is a podcast where you meet entrepreneurs from all aspects of life and different parts of the world. We discuss why we love business, how to become better at business, and how to build an intentional life.

A Deus Marketing podcast. Join our newsletter here; https://deusmarketing.beehiiv.com/subscribe Jake Tlapek is the founder of The Wizard Marketing, a digital marketing agency renowned for its innovative strategies and exceptional results. With a unique ability to harness the power of Google, Jake connects clients with their target audiences, driving growth and enhancing online visibility. His expertise in search engine optimization and digital advertising has helped numerous businesses achieve their marketing goals. In this episode, Jake shares insights into effective digital marketing practices and the future of online advertising. You can find Jake here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-tlapek-10b55962/ You can find Wizard Marketing here; https://thewizard.marketing The Beauty of Business is a podcast where you meet entrepreneurs from all aspects of life and different parts of the world. We discuss why we love business, how to become better at business, and how to build an intentional life. Thank you for listening! Remember to subscribe and rate our podcast.

A Deus Marketing podcast. Join our newsletter here; https://deusmarketing.beehiiv.com/subscribe Automation should make life easier—not more complicated. Cameron has worked with CRM systems and automation all his professional life. Now, he runs an automation agency and helps business owners build out better systems and automations for their businesses. You can find Cam here: / camatmonkeypod You can find Monkeypod here; https://monkeypodmarketing.com/ Buy Cam's Automation Fundamentals course here; https://www.monkeypodmarketing.com/courses/fundamentals The Beauty of Business is a podcast where you meet entrepreneurs from all aspects of life and different parts of the world. We discuss why we love business, how to become better at business, and how to build an intentional life. Thank you for listening! Remember to subscribe and rate our podcast.

A Deus Marketing podcast. Nick started his creative studio out of frustration while working in marketing. He ran the studio successfully for years and decided to sell his business. How do you actually position your business for a sale? Why did Nick decide to sell? An insightful - and funny - episode! You can find Nick here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-dooley-757691b7/ And here; https://www.instagram.com/nickisruiningmylife/ The Beauty of Business is a podcast where you meet entrepreneurs from all aspects of life and different parts of the world. We discuss why we love business, how to become better at business, and how to build an intentional life. Thank you for listening! Remember to subscribe and rate our podcast.