Visual Prestige: How CGI Signals Brand Status and Commands Premium Prices
There is a version of a product that costs $12, and a version of the same product with the same formula and the same functional performance that costs $120. The difference is not primarily the ingredient list. It is the entire system of signals the brand sends before, during, and after purchase: the packaging design, the store environment, the typography, the photography, and in 2026, the CGI.
Visual quality is not decoration. It is pricing infrastructure. The brands that understand this invest in CGI not to make their products look good, but to make them look worth what they cost.