Price Discounts Are Brand Negitives

When discounts on products or services are offered it is, in many cases, perceived as a lowering of value.  Discounting can also set a bad precedent and condition consumers to buying only when something is offered on sale.  When the focus is shifted to price, important things such as how your product solves a problem or makes life easier fall to the back-burner.

Once a company starts heading down the discount road, it's difficult to turn back, and over time, this continued discounting erodes margins until there is nothing left.  Instead, get back to the basics and focus on the fundamentals of brand building.

Building Your Brand

In brand building, you have to key in on what makes your brand special, and build off that. Without differentiation, your offering is simply a commodity and you'll be forced to compete solely on price.You must be truthful and precise when it comes to features and pinpoint how the customer will benefit from them directly.  It is also very important to exude confidence about your product or service and the brand behind it.

Know The Target

To effectively market and sell any product it is critical that you know the goals and struggles of your customer. It will help you position your brand in a way that makes purchasing your product the easy choice. Price becomes way less of an issue when you have demonstrated that your product can solve their problems - but be careful and not try to be all things to all customers.

Differentiation Makes For Brand Equity

Develop a creative way to illustrate what's special about your brand, positioning it positively against what's offered by the competition. Be prepared to invest in good, engaging advertising and PR to get your message out.  Building brand equity means that you can charge more for the same product then your competition - strictly based on your brand's reputation and perception in the marketplace.

Adding Value 

Moving away from price-based promotions to ones that offer additional value requires creativity. Forget about rebates or buy-on-get-one ala the fast-food chains.  It could mean something as simple as bundling an additional accessory to the sale. What you are striving for is enhancing the customer's experience beyond your product. For example, offering a lifetime warranty entwines you with that customer for the long haul. Paying for a six month subscription to a content streamer, like Netflix is another example of solidifying the relationship.

FUND HOUSE Hint: Never, never, never, never, never, compromise SERVICE, ever!


Jim Lavorato for Fund-House www.fundhouse.us.