Value is an outcome of the price and the benefits delivered.
Value = price + benefits
As marketers, we are normally consumed by price, it drives our priorities, measures our success, and dictates channel and NPD priorities.
Consumers by contrast, are generally driven by value. Yes, they will take the cheapest price in a category, all other things being even, and given marketers pre-occupation, it often is, but our task is to create value, not just deliver a price.
Band building is hard, it is about creating and nurturing the stories about the products that have a resonance with a section of the market to whom the story has particular relevance, that sustain the difference between yours and the others.
I like a beer, and find myself drinking Coopers a bit more, it is different, it says something about me, and what I like.
To the point.
This blog was written whilst having a coffee and a think. The building opposite has an ad on it for Coopers beer, all it said was “brewed by beer nuts” with a photo of some beer nuts, a small Coopers logo, and a few words telling the reader that Coopers’ is a family company, that has been brewing beer for 120 years.
Lovely pun, and it left the impression of a small company battling the giants, just so you can have a beer with a bit of style, character, brewed with skill, integrity, and personal history. The advertisement adds to the story of the brand, it doesn’t just try to whack us over the head with a message that pushes us to have a beer now!. While it builds awareness, the story gains a spot in our crowded lives, to be recalled when next a beer is about to be ordered. Advertising that adds to the story of the brand, lovely.
Toyota has been lined up for a maximum fine of $16.4 million by US regulators for failing to report a fault within the statutory time. In the scheme of things the fine is a flea bite for Toyota, but the impact on the hard earned brand reputation of the current quality issues will be substantial.
It is paradoxical that Toyota is being fined for a quality failure, as the impact of Toyota in the quality of the auto industry over the last 30 years has been immense, Toyota has led the “Lean” revolution in manufacturing, and has been remarkably open and prepared to assist all comers, especially competitors.
Years ago, the US quality guru, W. Edwards Deming who was the primary architect of the quality revolution in Japan after the war, noted that as companies focus on increasing market share and profitability in the short term, customer service and quality will suffer in the long term. It would appear that this is what has happened to Toyota. As they consolidated as the largest auto manufacturer in the world, demand for their cars and light commercials outstripped supply, simply because of their superior quality and the way they met customer expectations in a range of areas. Under commercial pressure to meet demand, Toyotas increase in production capacity outran their increase in management capacity. I’m pretty sure that the fine will be an internal wake-up call, and the quality culture of Toyota will re-assert itself.
It is a great pity to see Malcolm Turnbull pull the pin on politics, as he announced last night.
Whatever your persuasion, it would be hard not to agree that having someone in the Federal Parliament who knows how hard it is to make a dollar, what strategy, vision and purpose mean, understands the challenges of leading complex organizations to change, something about the costly friction added to the system by a focus on process rather than outcome, and simply someone who is smart, and doesn’t need the money, is a great boon to the country.
Now he will fade back into the commercial world, and the professional politicians will quietly rejoice, as there is nothing as dangerous as an outsider on the inside.
Turnbull never really fitted in, he said what he thought, and thought for himself, he bore no reverence for the status quo, and he wanted to make a difference. No wonder they could not stand him!
We are all poorer for his going, but just perhaps there will be a legacy of his short tenure, maybe someone in the joint will start to speak out in other than “polli-speak” as a result of his influence, we can always hope.
As you wander through the blogosphere, the pre-launch hype about the ipad is astonishing.
There are many reviews, but as very few have seen one, they are all just speculation, or Apple insiders doing their bit towards the marketing blitzkrieg.
Now it is launched, and there are reports of 700,000 being sold in the first 24 hours, perhaps there may be some realism emerging, but most of those early buyers will see nothing but the “greatness” they ascribe to the Apple brand, the shortcomings will not be noticed.
Those of us who build brands are in awe of the branding skills of Apple, but should remember their overnight branding success came after 30 years, and included some pretty ordinary stuff amongst the brilliance. Now their innovation machine is almost as well oiled as their marketing machine, but how are they going to hype away the advantage Kindle holds over access to books and magazines, or will they just accept that ipad will need to connect to Amazon to be competitive, and move on.
I suspect not, rather the other functionality will be the focus of attention, and shortcomings will be managed away.