The crude definition of value is what you get divided by what you pay. So if you pay 10 units and get back 20 units of value, that’s likely to be good, even great value. In calculating value, the benefits are not only physical, like taste, comfort and nutrition but also emotional. Richard’s Bake and Shark, for example, prices his product on parity with all the other vendors at Maracas. The main value he has invented and added is the condiment buffet. As a result of what he has created with his brand, it has become a tourist ‘must visit’ destination. You want to be able to say “I had a Richard’s Bake and Shark in Maracas.” Not just any ordinary one. There is a huge emotional thrill to having a Richard’s Bake and Shark. What genius and what great value!
The people who choose Ciroc over other vodkas might like its taste but they probably also see it as an expression of their independence. (And not just their freedom to chart their own course.) They likely also see themselves as winners. Ciroc gives them emotional benefits. While we tend to think of value as being exclusive to low priced brands, all brands offer value.
So while we marketers often focus on price, we should also be thinking of ways to add value. Like the store manager who follows you to your car with an umbrella because it’s raining. Or the supermarket attendant who doesn’t just tell you the item is on lane 5 but they walk you to it. As marketers, we need to bring more focus on adding value to our products and services. We don’t need big budgets to do so, just big hearts and a smidgen of common sense. We can begin by asking ourselves; what would we appreciate?
Oscar Wilde’s 19th century pronouncement is still valid. “These days man knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.”
