Value has gotten a bad rap. My theory is that value has come to mean low cost, because those three words are always hanging out together. This thought is strengthened by the creation of a whole category called ‘value brands‘. So, some marketers feel a little dirty when using the ‘V word‘. After all, they are trying to get to a higher place in hearts and minds. Value is pretty much the country-bookie cousin at the party, that you hope no one associates with you.
Value does not mean cheap. Value means that you’re getting benefits in proper proportion to (or in excess of) the price you paid. So that $24 that I pay for my Americano at Starbucks is good value for me, because of all the other stuff I get from the experience. I took my 89 year old mother on a date pre-lockdown, I pretended we were in Toronto because we could have been anywhere in the world.
At our ad agency, I’m always encouraging the Client services Team to add value to our client’s business, by doing extra stuff. Like having the creatives do a seasonal e-mail signature that their client could use in their company. Or sending relevant articles on topics that could be useful and inspiring. The nuts man who put a toothpick in his pack of nuts expressed this in a powerful way.
What’s your toothpick?
