So before I begin with my post, I have some good news …
This will be the last post for 13 days.
THIRTEEN!
I’m in China all next week and then when I return, I’m having 3 days off – of which one of them is to celebrate Otis’ 5th birthday!
Five. Can’t believe it.
Anyway, I know I’ve just made your impending weekend more enjoyable so have fun and see you when I’m back on the 12th … though there will be a special birthday post the day before for my little one.
So now back to the post …
One of the things I hate is when a client mistakes being premium priced for meaning they have premium customers.
That just isn’t true, even more so now with the access to finance. Seriously, it’s like banks deny the 2008 crash never happened. Mind you, when you’re bailed out by the public, it didn’t.
Anyway …
Being premium priced – especially when the brand is in a mainstream marketing and comparing themself to mainstream competitors – simply means you cost more.
There may be reasons for that cost premium.
Great and valid reasons … but that doesn’t mean the audience who are buying the products are more sophisticated or educated.
If anything, it might be the opposite.
Some may be doing it to overcome their insecurities.
Some may be doing it to satisfy their delusional ego.
Some may be doing it because it represents something they’ve worked – and work – hard for and want to protect or defend or nurture.
But whatever the reason, the vast majority of people who choose these brands are, in the main, everyday people who justify the price premium because they offer something additionally appealing – be it professional, functional or emotional.
There is nothing wrong with this.
There is nothing unappealing about this.
In fact, it is an amazing, given we are talking about people making decisions that cost them more because something is so important to them.
And yet so many marketers want to feel their customers are the wealthiest and most discerning of all, ignoring the fact that if that were true, then their product wouldn’t be premium priced, because for the wealthy, it would be cheap.
I recently had a meeting with someone from a mainstream, mass market brand who tried to convince me their customers were the 1%, despite all evidence proving otherwise. They also tried to claim their marketing was ‘high-brow’ as it meant only the wealthy would truly ‘grt it’.
That’s right, they were suggesting intelligence was linked to wealth.
I know a lot of people may believe that, but even if it were true – which it isn’t – they are mistaking wealth for opportunity … which I appreciate is becoming more and more influenced more by being able to afford a private education given governments are underfunding state options, ignoring the fact an educated population creates greater possibilities for the entire nation.
I digress.
Again.
Sorry, it’s just these are subjects that make me so angry and upset.
Anyway, I cannot tell you how much fun I had putting them right … how much I enjoyed explaining to them that their audience were far more in line with average household income than the 1% … but at the end of the day, I know it was all in vain because every single day, I look at ads and see ‘premium priced’ brands acting like their customer base are better than everyone else, which ultimately demonstrates marketing is less about understanding your audience and more about comforting the boardroom ego.