Beyond the Product: How Brands Can Justify Premium Pricing By Filling Their ‘Brand Room’
In today's competitive marketplace, where product quality is often ubiquitous across brands and private label, brands must find a wider relevance in consumers' lives to justify commanding a premium price. Mere functional superiority is not enough; brands need to transcend their core offerings and establish deeper emotional connections with their target audiences.
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Expanding brand relevance beyond the product
To command loyalty and premium pricing, brands must explore avenues where they can add value beyond the transactional experience. This can be achieved by creating a "brand room" in the consumer's mind – a metaphorical space where the brand occupies multiple touchpoints and becomes an integral part of the consumer's life. Imagine a brand room with a single piece of furniture – a chair, for instance. This chair represents the brand's core product, and its relevance in the consumer's life is limited to the brief moments when they use it. However, if the brand room is filled with various pieces of furniture, each serving a distinct purpose and adding value to the consumer's daily routine, the brand's relevance expands exponentially.
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Leveraging brand platforms for wider relevance
Successful brands have recognised the importance of creating brand platforms that extend beyond their core offerings. These platforms allow brands to engage with consumers on a deeper level, fostering emotional connections and establishing relevance in multiple facets of their lives.
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Land Rover's "Freedom Platform" is a prime example of this strategy. While the brand's core offering is its line of luxury SUVs, the Freedom Platform enabled Land Rover to position itself as a symbol of adventure, exploration, and self-discovery. By tapping into consumers' desires for freedom and outdoor experiences, Land Rover became relevant not just as a vehicle manufacturer, but as a lifestyle brand.
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Sky has taken a different approach with their Sky VIP offering, moving beyond traditional loyalty programs to drive an emotional connection with consumers. Instead of focusing solely on transactional rewards, Sky has emphasised elevated experiences that create a sense of exclusivity and access for their most loyal customers.
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Alternatively, outdoor apparel brand Patagonia has achieved brand loyalty and exponential growth by steadfastly adhering to their brand purpose of "saving our planet”. By fostering a passionate community of like-minded individuals who share this environmental mission, Patagonia has cultivated a deeply engaged customer base that strongly identifies with the brand's values and activism. Research tells us that 82% of shoppers want a consumer brand’s values to align with their own. They’ll vote with their wallet if they don't feel a match, with 75% of shoppers reportedly parting ways with a brand over a conflict in values*.
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Building brand love through wider relevance
When a brand achieves wider relevance in consumers' lives, it becomes more than just a product or service. It becomes a trusted companion, a source of inspiration, and a reflection of the consumer's values and aspirations. Consumers are willing to pay more for brands that resonate with them on a personal level; brands that understand their needs, aspirations, and lifestyles. By occupying multiple touchpoints in the consumer's life, a brand becomes indispensable, and its perceived value extends far beyond the functional benefits of its products or services.
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The key to commanding premium pricing
In a world where product quality is often comparable across brands and private labels, the key to commanding premium pricing lies in establishing wider relevance in consumers' lives. Brands that confine themselves to their core offerings risk becoming commoditised, while those that create brand platforms and occupy multiple touchpoints in the consumer's life can foster deep emotional connections and justify their premium positioning.
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Of 19,000 customers surveyed in the U.S. and UK, results showed that emotional attachment to a company was more likely to convert to a sale (43%) compared to only communicating product features (just 20%)**. By expanding their relevance beyond the transactional experience, brands can justify their premium pricing as well as cultivate brand love and ensure long-term loyalty in an increasingly competitive marketplace.