Smarter Pricing: How to capture more value in your market

No room for haughty brand supremacy

Managers always needed to develop a keen sense of the value of their products relative to those of competitors. But now the imperative is stronger, the risks are greater. Lower-priced competitors can severely damage customers’ perceptions of value in an industry by encouraging customers to prioritize the search for lower prices rather than any product or service benefits. The old rules of haughty brand superiority are outmoded and new competitive skills are needed.

Faced with a ruthless price-based competitor there seem to be two alternatives:

• The ostrich approach – continuing with current strategy and hoping the impact will be limited.

• The rhinoceros approach – going into an attacking charge and fighting back ...