Brand positioning
[Cache #260]
Recently I was struck with this juxtaposition at Rexall: Why pay more than quadruple for a bottle of Evian versus – let’s face it – the very same thing right next to it on the shelf?
Mainly, because Evian is from France. If it was from New Jersey, we would not feel quite the same way, or be willing to part with our money with such abandon.
In branding, this is what we call a Reason to Believe. Because it comes from France, we believe that Evian (and Perrier, of course) is sophisticated. Just as we believe that Nike makes the best basketball shoes because LeBron James and Michael Jordan wear them.
The Evian rationalization, it must be said, is not exactly a fringe activity. A recent report advised that 60 bottles of Evian are consumed every five seconds worldwide. That’s approximately 378 million bottles a year. At $4.29 vs. $0.99 a bottle, that’s people collectively paying an annual premium of $1.25 billion for…nothing.
But is it really nothing? Not at all.
Notice that I did not explain why, exactly, Evian’s French origins are the key to its enormously premium pricing. That’s because you already know. That’s how clear and powerful the brand of France is in our minds.
For the record, in connection with water (and many other things), France means at least:
- Fine food and drink
- Clean natural environment
- Quality
- Luxury
- Distinction
- Exceptional taste (by which I mean discernment)
Every time they buy, every purchaser of Evian gets to not just experience these attributes in their minds, but to actually embody these attributes. To be them. And to them, it is very clearly worth it.
All of which begs the question: What are your Reasons to Believe?
Spoiler alert: You definitely have some. In all likelihood, however, you are not voicing them in an optimally compelling way.
—
I, not AI, wrote this.
Andris Pone, BA, MBA
President
Coin Branding Inc.
andris@coinbranding.com
1 416 560 0928
www.coinbranding.com
