Volume 6

Issue 8

August 2015

Talk is Cheap

Is your company aligning its pricing strategies with the current consumer structure? Businesses may think they are doing all they can to personally connect with consumers, but current consumers often feel it's nothing but empty, unbacked words. In response, some businesses have been practicing Sympathetic Pricing. This pricing technique is helping consumers see that businesses are putting their money where their mouth is, so to speak.

Show Some Compassion
There are three main types of Sympathetic Pricing structures:

Painkiller Pricing--discounts that help alleviate lifestyle pain points
Compassionate Pricing--pricing that offers a helping hand in difficult times
Purposeful Pricing--pricing that supports a shared value

Japanese pub, Otasuke, practices painkiller pricing. The pub offers discounts to balding customers to help ease the shock of a situation that isn't a major problem in the West, but is a very delicate issue in Japan.

When online portfolio company, Pressfolios, learned of layoffs at a large newspaper in New Jersey, they offered the out-of-work journalists free subscriptions to help ease the stress and get back on their feet. This is an example of compassionate pricing.

PareUp leads with the mantra, "Good food is a terrible thing to waste." According to its site, each year food retailers throw away nearly $40 billion dollars' worth of unsold goods due to industry standards, marketing practices, and donation infrastructures. PareUp connects with New York City vendors to help them earn a more profitable alternative to throwing out perfectly normal produce that may not have made it on the store shelves. In turn, the company helps provide consumers discounted foods, which helps consumers' wallets and the environment. This is an example of purposeful pricing.

To Be Clear

According to Cohn & Wolfe's report, From Transparency to Full Disclosure, just 5% of consumers in the UK and US believe big businesses are very transparent and honest. Conversely, an average of 15% of UK and US consumers think big businesses deliberately lack transparency and honesty in order to make more money. Sympathetic pricing shows the human side of businesses. It connects with consumers on a deeply personal level, and helps them where many need help the most--their bank accounts.

The act of goodwill on the part of a business can cause a ripple effect down the line, creating a happier consumer, and possibly a more compassionate society.

Sincerely,

Mona Graham
The Monogram Oak Leaf

Monogram Communication Services

798 University Avenue

Sacramento, CA 95825
Phone: 916.922.0930
Fax: 916.922.0929

www.monogramcommunications.com

In 2015, we want to help you get the most from your marketing budget. Call us today to learn how we can take away the pain that often comes with creating brilliant solutions.

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