Price

“The company can offer greater customer value either by charging lower prices than competitors, or by offering more benefits to justify higher prices (Marketing Pg. 53).”

“And customers are interested in more than just the price; they are interested in the total costs of obtaining, using, and disposing of a product (Marketing Pg. 54).”

Finding a balance by assessing the prices of our competitors and assessing the true value of our products can be difficult.  As stated in the book, the price should be a reflection of what the customer thinks is a good value. Planters has the advantage of brand recognition, so they can afford to bring their prices for the sake of offering a little more incentive to its consumers. For a 10 oz. container of nuts, Planters charges within the $5-$7 range. To compete with this, lesser known brands can either lower their prices by offering consumers a cheaper alternative that is made with roughly the same ingredients, or they may charge higher to compensate for their smaller fan base.

“Once the company has chosen a desired position, it must take strong steps to deliver and communicate that position to target consumers (Marketing Pg. 53).”

Since I believe my product to be of high quality coupled with a fresh new set of bar flavors, I am not ready to drop the price of my 10 oz. package below the price of Planters. However, I understand that until I establish some sort of brand recognition first, consumers will not be inclined to purchase my product quite yet. To start off, I plan to keep my price at $6 for a 12 oz. package, but in order to communicate the value of my consumers, I will advertise that you get more bang for your buck because we offer a little more to snack on as well as a premium flavor that regular consumers would spend a little extra to obtain. If that doesn’t work, I will adjust my plan accordingly and either lower or raise the prices based on the reception of my advertising campaign.