Weekly Column: 2017-12-01
As the end of the year approaches, many people are beginning to get excited and are starting to shop. Because of this, many businesses are preparing discount events to entice their customers. It’s a very familiar scene that takes place every year during this season.
It’s actually not easy to keep up with all of the changing trends and this year, in particular, is much more difficult. Despite being prepared, there are times when unexpected variables pop up, and even though your marketing strategy was good, there are times when sales were not as good as expected.
We decided to take care of some inventory items that were falling behind the trends. It seemed that if we lowered the price it would be fine, but we were cautious. Not only did we have a policy of high prices to sell the value of the brand, we also had customers who had previously purchased these items at the high prices. It is not a problem when you raise the price of a product you sold inexpensively, but you must always be prudent when lowering the price of a product that you sold at a higher price.
Anyway, we came to a decision to raise the prices a bit.
People may be dubious when they see what we’ve done, but doing things in the same way as others does not mean we will also see success. However, it also does not guarantee success if we just do the opposite either. You need to have a good strategy. Sometimes, you’ll be able to see something clearer from a different angle.
Also, we tried to be on the offence in marketing. We had to ask our consumers why they needed to purchase this product, right? In this day and age, if you’re commonplace, you’re overlooked. That’s why we came up with this advertisement slogan.
“You don’t have to buy it, but the reviews are really good.”
It is a completely different approach from reducing marketing costs at the end of the year because this is a time of mass purchasing. In order to reduce the inventory, we raised the price and advertised it as if telling the consumers not to buy it. So, what was the result of this
Sometimes you need to have the courage to say no when everyone is saying yes. Of course, we were taking on a risk by doing this, but the most important thing was our conviction. That conviction was from our past experiences. The customers themselves will not think that we have raised the price of the product during this time anyway. They will think that we did as any other company would and discounted our product. Also, our customers who have already purchased the product will be relieved that they already have it and are satisfied. It is possible that starting next year, they will think of this as a product that will rise in price at the end of the year and carefully consider whether or not to buy it in advance.
Even if it is something that seems backward in comparison to what everyone else is doing, if you go beyond differentiation and continue on this path of thought, you may see a different effect than you expected. While it is important to develop new products, it is more important to attempt something unusual, actively seeking new opportunities and being on the offensive rather than being tied to a formula.
No matter how novel or fresh your idea is, attempting something merely out of simple curiosity will not guarantee success. However, if you have the conviction, it is not a bad idea to break out of the mold and try something different.
After all, the most important thing is the firm belief in yourself that stems from the certainty of your past experiences along with the conviction of success.