Pricing Value Maps, CPG, and Trojan Horses

The image shows a trojan horse outside the walls of a fortress.

.Note: A version of this article appeared in our LinkedIn newsletter, Pricing Power Clarity®. The “classic” price value maps – refresher & setup In my “part 1” of this post I introduced price value maps and what they are for. This appeared originally as a guest post on CPG Data Insights. I focused on “classic” variant […]

Consumer Brands: Pricing Power Moves for Higher Profits

Image shows logos of consumer brands like Nike, Tesla, Amazon and others on a map with an entry point and a destination marked by a grey cross.

Note: A version of this article was published in our LinkedIn newsletter, Pricing Power Clarity®. Pricing power – defined broadly In our previous newsletter installments, we proposed expanding the accepted meaning of “pricing power” to include the full toolset of pricing and offering design, as long as such actions drive gains in a company’s earnings metric. […]

Tesla’s Pricing Strategy: A Taxpayer Subsidy Beggar?

Image shows a Tesla sedan positioned in front of a wall with the company's logo and name.

Note: A version of this article is submitted for publication on Seeking Alpha, the world’s largest investor site, where I occasionally contribute on companies that make consequential pricing strategy decisions. Summary Tesla‘s price cuts signal deep distress ahead based on even basic pricing math, with breakeven virtually certain to be unachievable.The direct admission embedded is that […]

Value Maps For CPG Pricing Decisions (Part 1)

Image shows a brown unrolled map with a destination point marked in red and yellow

What are pricing value maps? Pricing value maps are visualization tools that marketers and consulting firms use to illustrate several linked points: Pricing strategy should ultimately be linked to “value,” as measured by the perception of consumers. More specifically, a buyer’s willingness-to-pay (WTP) is driven primarily by her perceived value (benefits) from buying and using […]

Egg Prices: A Poster for Ugly Inflation At Walmart, Aldi, and Cub Foods?

The ugly side of #foodprices #inflation? Cheapest egg dozen at Walmart $3.68, at Aldi $4.15 (online prices, slightly higher than in-store at Aldi) (as of Sun noon 10/30). When I wrote back in February on the relative #grocery pricing at Walmart, ALDI USA, and Cub Foods Store, eggs could be had for $0.73 at Walmart and […]

Catalyst Quote & Comment: Sam Walton On How The Customer Can Fire Everyone

Image shows a framed quote attributed to Sam Walton "There is only one boss. The customer."

Illustrating the point One word: Metaverse.  It’s been a very tough week to be any of the tech giants, with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Meta all reporting missed earnings or declining revenue guidance. Every brutal line of bad news basically boils down to one thing: customers are or will be spending less, and these […]