P.T. Barnum On The Importance of Promotion … Does It Have To Be Price Promotion?

Image shows a framed quote attributed to P.T. Barnum "Without promotion, something terrible happens ... nothing!"

Illustrating the point It’s the make-or-break holiday season for retailers and consumer brands, and the words “promotional environment” are everywhere. Categories like footwear and apparel, which are both seasonal and often discretionary, seem to be particularly sensitive to “how promotional” to get in this environment. Even brands like Lululemon, who take pride in a “no […]

Trupanion’s Price Increase For Pet Insurance Barks of Desperation

Pet owner finds better insurance quotes while King Charles Cavalier Spaniel looks away concerned.

Summary   Note: This article was published on SeekingAlpha, the world’s largest investor site, on November 14, 2022. At the time of submission, the last closing price (as of Friday close on November 11) was $64.86. Trupanion has higher loss ratios and higher premiums than its competitors, which will squeeze it between a rock 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 […]

Catalyst Quote & Comment: Lee Iacocca On People Who Want Economy

Image shows a framed quote attributed to Lee Iacocca ""

Illustrating the point This past week we had the coincidental opportunity to write at some length about Netflix’s new plan for “people who want economy”, in an article that illustrates the very point of the Catalyst Quote: Netflix’s Clever Price Framing Will Ring The Register On Ad-Supported Plan In the article, we show that “economy” […]

Catalyst Quote & Comment: Oscar Wilde On People Who Know The Price Of Everything

Image shows a framed quote attributed to Oscar Wilde "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."

Illustrating the point Consider the following title and the story in the MIT Technology Review article: Meta is desperately trying to make the metaverse happen Meta’s pricey Meta Quest Pro VR goggles leave us with a clear price tag that seeks to confidently push aside many questions about value. Just as Oscar Wilde’s skepticism was […]

The Package Insert: An Underrated Pricing & CLV Lever

Image illustrates package insert coupon that uses pricing strategy for channel optimization

The Missed Opportunity It’s back-to-school season, and for many of us that means more e-commerce purchases from direct-to-consumer or digital retail stores. Whether it’s this season or any other, I am always puzzled by the relatively high % of packages / consumer brands that miss a seemingly humble, yet important and near-free opportunity to be […]