Death, Taxes and … Insurance Premium Increases?

Note: A version of this article about insurance premium increases appeared in our LinkedIn newsletter, Pricing Power Clarity®. Trust Buffett, it’s a great business It’s no wonder Warren Buffett loves the insurance business. He famously declared “The single most important decision in evaluating a business is pricing power.” That statement is getting help from insurers […]

Pricing Power: Part 1 – Searching For A Useful Definition for 2023

Image shows business man with pink blinders about to head over the edge of the cliff while holding a pink book and a sign reading "Right Way". In the distance, a blue sign points the opposite direction away from the cliff edge.

“Pricing Power” has become a household term in the last couple of years, as the importance of pricing was revealed and elevated in every corner of the economy. It has also become, unhelpfully, a bit of a loose buzzword that can become limiting and rather … disempowering. 2023 and beyond will require a better understanding […]

Footwear Pricing Strategy: Nike, Stock Prices & Pricing Power

Image shows inverted Nike swoosh logo in black pointing downwards, against a graph with Stock Price on the Y axis, and Markdowns on the X axis, suggesting stock price decline is caused by higher markdowns. A generic price tag with a dollar sign is hanging from the lower end of the swoosh, suggesting pricing is weighing down on the stock performance. A stamp with the word Transitory suggests this is a transitory relationship.

Nike’s stock price fell (a lot). Does this tell us anything about its “pricing power”? Last week, the world’s largest footwear and apparel company lost about 15% of its market cap, taking a lot of the sector down. It had already been by and large a very rough year for footwear company valuations. Some semi-professional analysts urged […]

Disney Puts On A Pricing Strategy Clinic At Parks and Beyond

image illustrates the main walk in a Disney theme park with throngs of paying visitors

The Walt Disney Company is putting on a clinic in #pricingstrategy and illustrating the concept of both value-creation and value-harvesting. In their excellent article, reporters Robbie Whelan and Jacob Passy show great depth and coverage of the levers Disney has been pulling to create superior profits with fewer visitors. The article details tactics like semi-firing the annual pass […]

(Part #2) You Raised Prices. Demand Is Softening. Now What?

decreasing cash suggests lower available spending to power demand

Recap In Part 1 of this series, we suggested 5 potential focus areas for companies facing softening demand. This broader lens applies whether they have taken recent price increases, are considering new ones, or simply asking “Now what?” Here’s the list: Understand your current margin profile(s) and the relationship to your pricing stance Rebalance pricing […]