Perceptual value is everything. As humans, we value things not for what they are but for what they mean to us. Strip a pair of premium sneakers down to the raw components and what you have is not really much different to what you'd find in any pair of trainers. But because of the way the brand is framed, the premium product is inexplicably more special.
Take another example. Originally, Cheddar cheese was sold in shops with a rind attached, just because that's how cheese is made. At some point, someone decided to sell rindless Cheddar cheese, charging a premium for offering a convenience product that customers would no longer have to remove the rind from. Much later, companies began to offer Cheddar cheese with the rind left on, labelling it an 'Artisan' product and charging a premium price. The same product, re-framed twice to create a new perception of its value.
Creating perception-shifting narratives like this is the magic that many brands strive for, but few truly achieve.
By this time, all the engineers have stopped reading. In the engineering mind, value can only possibly be created by making things bigger or giving them more features.
But in reality, it's much easier to create value using psychology than engineering. Think about the huge development cost involved in adding a single function to an everyday item like a kitchen gadget, let's say a food processor, to try to outsmart or keep up with competitors. The engineering design, development and testing, component sourcing and production planning, then the product compliance process with lab testing and certification takes an age and costs a fortune.
Alternatively, re-framing the original product as 'the simple-to-use kitchen companion' through brand work and advertising will happen faster, cost less and keep the product relevant until its natural end of life.
Branding is not an opt-in part of the marketing mix. Branding exists in any case, because consumers form an impression about a product or service's brand based on what they know, half-know or assume. It's far more productive for companies to control their brands, developing and crafting the narratives to create the perceptions that will bring them the outcomes they want.
In controlling the brand, companies develop the meaning and value in the brand, which in marketing terms creates far greater growth, longevity and profit than a million and one bottom-funnel sales ads. A brand that is loved and understood has an immediate competitive advantage.
Creation of brand awareness and forming positive perceptions comes from patient building work through regular exposure via advertising and other publicity. Once consumers understand a brand and how it can be of value to them personally, once they are ready to move a brand into their personal space, only then are they ready to be enticed into purchasing.
Strong branding, combined with a startlingly effective advertising idea wins over consumers - that's a simple, psychological inevitability. Companies that throw cash at fighting it out in the advertising gutter with nothing but bottom-funnel marketing can expect to blow 40% of their cash into the wind (fact).
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