Contextual Pricing: The Death of List Price and the New Market Reality

by Docters, Robert; Barzelay, Michael ; Hanson, John; Nguyen, Cecilia

• ISBN13: 9780071772464
• ISBN10: 0071772464
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-11-09
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education

Summary

A REVOLUTIONARY NEW PERSPECTIVE ON HOW PRICING REALLY WORKS " Contextual Pricingdelivers a knock-out punch to complacent and low-return pricing approaches. . . . This book is full of intriguing, fresh insights which will expand your perspective on what is possible in maximizing revenue from your company's products and services." Mark Greatrex, Chief Marketing Officer, Cox Communications, and former SVP, Global Still Beverages, The Coca Cola Company "To effectively price, managers must understand market contextthe frame of reference for buyers. Context is far more important than the usual measures of price variation. I strongly recommend this readable and useful book to any business leader who suspects his or her company is falling short of achievable revenues." Dave Calhoun, Chairman and CEO, Nielsen Company, and former Vice Chairman, General Electric Company About the Book: A few leading companies have jettisoned ideas about pricing that other companies believe are indispensible. The result has been superior performance against competitors who persist in a simplistic 1990s belief in "value." Contextual Pricingdescribes how buyers are influenced by comparison points and contextual messages more than by actual price levels. Identical products can sell at radically different prices to the same target customerif context is strategically managed. This fact is how Procter & Gamble, GE, Coca-Cola Company, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and others make sure they get the best possible price. The use of context is changing the way companies price and sell in the new global economy. This readable and market-tested book describes the contextual pricing perspective, how it is being used in B2B and B2C markets, and how you can make the shift to contextual pricing in your own business. Whether you're a CEO, P&L manager marketing director, sales manager, or entrepreneur, Contextual Pricingshows you how to: Understand how your customer will make buying decisions and the role of pricing in those decisions Establish better, more intuitive prices using context Develop contextual pricing strategies that defeat competitor pricinghow contextual pricing can be the antidote to destructive price wars Harmonize your pricing with branding, product development and channel strategies Increase your profits with proven pricing tools, such as scientific bundling, tiering, branding, upsell "hooks" and more Through its illuminating case-by-case studies, Contextual Pricingdelivers a wide range of pricing techniques and customer insights that you won't find anywhere else. You'll learn how to avoid common pitfalls when raising or lowering prices and discover how you can compete in traditional or emerging digital marketplacesand beat the competition through superior tactics, not through lower margins. When you know the secrets of Contextual Pricing, you can name your price, drive your sales, increase your profits, and own your success.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. v
Introduction	p. 1
The Journey from Product to Context
Context and the Death of List Price	p. 7
Why Value Matters Less with Competition	p. 21
Which Contexts Matter to You?	p. 33
Living in the Digital World	p. 47
Antidotes to Price Pressure	p. 59
Pricing for Poets and Profit Maximizers
Price Structure	p. 71
Scientific Bundling and Tiering	p. 85
Dangerous Ways to Reduce or Increase Price	p. 103
Pricing Programs and the Marketing Mix
Segmentation, Context, and Time	p. 119
The Hinge of Fate: Pricing Strategy	p. 131
Higher Return: Introductory Pricing Strategies	p. 157
Brand, Messaging, and Competition	p. 173
Tools for Management
First Steps and Missteps	p. 187
Cheap and Cheerful Pricing Tools	p. 205
Key Contextual Data Is Not in Your Company's Database	p. 223
An Enabling Systems Architecture	p. 231
Creative Pricing	p. 247
Index	p. 255
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