From airline tickets to bottled water, health clubs to student textbooks; price can
have a profound impact in the market. Pricing decisions, right or wrong, can change buying
behaviours, drive the profitability of businesses and even transform competitive
landscapes.
For the price of a flexible economy ticket to Warsaw with British Airways, a traveller
could buy 8 return flights with Air Polonia. How do companies like British Airways fight
back against the value players? With profitability and competitive stakes high, pricing
decisions are too important to leave to rules of thumb. Managers everywhere are devoting
more attention to the art and science of pricing.
Smarter Pricing helps managers to make more intelligent pricing
decisions, implement pricing strategies and structures more effectively in the market, and
capture more value for their business. Using real-world international examples from a wide
range of industries, Smarter Pricing explores: low price propositions, premium
pricing, price sensitivity, incentivising customers to make profitable purchases, the rise
of discounters and how to face the threats, the creative communication of pricing and
bundling, promotions and and the benefits of non-comparability.
"Downward pressure on prices has rarely been stronger. A slogging global economy
has had an impact, but so have fundamental changes in the marketplace including stronger
buyers, more transparent markets, and the emergence of low-cost manufacturing powerhouses
such as China... the need to get price management right could scarcely be more urgent.
"THE POWER OF PRICING-McKinsey Quarterly, Jan 05.
Tony Cram is a Programme Director at Ashridge Business School - one of
Europe's leading centres for Management Development. Tony designs and delivers programmes
on business strategy and market innovation. Clients include BOC Group, Marriott Hotels,
HMV, Interbrew and Varta GmbH. Internationally he has taught at Swedish Institute of
Management, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, Stockholm School of Economics, PEF
University Styria, and University of Michigan, USA. Tony has a particular interest is in
understanding Customer Value, developing brands and the dynamics of long-term
business relationships. He speaks at public conferences on competitive marketing and
innovation, and has written and contributed to many books including- Customers that
Count How to build living relationships with your most valuable customers. (Financial
Times Prentice Hall 2001), The Power of Relationship Marketing (Pitman Publishing
1996, paperback ed. 2002).
Contents
1. Pricing by voodoo or bingo? - there's a better way.
CUSTOMERS - SMARTER WAYS TO UNDERSTAND THEM
2. When they say price, they really mean value
3. What would you pay for this? - perils and pitfalls of
pricing research
4. Price discrimination - segmenting by price sensitivity
5. Customers behaving badly - how price can help
COMPETITORS - SMARTER WAYS TO OUTWIT THEM
6. Standing out from the crowd - pricing's role in
positioning and differentiation
7. Competing with value players - hit back with benefits
8. Fighting price wars - planning to escape pain
COMPANY SUCCESS - SMARTER WAYS TO CAPTURE VALUE
9. Fixing the right price - structures, segments and
stairways
10. Communicating prices - creating positive perceptions
11. Why pay more? - how to get higher prices
12. Pricing success - keeping discipline, measuring results
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & LAST WORD
13. Smarter pricing - the five minute version
The last word on price
Hardback, 232 pages