Priceless

By Diane LaSalle & Terry Britton

Developing experience around a product or brand is an area of marketing that has been receiving extensive attention in the last couple of years. This book by Diana LaSalle and Terry Britton is a very useful addition to the debate although, like previous works in this area, it does not really address the whole issue. However, Priceless focuses on a particular important area of brand experience, that of brand or product performance. This is without doubt the most crucial area in the consumer’s experience of the brand and a key determinant in how well the consumer is engaged with the brand.

If brand experience is about making consumers more loyal to brands, then clearly the performance of the product or brand itself is absolutely crucial. However, the authors explain, with numerous examples, that this more than just making the thing work but it is about issues such as ergonomics. This means the product or service should be designed with the user or consumer in mind, from the consumer’s perspective. Too frequently this is not done or companies fail to notice how consumers are changing, thus affecting the way in which they use products or services.

Brand experience is also about adding value, adding those extra touches that make consumption of the product or brand more “valuable” that using the competitor’s brand. Make it a pleasure to use your brand and the consumer will come back. This includes removing barriers, physical or emotional, to using it. Make it easy for the consumer to buy and use the brand.

Why do so many companies fail to do what seems so obvious? Frequently, they are focused on their own processes and are inward looking rather than consumer-focused. Too often, staff are not empowered to handle issues such as making things better for consumers. Other organisations fail to recognise that consumers are different and cannot be satisfied with a “one size fits all” solution. Successful organisations in the area of brand experience are focused on their customers and consumers. They recognise their individual needs, wishes and problem areas. They remain focused on what their product can do, not what the consumer wants.

This book is an easy-to-read guide towards shifting your organisation in this direction. Illustrated with numerous examples from business and consumer sectors, products and services, the reader is taken through a series of steps that can help to add value to products or brands, develop consumer-focused propositions and create genuine brand or customer experiences.

From an overview of the existing work on brand experience, it is clear that the issue addresses the whole of the marketing mix, or the 4Ps. Priceless is an important piece of this jigsaw helping marketers to understand how develop products and brands to become more experiential. It touches on other areas of the marketing mix such as distribution and promotion. While the focus of Priceless is not on these factors, they are, without doubt, crucial to the development of experiences.

Review by Martin Payne