An orange does not appeal to people because of its shape and colour but rather because of its benefits. Some of its benefits might be the taste, its health benefits, and If I was to be marketing it in hot weather, it could be the thirst quenching value.

Dyson have used this concept in their marketing and instead of showing ads of their vacuum cleaner clearing a dust free strip from a dust laden carpet, like some of their competitors, they chose to show the inner workings of their transformative machines. Dyson are known for revolutionising the vacuum cleaning industry by creating a more powerful and at the same time bag free appliance. Their print advert displays the individual components and descriptive text combined with powerful graphics to project the benefits and drive their message forward.

Packaging of a product can also improve the appeal. If you take two wines, one has a classier label than the other that could shape the customers appeal to the product.

Studies have shown that in the clients mind the customer will believe that the better packaged wine actually tastes better even if the actual product is identical.

Some products are hampered by the inability of the owner to spend money on the design, branding, packaging or marketing. This mindset is false economy because in actual fact, with the right presentation you will be able to charge more for your product. Secondly many customers will associate  a higher cost with higher value.

It also works in reverse, namely; you can only charge premium prices if it looks the part. A client approached me some time ago who had been given the advice of raising his prices as a means to breaking out of his cash flow issues but he had not simultaneously revamped the look. He came to realise that he needed to look at his product with a fresh pair of marketing eyes and then he would be able to charge the prices he wanted.

This concept of “charging more to make more” , sounds counter intuitive but it works, and not only with the perception of quality in products but in services too.

In the property field many developers are realising that if they create a Brand name and create a luxury impression in the marketing of the the property will become more desirable and command better prices. The Luxury project name sometimes borrows elements from the local area or historic use of the property. We have been involved in a number of these projects, some of which are offices that have been converted into residential dwellings and the clients reported measurable results relating to the speed at which the properties were sold.