3 point Someone
When storywriter Chetan Bhagat tweets 'I have always believed that one can be good as well as enjoy the good life. So yes, got my own three-pointed star now!', he isn't crowing the purchase of a car, rather its him announcing his new-found status, proclaiming 'he's arrived'.
Has he?
Who cares.
But then his tweet is important for what it reveals. Something which most marketers miss seeing. That all buys at some level reek of needs that are psychogenic in nature. For Chetan, the 'three-pointed star' purchase was more an esteem buy than one aimed at fulfilling transportation needs. It wasn't functional value that was the pull, its what the car stood for that mattered.
The gravest mistake marketers make is in thinking that if consumers can't afford the price 'esteem' comes at, they don't harbour any. Take the Tata Nano for example. A superb functional value proposition from a car isn't all that middle/lower income consumers seek. They too (like Chetan) desire the 'status' a car can bring. A car brand that can't deliver 'status' may not sell, despite coming good on the 'value for money' proposition. Again, the challenge for the likes of Nano goes even further. Psychological value must come with minimal increase on the price tag.
As for Chetan, I'm glad he's got his pointed stars. He deserves every bit of it, for he's living testimony to what marketing can do, that talent can't.
Sell books.
Has he?
Who cares.
But then his tweet is important for what it reveals. Something which most marketers miss seeing. That all buys at some level reek of needs that are psychogenic in nature. For Chetan, the 'three-pointed star' purchase was more an esteem buy than one aimed at fulfilling transportation needs. It wasn't functional value that was the pull, its what the car stood for that mattered.
The gravest mistake marketers make is in thinking that if consumers can't afford the price 'esteem' comes at, they don't harbour any. Take the Tata Nano for example. A superb functional value proposition from a car isn't all that middle/lower income consumers seek. They too (like Chetan) desire the 'status' a car can bring. A car brand that can't deliver 'status' may not sell, despite coming good on the 'value for money' proposition. Again, the challenge for the likes of Nano goes even further. Psychological value must come with minimal increase on the price tag.
As for Chetan, I'm glad he's got his pointed stars. He deserves every bit of it, for he's living testimony to what marketing can do, that talent can't.
Sell books.
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