Pricing College Podcast

When it comes to pricing - we know that people want great results from day 1. However - what do you need to do first before trying to optimise prices.   Should you optimise - before you fix issues and build a strategy?   Often in life, people want to jump right into the deep end we cover this in a few previous episodes. But often people want to know, sometimes you can talk to a business. And they...

In this episode of Pricing College - we discuss what a marketer should know about pricing. Fundamentally, we believe they should be willing and able to work effectively with pricing. To be honest - this happens too infrequently.   In many of our previous episodes, we have spoken about why pricing or good pricer need to work with other functions, whether finance, sales and very commonly marketing....

Many companies in 2020 say they practise revenue management but do they really?   We ask are many of them really doing traditional pricing management and strategy?   In today's episode, we want to ask, do companies sometimes believe they're doing revenue management? When in actual fact, they're not really. They're just pursuing pricing or contracting or tendering. There seems to be a movement occu...

In this episode of Pricing College - we continue to look at revenue management. You may have heard that airlines can sometimes sell tickets at very low prices - and that it makes sense. We look into this practise here.   In today's episode, we want to dig into a very common question about revenue management is the classic idea is, can you really sell the last seat on an aeroplane for $1 and be pro...

In this episode of pricing college - we take a look at revenue management and ask if your business really requires a complex IT system to implement revenue management.   Many companies are not at the pricing maturity to fully take advantage of a system of this nature.   In today's episode we want to ask, do you need to use complex computer programs and systems in a revenue management department? T...

We know that our listeners are interested in pricing, revenue management and boosting profits - but how many people really work as dedicated pricing professionals in Australia. The answer is not very many at all. Aidan and Joanna try to estimate the actual number.   In the last few months, we've all been experiencing quite a lot of change with COVID, the whole crisis and the government's response...

In Lady Windemere's Fan, Oscar Wilde had Lord Darlington quip that a cynic was  'a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. ' As with so much of what Wilde wrote or said, it's more than just a nice turn of phrase – it hits at the heart of the problems of society. Lady Windemere's Fan was written in 1892, but what Wilde wrote is even more true now than it was 122 years ago. W...

In this episode of Pricing College - we discuss what a bubble is and why we do not really discuss speculation, investment or pricing options or financial instruments. Often what is described as a bubble is not a bubble - but rational demand driven prices for a hot item or service.   Today we're gonna talk about a slightly different economic topic on like bubbles. But bubbles in housing, bubbles in...

In this episode of Pricing College - we cover the trend for many manufacturers of food products to produce very similar unlabelled or supermarket own brands. We discuss how this can be a problem for your business in the longer term.   In today's episode, we are going to look at "own brands". And how own brand in the world of food fast-moving consumer goods, those sort of items. How can damage the...

When companies buy lots of brands - they sometimes have real issues integrating them and differentiating their offers. This can create real pricing issues - by dragging pricing down to the lowest rung. We discuss this issue today.   In this podcast, we want to follow up on our last episode about segmentation and branding . And ask the question, what problems can arise when a company has too many b...

In today's episode of Pricing College - we discuss how brands can help a business segment their customer base by value drivers and ability to pay. We look at brands in the hotel industry and also in the car industry.   In today's episode, we want to cover how different brands can help you segment your market. Have you ever thought maybe that you've got some brands that I'm thinking now of like hot...

In this podcast episode of Pricing College - we ask would you actually pay more for fewer movie options on your streaming service - or would even paying a nominal fee let you enjoy the movie more?   We've been talking a lot about movies, the movie industry. The differences in pricing between Netflix and potentially Foxtel and also cinemas. We're thinking greatly about how pricing now determines a...

In this episode - we discuss whether the business model and pricing strategy of Netflix will let it prosper in the long term. We look at the penetration pricing strategy currently in use - and ask if it is best for the long haul? So we were talking a bit before about the cinema and movie industry. And it sort of made us think about the prevalent, the dominant player in the market now Netflix . The...

In this episode of Pricing College - we discuss how Hollywood studios used to discriminate based on willingness to pay and use different distributions methods such as cinema release, video stores, pay tv and finally free to air tv. This has of course changed due to technology - but is the new system any better? In today's episode, we want to talk about movies. I think everyone's probably sick of s...

In this episode of Pricing College - we talk about what to do when someone just has to have a discount. We love not discounting - but sometimes you have to recognise that their are dedicates hagglers out there - the type who enjoys getting 1% off on shopping at the local market. You know the type!   In today's episode we want to cover, what do you do when you're selling to somebody, a person who j...

In this episode of Pricing College - we ask are there new magic numbers out there and if so - what are they? Are people so used to 99c that it has stopped working? Is 37 the new 99? So many questions!   In today's episode, we want to ask, is the price of 99 cents and magic pricing is that all hot? Has it expired? Has as it passed? Has it been used by date? Is the world of pricing when you're doing...

In this episode of Pricing College - we look at the concept of magic numbers and using 99c and even options like 95c or 90c. Does it really help you sell more than quoting full dollar pricing. Is the market moving beyond this type of pricing nowadays?   In today's episode, we're going to cover that most fundamental or maybe most famous pricing technique or strategy. The magic number such as 99 cen...

In this episode of Pricing College we look at the importance of branding for retail products  - and we look at Coca Cola. Everyone in the world knows Coca Cola and sees it everywhere we go. Does the huge spend on branding produce a customer view on the brand as a premium product? We argue that the branding positions it strongly as a middle and mass market product.   As we say in the world of podca...

In this episode of Pricing College - we discuss why Coca Cola did not increase their pricing for almost 75 years. This goes against the common perception of Coke as a business with great pricing power - that can command higher prices. We dig into the reasons behind this surprising fact.   In the last podcast, we discussed an interesting case study with Coke and we just wanted to extend that a case...

In this episode of Pricing College - we discuss the suggestion that Coca Cola considered altering prices depending on the temperature. We discuss whether this approach would work for a business and what things should be considered. We also ask would there be negatives to business reputation.   Today we're gonna talk about quite an unusual case study involving Coca Cola . And apparent allegations o...

In this episode of Pricing College - we discuss why it is so vital to really plan out a pricing role before starting the hiring process.   Being honest - so many pricing hires fail to deliver on their promise - and this can usually be prevented by scoping and planning in advance.   In today's episode, we want to cover a topic that sometimes people don't consider before making their first pricing h...

In this episode of Pricing College - we discuss the potential problems when you only have one person in a pricing team.   One person may be able to do it all for a short space of time - or in a small business but overtime problems will arise.   Number crunching and strategy are different skills - and people can get burned out doing too many tasks.   In today's episode, we want to play a thought ex...

In this episode of Pricing College - we ask how many pricing analysts your business really needs.   When launching a pricing transformation or improvement project - obviously, many businesses seek to keep costs low at the beginning - but if you under resource a team - that can have real issues also.   Today we're going to be talking about what is the ideal size for a pricing team. We get asked thi...

In this episode of Pricing College - we ask a big question. Can you business simply say no to tenders? Do you have to take part in tenders - or can you simply say no? Does your business really want to take part in tenders as the normal option - or is there another way?   We've been talking in the past few episodes about tenders. And generally speaking, I think you can get the picture here that ten...

In this episode of Pricing College - Aidan and Joanna discuss why you should seek to avoid tenders whenever possible. Your key account team and sales team should focus on preventing existing clients on going to tender - and work with potential clients to discuss value in a more productive manner than tenders.   In the last episode, it's been pointed out to me that I sound very negative. So in this...