Sympathetic Pricing Relief with Discounts

SYMPATHETIC
PRICING
Get ready for a wave of imaginative
discounts that relieve lifestyle pain
points, offer a helping hand in difficult
times, or support a shared value.
GLOBAL TREND BRIEFING
June 2014

Brands are constantly
telling consumers that
they care.
Most consumers don’t believe them.
When brands claim to care about people and their everyday
challenges, or about the shared problems we all face
– sustainability, social responsibility, and more – most
consumers think they’re just saying that.
Sure, that’s a simple characterisation of a complex issue, and
it doesn’t apply to all consumers and every brand.
But countless surveys, reports and statistics (the below
being just one example) all point in the same direction: when
it comes to truly caring about consumers, owning a higher
purpose and generally being a more HUMAN BRAND, most
people think that most brands still don’t get it.
SYMPATHETIC PRICING 2www.trendwatching.com/trends/sympathetic-pricing

Just 5% of consumers in the UK and US
believe big businesses are very transparent
and honest.
COHN & WOLFE, OCTOBER 2013

Now consumers will
challenge brands to put
their money where their
mouth is.
After all, if brands really do care, then
there’s a simple way to prove it ;)
Amid their deep skepticism, consumers still yearn for
HUMAN BRANDS.
Now, they’re embracing the few brands that are already
trying a bold new approach in the quest to become more
HUMAN. One that’s visible, straighforward, and directed at
a truly meaningful target: pricing.

SYMPATHETIC PRICING
Flexible and imaginative
discounts that help ease
lifestyle pain points, lend a
helping hand in difficult times,
or support a shared value.
DEFINITION
1. MESSAGE SATURATION
2. NEW WORLD, NEW EXPECTATIONS
1. PAINKILLER PRICING
2. COMPASSIONATE PRICING
3. PURPOSEFUL PRICING
WHY NOW?
FEATURED INNOVATIONS

1. Message Saturation
Consumers have tuned out the white
noise issued by a multitude of brands
on how much they care about people,
society and the planet.
Deep skepticism among many consumers still exists
after years of brand campaigns, initiatives, and programs
intended to demonstrate that the brands in question really
care.
Often these ‘long-term goals’ and vague promises become
white noise: consumers have learned to tune them out, or
simply take them as a given.
Now, consumers are keen to see brand care and purpose
expressed where it really counts.
So if brands really are lifestyle assistants, or if they really
do care about the Big Problems we face as global citizens,
shouldn’t their (flexible) pricing reflect this?
WHY NOW?

According to EUR and US consumers, only 5%
and 9% respectively of brands make a meaningful
difference in people’s lives. Poll global consumers
and that figure rises – to 20%.
HAVAS, JUNE 2013

2. New World, New
Expectations
The online world has primed consumers
to EXPECT flexible pricing. And a host of
agile startups are both willing and able
to deliver.
Online, pricing is different. Ultra-flexible, dynamic,
personalized and transparent. Now, the online space has
primed consumers to bring those expectations with them
everywhere.
Meanwhile, a new generation of startup CLEAN SLATE
BRANDS – lacking the legacy infrastructure of their
established competitors – are more able to roll out flexible
pricing in an (near) instant.
It’s a short walk from consumer expectation of more
flexible pricing, to consumer embrace of SYMPATHETIC
PRICING.
Now check out the Featured Innovations that follow, divided
into three categories of SYMPATHY.
WHY NOW?

1. PAINKILLER PRICING
Discounts that target lifestyle pain points.
CONSUMER TREND CANVAS 9www.trendwatching.com/trends/sympathetic-pricing

PAINKILLER PRICING: FEATURED INNOVATIONS
Uber
Taxi app gives discounts to travelers hit by
transport disruption in London and Boston

Brahma #Movimento11
Discounts help Brazilian football fans watch
the start of the World Cup

Noosa International Resort
Hotel room discount if it rains on Australia’s
‘Sunshine Coast’

The Wolf & I
Free drinks for patrons with parking tickets
in Melbourne

BGH
Discounts on air conditioning for hot
apartments in Argentina

Otasuke
Japanese pub offers discounts to balding
customers

We obviously offer much more
than monthly Trend Briefings...
Your complete trend and innovation solution.
Our Premium Service
Find out more
2014 Trend Report
Trend Framework Innovation Database
Industry Updates Apply Toolkit
Monthly Updates 1-page Trend Handouts
1
2 3
4 5
6 7

2. COMPASSIONATE PRICING
Discounts that offer a helping hand at a difficult time.

COMPASSIONATE PRICING: FEATURED INNOVATIONS
Community Shop
Discounted products for less affluent British
consumers

Pressfolios
Service goes free for laid off New Jersey
journalists

Lowe’s Canada
Free trees for consumers hit by destructive
storm

Tienda Amiga
Shops in Madrid give discounts to the
unemployed

Groupon
Discounted onions in response to high onion
prices in India

3. PURPOSEFUL PRICING
Discounts in support of a shared value or belief.

PURPOSEFUL PRICING: FEATURED INNOVATIONS
Corendon
Dutch airline offers cheaper flights to Russia
for gay rights activists

RATP
Free public transport in Paris to combat
poor air quality

Easy Taxi
Discounts for solo Filipino women highlight
physical assaults

AnchorFree
App to route around internet blocks goes
free in Venezuela

NEXT
What does SYMPATHETIC PRICING mean for brands?

1. Event Tie-ups
A SYMPATHETIC PRICING play is the
perfect opportunity to tie-up with a big
event: think sports, TV shows, national
holidays and more.
Which brand will be first this summer to
offer a discount to consumers whose
team has just been knocked out of the
World Cup?
NEXT

NEXT
2. Data Driven
Sympathy
Rising numbers of consumers now
measure a range of personal metrics,
from steps walked to mood.
That opens the door to personalized
SYMPATHETIC discounts for
consumers having a bad day, or
struggling to meet personal goals.

NEXT
3. Internal Sympathy
In March 2014 Japanese electronics
firm Panasonic said it would pay
workers in China more to compensate
for high pollution levels.
Truly forward-thinking brands will be as
SYMPATHETIC to their staff as they are
to their customers.

NEXT
4. Currencies Of
Change
Of course, discounts aren’t effective
only when it comes to pain points or
shared values.
Another HUMAN play on flexible
pricing? Discounts or rewards for
positive lifestyle change.

NEXT
5. [Insert your own]
Pricing
The La Petite Syrah cafe in France
charges customers less if they say
‘please’: POLITENESS PRICING.
Go ahead – invent your own HUMAN
pricing play!

Our Apply Workshops
Want to turn trends into innovations?
Find out more

1. Our 2014 Premium ServiceOur free monthly Trend Briefings 2.
Join the 250,000
subscribers who receive
our free monthly Trend
Briefings.
SuBSCRIBe Me »
MORE...
If you have any comments, suggestions
or questions then please do let us know.
Just email:
PAUL BACKMAN
Chief Client Officer
paul@trendwatching.com
About us
Established in 2002, trendwatching.com
is the world’s leading trend firm, scanning
the globe for the most promising consumer
trends, insights and related hands-on
business ideas. Our Premium Service counts
many of the world’s leading brands as
clients, while our free monthly Trend Briefings
go out to over 250,000 subscribers in 180
countries.
More at www.trendwatching.com
Should you be one of
our 1,200+ Premium
clients?
Now...
Enjoyed this Trend Briefing? Want more?

Sympathetic Pricing Relief with Discounts

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (10)

Similar to Sympathetic Pricing Relief with Discounts

Similar to Sympathetic Pricing Relief with Discounts (20)

More from TrendWatching

More from TrendWatching (14)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Sympathetic Pricing Relief with Discounts