Selling an experience

Say what?

Coffee, like beef, is a commodity product. And yet, branding is everything.

Think about it — at the most basic level, you’ve got the commodity product: coffee grounds. But then you’ve got Folgers, Keurig and, of course, Starbucks. All three brands are selling more than coffee. They’re selling a lifestyle, an experience.

And that’s exactly what Mark is trying to show producers.

“We’ve got to get out of this mindset of commodity pricing,” he says, “because consumers just don’t think that way.”

Consumers think about the price in relation to the brand’s value. What do they get out of it?

For those choosing Certified Angus Beef® brand products off the menu or from behind the meat counter, we want them to get a superior product time and time again. That’s why we’ve got the 10 specifications to make sure our product is technically differentiated from others.

But we can’t just focus on the science. After all, Nike doesn’t sell shoes based on how they’re made. They sell shoes on the lifestyle associated with them. There’s an emotional connection, and it’s important to us at CAB, too.

“There are other brands with similar specs, but it is more than that,” Mark says. “It’s the people, it’s the integrity of the brand, it’s the longevity of the brand and it’s the mission of the brand… It’s all of those things that add up to some emotional connection, which add into that price-value relationship.”

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