Someone once told me “Marketing is not a battle of products, it is a battle of perceptions“.  The general idea is that your product/service does not need to actually be the greatest, what is more important is that is perceived as the greatest.  This statement challenges the way I think, as both a marketer and a consumer.

I have read countless articles on the impact that “perception” or “expectation” has on the brain.  There is hard factual data (click here) that proves increases in the enjoyment of an item that is perceived as more expensive, more useful, or higher quality. Without our preconceived notions to guide us, we have a truly difficult time identifying what product is actually perceived as “better”.

This is the reason Dunkin’ Donuts coffee beats Starbucks, and a bottle of 2002 “two buck chuck” beat out 2,300 bottles of wine to win the 28th Annual International Eastern Wine Competition and take home the double gold.

So the questions that arise are:

• What “premium” products are you wasting money on because of the way you perceive them?

• OR, are we really “wasting” money since our overall experience is higher than it would be?

And, Finally-

• Can a product actually “become” the greatest once it has been “perceived” as the greatest?

What do you think? Leave a comment below and get in on the discussion.