Daily Lab: “They must be very rich!”
The cost doesn’t tell you all that much about the customer.
One of my favorite stories about pricing and value is the one about John D. Rockefeller playing golf, from Ron Chernow’s Titan.
Rockefeller was one of the richest people in the world, and yet he insisted on using old golf balls around the water hazards lest he lose a new one.
Referring to the players who blithely used new golf balls despite the risk, he exclaimed, “They must be very rich!”
I wonder what kind of customer persona would capture that kind of attitude. What household income statistic, demographic insight, or visual caricature would give you that kind of look into someone’s decision-making process.
The point is: Used golf balls aren’t simply for people who can’t afford to lose a new one, they’re for people who treasure new ones.
Just because one thing is cheap and another thing is expensive, that doesn’t tell you all that much about the type of person who wants either.
The insight is found in the mind of the customer, not the cost.
