Page 190 - 100 Great Marketing Ideas (100 Great Ideas)

91 SPECIALIZE TO CHARGE
A PREMIUM

Many companies think that being the cheapest is the way forward,
yet very few people consistently buy the cheapest options. If we did,
the most popular cars in Britain would be either cheap Eastern
European imports or Citroën 2CVs. In fact, the most popular tend
to be mid-range vehicles such as Ford Focus or Toyota Yaris.

Equally, there is plenty of room at the top of the market—there are
plenty of wealthy people, or even just people who would like a bit of
a treat—to fill the stores with “luxury” goods. For marketers, there
is no such thing as a luxury item—everything represents value for
money, and meets a specific need.

Even so, wealthy people didn’t get rich by throwing money away,
and they appreciate a bargain as much as the next person. This is
where specializing comes in. A company or brand that specializes in
catering for the wealthy needs to cut out the downmarket customers
altogether, otherwise it will have an image problem.

The exception to this rule has, traditionally, been airlines. The
typical transatlantic 747 has the economy passengers at the back, the
business-class passengers at the front, and the first-class passengers
upstairs. Apart from a higher class of in-flight meal and a more
comfortable seat, though, it can be difficult to see why someone
would pay the extra to fly first class.

The idea

L’Avion is a business-class-only airline flying between Paris or
Amsterdam airport and New York. The airline only has business-

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