Want to Charge More? This Is What You Need

Reputation, Not Price, Opens Every Door

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Allow me to introduce to you a piece of post-communist Romanian history, “American Cola”:

The writing on the label translates to “Finally, a quality cola”. Side note: my research revealed something unexpected: “American Cola” is (was?) very popular in many other countries and it looks like the same name has been used by dozens of seemingly unconnected companies across the world.

This gem was very popular in the early 90s. A Coca-Cola clone was a staple in most homes, but it was a sad kind of staple because people bought it because they couldn’t afford the real Coca-Cola.

As soon as the average income rose, American Cola and all the other brands by the same company (they have clones for Fanta and Sprite, too, of course) became almost invisible, at least in large cities.

Why?

Because people wanted the real thing, the real Coca-Cola.

Everyone in any industry and buying any product, be it B2B or B2C, is willing to pay more for one thing: reputation.

I’m sure you’ve heard it before: people don’t care about you and your brand, they care about what you can do for them.